BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC -A High Court judge has sentenced an 81-year-old grandfather to 13 years in jail after telling the Court that the older man had, for a decade, deceived his family and the police about the whereabouts of his 12-year-old granddaughter.
The Court was told that Rasheeda Bascombe was left for dead with a knife in her belly, and her body was later dumped over a ledge sometime between 2002 and 2013.
Justice Donna Babb-Agard said Winfield Nurse was the “only person” who knew what really happened to Bascombe, in a cover-up that was “absolutely reprehensible”.
“You knew that she was, in fact, dead, yet you kept that chilling secret from your immediate family, which included your now-deceased adult daughter, Hermina Straker, who was Rasheeda’s mother, and her siblings for 11 years. As a result, this case remained a cold case in the files of the Royal Barbados Police Force until your confession in 2013,” the judge said.
The Nurse was given a 13-year jail term for unlawfully disposing of Bascombe’s body sometime between January 2, 2002, and May 30, 2013. But he will only serve two years and 24 days in prison after spending almost a decade on remand.
Justice Babb-Agard, Tuesday, took serious note of the conflicting reports made by Nurse to the police throughout the years in his efforts to conceal his actions, including that his granddaughter used to frequent “unsavoury places”, and that she had informed him that she was going overseas, along with his pretence of searching for her. He stuck a picture of her up in the house.
“It is clear from the evidence, in fact, from your own confessions during police investigations, that you deliberately and intentionally concealed the fact that your granddaughter sustained a stab wound to her belly, according to you, with a knife you claimed she was carrying.
“It is also evidence that once she was injured, you failed to offer any assistance, you failed to run for help, you failed to call an ambulance, you failed to call the police, you failed to call anybody in sight on that night, you failed to call anybody while you were in the area, or while you were leaving.
“You left your 12-year-old injured granddaughter with a knife in her belly, and you went home and faced your grieving, frantic daughter, Hermena Straker, and your other granddaughters, Raquel and Rhonda, and said not one word.”
Justice Babb-Agard said that Nurse returned a day later to find her dead body in the same place he left it, “and without so much as a thought or compassion for your own flesh and blood, you shoved her dead body down the hill, returned home, and went on with your life.
“You would spend months, years, pretending to search for her and continue to live, except for the times that you were remanded to custody, in the same space as your grieving family members. You did this over an extended period without informing anyone as to what happened, until you confessed to the police.”
The judge said that by his own admission, over time, police kept questioning him about his granddaughter’s whereabouts,” and you continued to tell them you didn’t know where she was, until you confessed.
“Your daughter, Hermena Straker, died before she could see her daughter get justice in this manner. You robbed your own family of the opportunity of proper closure and burial of Rasheeda’s body.”
The judge noted that while Nurse’s initial murder charge was dropped, he was later charged with the unlawful disposal of a dead body as the police determined that they had sufficient evidence to pursue prosecution in the High Court.
Justice Babb-Agard said that the aggravating features of the crime overwhelmingly exceeded the mitigating features and that Nurse was well aware of what he did, was focused always on himself by seeking to conceal his actions rather than to try to save his granddaughter, returned to the scene to dispose of her body, and maligned the dead girl’s character by stating that she frequented unsavoury places, all while continuing to deceive his family through the years.
“You put your family through unimaginable trauma as they continued to search for her, holding out hope that she was still alive. You brought immeasurable grief, especially to the female members of your family, by your actions while you coexisted with them in the same household. Your conduct and profound disregard for your granddaughter and the rest of your family is to be denounced by this Court and by the society in which you live,” Justice Babb-Agard said.
She said that Bascombe’s body “up until today…has not been positively identified”, but that the authorities made clear that the offence of unlawful disposal of a corpse does not require a body to be found, so long as the prosecution proves the relevant factors and the offender’s intent.
She said the offence often carried a five to seven-year starting point, but that this was an “exceptional” case due to Nurse’s conduct.
She said the law allows higher sentences to be imposed where it is found that the act is designed to obstruct justice, conceal criminal conduct, prevent the detection of a crime, or frustrate investigators.
She reached a 13-year starting sentence, before deducting one year for his confession of the crime, noting that without it, no one would have known what had happened to Bascombe, and her family would have been left without closure.
The judge said no time would be credited for delay, as this “was entirely the product of your own sustaining concealment.”
Justice Babb-Agard, speaking directly to Bascombe’s sisters, who were present in Court on Tuesday, said she hoped the end of the case would bring closure.
“This Court hopes that even after all these years, you and the rest of your family members can finally have closure. This Court therefore extends its best wishes to you and your family.”
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