Mystery envelopes make enquiry shudder

Glenroy Sinclair and Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writers

Top sleuths of the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) were kept busy yesterday afternoon analysing the content of three large padded envelopes that were mysteriously delivered to three attorneys involved in cross-examination at the Manatt-Dudus commission of enquiry under way at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston.

"When we pulled one of the envelopes, we observed some brown dust and a handwritten note, along with a book," a senior detective told The Gleaner yesterday afternoon. "The note was advising the attorney which the envelope was addressed to, how he could search and find the truth."

Head of the CIB, Assistant Commissioner Ealan Powell, who also spoke with The Gleaner, further explained that the content of the envelopes would be analysed and sent to the Government Forensic Laboratory for further investigation.

As if enough excitement was not being generated at the enquiry, the delivery of the envelopes created a frenzy, forcing commission Chairman Emil George to call for an unscheduled break.

The brown envelopes had reached the hands of People's National Party attorney K.D. Knight; Oliver Smith, attorney for Solicitor General Douglas Leys, and Hugh Small, representing Prime Minister Bruce Golding, but no one knew who brought them.

Alarmed raised

It was Small who raised an alarm when Knight was in the process of opening his envelope, which contained a handwritten note.

Knight said he was in the process of tearing open the envelope that was sent to him when he saw a powdery substance. He said he promptly abandoned the envelope. The address of the sender was not written on the envelopes. Eventually, the envelopes were removed from the building by a uniformed policeman.

Small brought the envelopes to the attention of commissioners and raised concern that they had found their way inside the conference room despite the heavy police presence.

He complained that security at the conference centre was too lax.