Earl Baptist is Found Guilty of Murder

A long, violent dispute that resulted in the shooting death of thirty-seven-year-old Leslie Gillett in January 2022, was decided upon in the High Court this morning.  Earl Baptist, a resident of Police Street, who stood trial for the murder of the Burrell Boom businessman, has been found guilty.  He appeared before Justice Derick Sylvester and gave an unsupported alibi, telling the court that on the evening of the deadly shooting he was with his father and common-law wife at the Northern Fishermen‘s Cooperative.  Despite providing the court with an explanation of his whereabouts, Baptist did not call on anyone to testify on his behalf.  As we’ve reported, Gillett, otherwise known as Dimes, was gunned down by a pair of men who entered Matilda’s Shop on the night of January twenty-first, 2022.  The men were there to exact revenge for a murder that took place in the village two years earlier.  After pretending to make a purchase, the gunmen fired multiple shots at Gillett, who died at the scene of the shooting.  During the subsequent trial, Sergeant Rollington Fuller testified that shortly after the shooting, he was invited to view the surveillance footage that was retrieved from cameras mounted inside the shop.  Under oath, the police officer told the court that, from the video, he saw a Hispanic male with a white shirt and a camouflage facemask.  Moments later, he saw two males approaching the shop.  One of them was seen wearing a black face mask, with black stockings, and dreadlocks covering it.  While Fuller was unable to determine the identity of the second person, he was able to positively identify Baptist.  July fifteenth has been set as the date for mitigation pleas to be heard on Baptist’s behalf.