(CMR) The crown continued presenting its case on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Tortuga Robbery case by showing the previously recorded police interview of alleged robber Richard Nash after he was arrested and taken into custody last year.
In Tuesday's evidence, the recorded interview showed Nash claiming that he could not remember very much but he did admit to knowing Kasnique Cupid (Eve Highvoltage) despite her denying she knew him in her police interview. He revealed to detectives that he knew her mostly from Facebook and socially at local functions. However, phone call logs show that she made several phone calls the evening of the robbery with several being to his number.
Nash was unwilling to tell police who he was married to stating “me never want to hear about her at this point”. However, he did reveal that he arrived in Cayman in 2017 to work in construction but has been unemployed since 2019. He has a child in Cayman with his current girlfriend that he has lived with for the past few years.
He was also less than helpful about where he lived and what aliases he's known by. When asked if a certain phone number belonged to him he claimed he was unable to recall. Detectives informed him that the phone company had confirmed that number was “registered and attributed” to him to which he replied, “Digicel shared my name pon things?”
The interviewers also put to him that his mobile phone was called by a number belonging to Kasnique Cupid, whom they say was the getaway driver. They noted that the Salk Creek phone tower close to the Kimpton picked up a call from Cupid's phone to his showing him to be in the Red Bay area at the time.
He then messaged her around 8:47 p.m. texting “please call me”. When she called shortly after the cell towers placed both phones in the vicinity of Cost U Less.
Crown Counsel Kelly also called the second store clerk who was there the night of the robbery to take the stand. The Filipino worker shared that she was not normally scheduled to work at that location and the robbers were demanding money and asking her where the safe was located – information she would have been unfamiliar with.
She also noted that the man's voice sounded Caymanian.
By late Wednesday afternoon, RCIPS Detective Dave Barnett took the stand and started laying out their approach to the case. He shared that he is a member of the Crime Taskforce which is a unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) with the RCIPS.
Early in the investigation, they developed a theory that the robbery was an inside job because of the familiarity of the robbers with the store and the fact that it took place at a time when they knew employees would be cleaning up and not have the usual safety protocols in place with the opening of the door. He noted that was the “most vulnerable time” for the store.
They also immediately started accessing CCTV footage in the surrounding area and observed a white Toyota vehicle. They further observed that the driver was using their indicator for all turns. He noted that from a profiling perspective that told them two things about the driver. Firstly the driver was likely a newly licensed driver and/or a female driver – as women tend to obey traffic codes such as indicating to turn.
The police used ANPR cameras which capture license plate information in order to determine who the owner of the questionable vehicle was. This discovery led them to Vicky McGaw who testified earlier that she was friends with Eve and sold her the vehicle but kept the registration in her name because she did not have a license to drive – essentially doing her a favor.
McGaw was surprised to find out from the police that the vehicle has since been sold by Cupid but was still registered in her name.
McGaw gave a statement which the detective went through in great detail. He noted that his colleague, Detective Harrison, took the statement at her residence and when they arrived she gave her child to a helper who went elsewhere.
She then gave an oral statement, had it read to her by Detective Harrison, made some initialed corrections to it before signing the statement. This contradicted her testimony where days earlier she claimed that she was distracted by her kids and did not pay attention to what she was signing or the statement that was being read to her. She claimed that she never said that Cupid asked someone to pick her up at Governor's beach.
Several calls were made that night including several to Nash the prosecution argued and one to a person they were unable to track down saved as “Wayne – West Bay” in Cupid's phone.
Detective Barnett then went on to explain how they made contact with Cupid and Nash and how the search was conducted. He explained how the investigation progressed with the search warrants, review of the CCTV footage that placed Cupid in Fosters Republix as well her movements afterward that took her to the Cost U Less area.
Although Cupid initially told detectives that she was home that evening there was detailed footage of her inside of Fosters Republix purchasing baby items. The clear footage showed her walking into the store, going through various aisles, and heading to the register. They also observed what she was wearing including her white shoes and a shoulder handbag. They identified “similar items' of clothes after conducting a search warrant on her home.
Detectives were able to obtain her receipt and itemize precisely what she purchased with her husband's NAU debit card. They then carefully dissected how she went back down aisle six and purchased 2 pairs of gloves with cash at the customer service register
He also explained how they took still photos of the incident and drafted and executed the search warrants. They discovered a number of clothing items including Clarke shoes belonging to Nash, a gold black-faced watch and underpants similar to what robber #1 was wearing.
A similar watch was then identified in other pictures including one of Nash holding his infant child.
The day's evidence ended with Barrett going over video footage of Cupid picking up men in the vicinity of Cost U Less where she parked on the side closest to the bypass and then driving off in the direction of Safe Haven.
Ironically, Cupid was working at Foster's recently as a cashier but resigned from her jobs some months ago.
He will continue giving his testimony in the morning.
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