There appears to be some uneasiness within certain quarters of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) on the involvement of retired Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Trevor Modeste in the investigation into the discovery of the body of Andrew Frederick which was discovered a few days ago at Lance Aux Epines.
The information reaching THE NEW TODAY is that the Police are upset that Modeste visited the crime scene without them on Thursday morning in the company of renowned Trinidad & Tobago Pathologist Dr. Hubert Daisley.
Modeste was reportedly invited by the family members on the recommendation of Professor Daisley to take a fresh look at the situation based on his own findings.
“It is quite obvious that Daisley would not have taken such a step if he did not have doubts in his mind that murder should not be ruled out,” said a source familiar with the investigation.
He also said that Modeste did not inspect the body – it was Dr Daisley who did that at a local funeral home and would have seen the marks on the body for himself.
According to a well-placed source, after the Daisley/Modeste visit to the home, a member of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) called Modeste to accompany a party of officers back on the crime scene.
Modeste is said to have asked for payment to obtain his service and it was denied.
A prominent local believes that the State should pay Modeste if they want to utilize his expertise in the area of forensic science.
“He should be paid as a Consultant for his services, that’s crazy – the man is working as a consultant,” he said.
Another retired female public officer commented: “I said they should have retained Modeste a long time to help them solve problems. They prefer to pay (retired public officer) and them big money than to pay to get important things done.”
A former head of a Government Department stated that the government should pay to use Modeste’s services.
“They should compensate him not for knowledge and experience but for actual work done. You pay for knowledge and experience when you are not doing the work itself but giving advice…”, she said.
The Police High Command has apparently looked outside of the experienced Modeste and recruited a non-national to help improve the forensic capability of the force.
“The RGPF hired a regional person from a police force that doesn’t have the level of success the RGPF had with forensic investigations to put together a program to strengthen forensic science investigation in the force overlooking the expertise of former head of CID ACP Modeste,” said another local.
THE NEW TODAY understands that the police notified the family that they would be coming back on the crime scene with Modeste at a particular time.
Minutes later, Modeste called the family to inform them that the plan has changed as the police were refusing to pay him for his expertise.
About an hour later, the police called a family member to indicate that they were at the house and wanted someone to be there with them.
THE NEW TODAY also understands that certain sections within RGPF have taken the position that Daisley and Modeste should not visit the crime scene on Thursday without the involvement of the police.
One member of the force is quoted as saying that the house at Lance Aux Epines where the body was discovered is still an active crime scene.
“If that is the case, how come the Police had no one stationed at the house when Dr Daisley and Modeste showed up with family members to do their own private investigation?”
“How come there was no police tapes on the crime scene to cordon off specific areas where the body was discovered? Did Modeste and Dr Daisley interfere with anything on the crime scene?”
THE NEW TODAY understands that the Police are now back at the house and treating it as a crime scene.
Professor Daisley has reportedly informed the family that his report should be made available to them by Monday at the earliest.
Modeste is now working as the Head of Security at a hotel in the south of the island.