Four charged for 15 year old girl’s murder
In November the body of a young woman was found in the sea near Vista Del Mar and today police charged four men they believe are responsible for her death. But the motive given by one of the accused for the killing cannot help but strike the public as bizarre. Police won’t say who, but one of the men — Melvin Young, Warren Cabral, Philip Meighan or Kelvin Francis — is claiming that the 15 year old girl gave one of them HIV and in retaliation he had her murdered. As amazing and as implausible as this may seem police seem confident that they have enough evidence against the four. Cabral and Meighan were picked up last week, Melvin Young was detained yesterday and Kelvin Francis was located in the Hattieville Prison where he was awaiting trial for the murder of Alex Perez at the A & R Gas Station just days after Samantha Gordon was murdered in November. Today all four appeared before Magistrate Herbert Lord and were charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. They were remanded to Hattieville and the case was set for August. Following the court appearance, the man heading the Gordon investigation Inspector Eli Salazar held a press briefing at the C.I.B. offices. While he declined to comment on the specifics of the case since it is before the court, he says the investigation was ongoing since November 8th when Samantha’s body was found, but says their big break came just days ago. He initially said all the suspects had been rounded up; he indicated that other arrests may be imminent.
Insp. Eli Salazar, Officer in Charge of Investigation
“We need to also inform the public that Samantha Gordon’s death, as far as the evidence is showing, was a paid murder; it was a contract killing. It was disclosed by one of the accused that Samantha Gordon contracted him with the HIV virus thus her death came about.”
Q: “So you’re telling us that Samantha Gordon was HIV positive?”
Insp. Eli Salazar
“That was the information that came from the accused.”
Q: “Has the accused person been tested?”
Insp. Eli Salazar
“We are presently going through that process.”
Q: “There was a rumor that they meant to kill her twin sister. Have you looked into this?”
Insp. Eli Salazar
“The investigation has not revealed that thus far. We have looked into that but that so far has proven negative. Samantha Gordon was the target and she was the one who was killed.”
Q: “Is there any evidence as to how she was killed?”
Insp. Eli Salazar
“Like I said, we have evidence but we will not be disclosing the evidence in depth right now. The investigation is ongoing and we are afraid it might prejudice the investigation.”
But even if Gordon’s remains indicate she was HIV positive and even if the man who it is alleged ordered her killed is also HIV positive, will the jury accept this as justification for murder? And if she was HIV positive and the man or men who killed her knew it, why would they have unprotected sex with her, as indicated by the presence of semen in her body? The cause of death was also never conclusive since the medical examiner, Dr. Mario Estradabran indicated in November that she was sexually abused and then either given an overdose of drugs or strangled. Samantha Gordon’s mother could not be reached for comment today on the arrests, or the claim by one of those arrested that she was HIV positive.
