One of the suspects in the kidnapping and murders of immigration officer Shane Gardiner and his girlfriend Tiska Braynen claimed at his arraignment yesterday that he had an alibi.
Cordero Saunders, 24, of Central Andros, told Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt that he was in New Providence and this could be verified by officers of the Grove Police Station, where he must sign a register on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays as a condition of his bail.
Ferguson-Pratt asked the prosecutor to investigate the claim, although she noted that the offense allegedly occurred over a month-long period.
Saunders is charged along with Daniel Coakley, 26, of Fresh Creek, Andros; Zintworn Duncombe, 26, of Fresh Creek, Andros; James Johnson, 21, of Calabash Bay, and Terrel Mackey, 26, of Central Andros.
Prosecutors allege that they kidnapped and murdered the couple between November 24 and December 21, when their bodies were discovered in bushes by boar hunters.
They are also accused of conspiring to rob Gardiner and attempting to rob him.
The men were not required to enter pleas to the charges. They have been remanded to Her Majesty's Prisons until March 5 when it is expected that the case will be transferred to the Supreme Court by a voluntary bill of indictment.
Mackey and Johnson claimed that they had been beaten and suffocated by police officers.
While the remaining defendants made no complaints of physical harm, their lawyers Michael Kemp and Ian Cargill said the men were concerned about their safety at the prison because two of Braynen's relatives worked in the Maximum Security block.
Ferguson-Pratt said she had no control over housing at the prison but she promised to bring the matter to the attention of the prison superintendent.

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