UNSOLVED MYSTERIES

Francis Joseph

francis.joseph@guardian.co.tt

An illustration showing the St James Barracks and St Mary’s College swimming pool. ILLUSTRATION: KEITH ANDERSON

THE MYSTERY BULLET

December 22 marks 19 years since Stefan Mills was shot dead at the St Mary’s College swimming pool, Serpentine Road, St Clair.

Mills was just 11-years-old when a stray bullet fell from the sky and struck him in the back. Like many other inquest results, Mills’ case was sent back to the then Commissioner of Police Jules Bernard to find the killer, but it remains an unsolved mystery.

No one can say with any certainty where that single bullet came from. Did it come from the sky, the nearby St James Barracks, a robber, or a resident of nearby Federation Park?

His case, like that of Akiel Chambers, has been crying out for some sort of closure.

THE SHOOTING

On December 22, 1989, Mills went to the St Mary’s swimming pool. He was a member of the Blue Dolphins swimming club. He had started swimming from a very early age and was considered a future star in the sport, maybe on the same level as George Bovell III.

A student of Trinity College, Mills was blossoming into a good swimmer, having gained good results at a recent meeting at the Piranha swim club.

On the day in question, with just three days to Christmas, there was a celebration taking place at the pool with about 70 persons in attendance.

One of the persons who was present was Michael Nyarko, a Ghanian-born swimming coach. He described Mills’ death as bizarre. Although he did not witness the actual shooting, Nyarko was terrified at what he saw. He was just five feet away from the schoolboy.

Nyarko remembered the evening. There was a barbecue and there were several children in the pool. Mills, he said, went to retrieve a ball.

The Ghanian said suddenly, he saw Mills running towards him, bleeding from the mouth, and unable to speak.

“He collapsed in my arms. I heard no explosion and heard no screams. I thought a wire from the fence had struck him. He then collapsed.”

Nyarko said he turned Mills over and saw a hole in the back. He could not believe that Mills had been shot. He tried to administer first aid to the wounded boy. He then placed Mills in a vehicle and took him to the nearby St Clair Medical Centre, where he died.

Nyarko added, “His death really bothered me. It was such a bizarre incident. I cannot figure out what really happened. A beautiful boy gone for no reason. I have even wondered if the bullet came from the sky.”

He continued, “He (Mills) was such a bright, young boy. He got along well with everyone. He was articulate and funny and an up and coming swim star. He was an excellent breaststroker,” the Ghanian coach added.

A HOUDINI BULLET

At first, Nyarko could not think straight. Where did the bullet come from? The only place nearby was the St James Barracks which houses police recruits and the police armoury.

He also learnt that there was a robbery at Tru Valu Supermarket, Long Circular Mall, St James. The robbers escaped with $103,000 that evening, but did they escape on foot or by car? If they had escaped by foot, what were they doing at St Mary’s pool? The pool was no short cut to any where. They would not pass through the Barracks to get to the pool. It was either they ran along Barbados Road in Federation Park, or along the Western Main Road, St James, no where near the pool.

The swimming pool area is enclosed. There is a pavilion on the western side and an area for social events on the eastern side. To get into the pool area, one must use a gate from the southern side. So where did the robbery suspects pass? “Impossible,” says one of the investigators in the case.

So the theory of one of the robbers confronting Mills and shooting him, was far-fetched, the investigator from St James said on Friday.

The police have already ruled out that the bullet came from the St James Barracks. According to the investigator, there was no shooting at the Barracks that evening. All the guns and ammunition were accounted for that day.

Retired police firearms expert Ernest Messiah said there was no evidence to suggest that the bullet came from the Barracks. He figured that the houdini bullet came from half mile away. Mills was not shot from close range, because other organs of the body would have been damaged and that the bullet would have exited the boy.

The police even questioned a firearm owner from Federation Park, but he was far away from the area that evening.

THE ROBBERY

Around 7.45 pm, four armed men burst into the supermarket and escaped with $103,000—a hefty Christmas gift. They arrived in a car, but it was unclear how they escaped because of the Christmas rush around the Mall.

Two of the men involved in the robbery were held in January 1990 after a shoot-out with police in Gonzales. One of the robbers was killed in the shoot-out.

The inquest into Mills’ death was heard before then Coroner Norton Jack in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court in 1991. At the end of the inquest, Jack found that someone was guilty of an indictable offence in connection with the death of the schoolboy. However, he could not identify any suspects.

He sent the file back to the Commissioner of Police, but to date, no one has been arrested or charged with Mills’ death.