BAHAMAS-Men charged with murdering former government legislator to return to court in May.

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NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – Two men accused of murdering former government legislator Donald Saunders will return to court on May 30 for the presentation of a voluntary bill of indictment, which will send the case to the Supreme Court for trial.

The men, Jaico Choute, 25, and Nicarson Nixon, 21, made their first appearance in court on Monday, charged with murder, armed robbery, and attempted armed robbery.

They appeared before Chief Magistrate Roberto Reckley with the prosecution, saying that they murdered Saunders at a bar on March 27 this year while attempting to rob him. They are also accused of stealing a bar worth US$650.

The accused were not required to enter pleas and remanded into custody. However, they were advised of their right to seek bail in the Supreme Court.

Attorney David Cash, who represents Nixon, told the court that police “unlawfully assaulted both men” to coerce them into participating in a recorded interview.

The attorney asked the magistrate to examine the accused by a doctor upon admission to the prison.

He also argued that the armed robbery charge was not correctly particularized and that the prosecution had failed to name the person who was robbed at the bar.

Saunders, 48, the foster child of Archdeacon Keith Cartwright, was an attorney and father of two who served as a deputy chairman of the main opposition Free National Movement (FNM).

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander has dismissed suggestions that Saunders’ murder was solved quickly because of his status in the country.

“We had 37 murders for the year, and our [detection] rate is 73 percent at this time. You don’t see that anywhere in the world. Give your officers some credit,” he told reporters.

Fernander said it’s simply a matter of the evidence available regarding the murder of the former deputy speaker of parliament, insisting, “As we deal with the investigation in any matter, we pursue it based on the information and the evidence that we have on hand.

“There (are) going to be matters that we call a slam dunk case because all the evidence is right there. So, the first 48 hours in any investigation [are] crucial, and that determines the (detection) rate of that,” he added.

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