Witnesses key to catching killer

Within hours of the brutal murder of Malcolm Outerbridge detectives were knocking on their prime suspect’s door.

House-to-house inquiries had quickly revealed that a witness had seen the 18-year-old walking along Bulkhead Drive in the company of a young man known as ‘Shonny’ at around 10:30am.

A second witness also spotted the two teenagers walking on the Railway Trail at around the same time.

While a third witness, who crossed paths with the duo on the trail, recognized Mr Outerbridge as someone they had heard speak at Raleigh International a few weeks earlier.

All three mentioned Codrington’s hoodie, which was later found soaked in blood in a black bag close to the murder scene.

These early eyewitness accounts were vital in building a case against the teen killer, says Senior Investigating Officer Dave Greenidge.

And by 7:45pm on the night of the murder, police had descended on Codrington’s Warwick home.

Insp Greenidge added: “[Rashaun] Codrington featured very early in this investigation.

“What was important and unique about this case was that we had a lot of eye witnesses who came forward very quickly.

“Malcolm was a very popular young man. He had been in the news a couple of weeks before his death speaking about his experience abroad with Raleigh.

“Once people realized who he was we had an influx of people coming forward to provide information.”

The quick actions of the first responders at the murder scene also ensured police were left with a wealth of forensic evidence.

Wealth of evidence

EMTs came across Codrington as he tried to cover his tracks and dispose of evidence at the murder scene and gave chase.

This prompted him to fall and drop a bag containing blood stained clothes as well as broken knife blade — which would provide damning evidence of Codrington’s guilt.

Insp Greenidge told the Sun: “We were able to gather a large number of materials from the scene and we do not normally collect that amount of evidence.

“The reason behind that was because Malcolm was able to alert us to where he was and we were able to get there promptly.

“And the EMT’s actions were primarily responsible for recovering crucial items of evidence that Codrington was trying to dispose of.”

A large haul of evidence was sent to forensic experts in Florida where it was tested for DNA.

The results were fast-tracked while 15-year-old Codrington maintained a stony silence in custody.

They showed traces of Mr Outerbridge’s blood on Codrington’s left Timberland boot, while the killer’s DNA was also all over the red hoodie found at the murder scene.

Both Codrington and Mr Outerbridge’s blood were also found on the black handle of the knife, which was recovered close to the murder scene.

Codrington was also covered in cuts and scratches inflicted during the struggle with the victim, when he handed himself into police at 3pm the day after the killing.

The final nail in the coffin came when a search of CCTV footage showed both the victim and his killer close to Codrington’s home within the space of minutes on the morning of the murder.

Faced with an overwhelming wealth of evidence Codrington had little choice than to plead guilty to the murder.

Chief Inspector Nick Pedro said: “The key to solving crime is in the community and this case shows how vital the community can be.

‘Fresh perception of life’

“Both the victim and killer were completely off the police radar at the time of the murder.

“But what is clear is that Malcolm came back from his trip abroad with a fresh perception of life but his circle of friends had not changed.

“And it was one of those people who ultimately killed him.”

Chief Inspector Pedro told the Sun that DNA evidence was crucial in securing the conviction.

He added: “It was a difficult investigation and it took a lot of man hours.

“There can be no inferences taken from silence in Bermuda, unlike places like the UK, so the fact that Codrington refused to co-operate with investigators meant we had to cover every angle.

“Furthermore we were dealing with a juvenile which brought a raft of
new considerations into play where we had to implement extra measures to ensure the prisoner’s welfare.

“For us it’s about the family of the victim. 

“And although we have been able to answer the who, we have not been able to answer the why

“Only Rashaun Codrington knows the why.”