We want justice for her too. So said former murder accused Anthony Dwayne Gloster yesterday, hours after he and his two brothers — Shervon and Devon Peters — and five of their neighbours were acquitted of the murder of former Xtra Foods chief executive Vindra Naipaul-Coolman on Tuesday.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian in a brief telephone interview yesterday morning, Gloster, who was among the seven accused men who were not immediately released due to an administrative error, said he was happy with the verdict but still disappointed the jury could not come to a unanimous verdict on two of his co-accused — Earl Trimmingham and Lyndon Charles — who were ordered to be retried.
“I can really feel it for the victim’s family because us innocent men get charged and the real perpetrators still out there. It is not only about justice for us but for her (Naipaul-Coolman) also. If somebody was to do that to my mother I would want justice as well,” Gloster said.
Gloster said he and his co-accused were frustrated by the failure of State prosecutors to correct the error, which left them still detained at the Port-of-Spain State Prison up to late yesterday.
“It is a mad scene. It sending us crazy,” Gloster said as he likened being sent back to prison after being acquitted to torture.
The error stems from the failure of prosecutors to discontinue charges for kidnapping Naipaul-Coolman, which were laid against some of the accused men before it was decided they should only face charges for her murder, as there was insufficient evidence linking them to her abduction.
The T&T Guardian understands that the accused men’s attorneys are expected to file a lawsuit seeking to compel the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to rectify the error if it is not sorted out by today.
Besides Gloster and his brother, Shervon Peters, the other former accused still in remand are Trimmingham’s brother Marlon, Keida and Jamille Garcia, Ronald Armstrong and Antonio Charles.
In his interview, Gloster repeatedly denied any wrongdoing by him and his former co-accused.
“From the time I start off the case I know we was going to win cause I know nothing they said happened,” Gloster said, as he questioned the State’s claim that Charles shot Naipaul-Coolman after she failed to accede to his request for an increased ransom several days into captivity.
“If you kidnap somebody, it obvious that you would call their family for a ransom. Why would you ask for a ransom when they can’t get it because they are tied up next to you?” Gloster asked.
Gloster also expressed concern over the length of time Trimmingham and Charles would have to wait on a retrial, noting they had to wait almost eight years for their initial trial.
“In this country you are not innocent until proven guilty but guilty until proven innocent,” Gloster said.
Naipaul-Coolman was abducted from her Chaguanas home on December 19, 2006. A $122,000 ransom was paid by her family but she was not released and her body has never been found.
During the trial, which began in March 2014, prosecutors contended she was held captive at a house in Upper La Puerta, Diego Martin, shared by Gloster and his brothers, before she was killed, dismembered and her body disposed of.
They relied on the evidence of main witness, Gloster’s cousin, Keon, who claimed to have been present at the time of the murder but did not participate. However, Keon repeatedly claimed he was coerced by police into implicating the accused men.