Chester Williams Discusses Vidal Audio Recording

Chester Williams

With respect of the audio recording that was presented by Marco Vidal and Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith to Belmopan police on Thursday, ComPol Williams told the media that he has had an opportunity to listen to the copy.  Notwithstanding the fact that the recording doesn’t show former ACP Vidal saying or doing anything illegal, the Commissioner of Police says that it was not the right thing for Vidal to do.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“Having listened to the audio that was released to the media by Mr. Vidal’s attorney, while I do agree in principle with the attorney that from a legal standpoint there is nothing we can do.  If it were that the people who live there were witness or witnesses to any case that is before the court, Mr. Vidal would have had no authority, either legal or otherwise, to go there because doing so would amount to one of three offences that could have been committed.  One would be either tampering with a witness, two: perverting the course of justice, or three: attempting to suppress evidence.  So those would be the three offenses that we’d be looking at. I am assuring the public that we are doing all we can.  We have solicited assistance from the U.S. Embassy through the regional security officer, in terms of enhancing video footage and other stuff.  I’m not going to divulge everything, but there’s a lot that we are doing because we, just like the public, want to bring successful closure to this very heinous crime that had occurred with the Ramnarace brothers. Having listened to the audio, it is not as what the public was saying, that he had gone there to threaten the people or had gone there and asked them to erase the video footage.  It was not that.  It was indeed a casual conversation.  But again, he ran a serious risk because, let’s say for example, those people had indeed given a statement to the police and were witnesses in either the Ramnarace brothers murders or the Williams murder and he had gone there to request information from them the way he did, he certainly would have committed an offence.  But the fact that they are not witnesses, that helps him.  And again, while he did so with a view to try and clear his nephew, that was not the right thing to do.”