Friday, May 16, 2014
By DENISE MAYCOCK
Tribune Freeport Reporter
dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
BUSINESSMAN Cedric Hepburn received a death threat from an unknown caller several hours before he was gunned down at Fortune Bay Drive, according to close relatives who revealed that he had been getting threats by phone.
The “execution style” murder took place shortly before 6pm on Wednesday as Mr Hepburn, 47, and his girlfriend, Cara, were on their routine daily walk. It is understood that she and their two children were walking ahead of Mr Hepburn when he was ambushed and fired on. She did not hear anything or see anyone because she was wearing headphones.
Mr Hepburn is believed to have suffered a shot in his head and some 11 shots in his body. He died at the scene. Police do not know the motive behind the shooting, or who might have wanted the heavy equipment operator from Smith’s Point dead.
Family members were at Rand Memorial Hospital around 1pm yesterday to officially identify the body. Police have classified the incident as the seventh homicide in Grand Bahama for 2014.
Mr Hepburn operated CLH Backhoe and Trucking in Smith’s Point. Family, friends, and employees at CHL are devastated. He is the father of six children.
Nephews Irvin Smith Jr and Patrick Malone worked with their uncle at CLH. They were saddened after seeing a photo, circulated on social media sites, of Mr Hepburn lying on the ground in a pool of blood.
“We are all taking this hard,” said Mr Smith, one of 10 employees. “That is my uncle and I just cannot believe what has happened. He was a good man and did not deserve to die like that – they kill him like a dog in the street. It’s just senseless.”
Mr Malone believes that the shooting was a hit and said his uncle had been receiving threatening calls.
Mr Smith said Mr Hepburn had received a death threat in the early afternoon, at about 1pm or 2pm on Wednesday. “He worked with us all day and when I was leaving work around 5pm I pat him on the shoulder and said, ‘boss, take it easy’. When I arrived home, I got a call that ‘my boss got shot up,’ “ he recalled.
“We know it was a hit. He was shot once in the head and 11 in the body,” he said.
Mr Hepburn is a well-known resident of Smith’s Point who was embroiled in a land dispute with the Grand Bahama Port Authority and the Grand Bahama Development Company.
He had been expected to appear in court in New Providence yesterday in relation to the land dispute.
Last year, Mr Hepburn took his tractor and blocked the entrance to Fortune Cay Development, a gated residential community on Fortune Bay Drive. It was in protest over the land ownership dispute involving some 10 acres of land that the Hepburn brothers claim rightfully belonged to their family. Mr Hepburn alleged that the 10 acres of land is part of that gated community.
Mr Smith and Mr Malone said his Uncle Cedric was a stern boss, but was always concerned about their welfare.
Mr Smith claims that his uncle had also received threatening calls on other occasions. “He made a complaint to the police and every time he changed his phone number somebody get it and threaten him.”
Mr Malone said that Mr Hepburn’s death is a big loss to the family. “The entire family is grieving and we want people to know that he was the best. I hope they find who did this,” he said.
Community activist Troy Garvey said he has lost a good friend and fellow activist. Mr Hepburn was one of four founding members, with Mr Garvey, Etienne Farquharson and Jan Shiloh, of Determined for Absolute Change (DFAC), a new civic group that was formed four months ago.
“Grand Bahama has lost an icon, a family man, a go-getter, and an activist. He will be greatly missed. This was an execution style killing and it really hurts that he was taken that way. We would like to see whoever is responsible brought to justice,” Mr Garvey said.
He extended personal condolences on behalf of his family and DFAC to the Hepburn family.
Comments
proudloudandfnm says...
Hmmm challenge the port authority on millions in land and now he's dead. Killed execution style... Well I guess the police know where to begin this investigation....
Posted 16 May 2014, 12:59 p.m. Suggest removal
sheeprunner12 says...
The GBPA Mafia is still at work............. call in the NIA. This is why BJ created this agency
Posted 16 May 2014, 1:11 p.m. Suggest removal
John says...
was it BJ or was it 'da bell"?
Posted 16 May 2014, 10:41 p.m. Suggest removal
B_I_D___ says...
All very convenient that the girlfriend did not hear or see anything 'cause she had her headphones on. I call BS on that one.
Posted 16 May 2014, 1:24 p.m. Suggest removal
Publius says...
That part of the story has me puzzled as well. How can you possibly not hear 12 gunshots into the body of the person you were walking just ahead of? No matter what kind of headphones those were, I cannot see how that could be possible, especially with the children there which I assume would have made her generally attentive while on their walk? And how far ahead of him could they have possibly been for her not to have seen anything either?
Posted 16 May 2014, 2:46 p.m. Suggest removal
John says...
mybe the killers used silencers on their guns?/
Posted 16 May 2014, 10:42 p.m. Suggest removal
CommonSense says...
I don't care how loud she had her headphones in...gunshots are LOUD. She should have heard.
Posted 16 May 2014, 2:17 p.m. Suggest removal
Cobalt says...
Something's fishy. This killing appears to politically motivated.
Posted 16 May 2014, 2:20 p.m. Suggest removal
Bahamianpride says...
This has all the makings of a contract hit, no evidence of robbery or harm done to girlfriend or kids. How does your love one get gunned down around u & u dont hear or see nothing. What's even stranger is one would think that even if it was possible that she did not hear something the kids would of alerted her something was wrong. Just the loud bang would startle a young child or baby. She knows a hole lot more than she's saying, i'd start the investigation with her.
Posted 16 May 2014, 3:04 p.m. Suggest removal
sheeprunner12 says...
Soooooooooooooooo, whats going to happen to the court case?????????? land dispute???????? Is the GBPA and its cohorts trying to silence Bahamians???????????????
Posted 16 May 2014, 3:14 p.m. Suggest removal
Publius says...
I guess the Tribune is going to lock down this thread soon too? Until then, I had another thought; perhaps the girlfriend is in fear of her life and that of their children and she doesn't want to talk, at least not publicly or with the knowledge of the public? We may never know.
Posted 16 May 2014, 3:24 p.m. Suggest removal
Islandgirl says...
So, in addition to doing due diligence with ruling out a connection to the case with GBPA and GBDC, are the police going to BTC to get ahold of the phone records? If he was receiving death threats, does BTC have the technology available to backtrack where those calls came from? I agree with Publius. The girlfriend likely knows more than what she is publicly saying. The killer knew their routine and used that to gun him down. You know she is in danger. When they do find the person or persons responsible for this, I hope the appropriate punishment is given. Death. It was a well thought out and inhumane act. They should be legally put down in a well thought fashion too. They should be made an example of and lately there have been too many unsolved murders. The murderers are growing bolder.
Posted 16 May 2014, 4:40 p.m. Suggest removal
EasternGate says...
This appears to be a professional hit. Perhaps the killer(s) used silencers
Posted 16 May 2014, 4:52 p.m. Suggest removal
DEDDIE says...
The death threat part is a bit strange. Death threats are usually given to deter or encourage a specific action. When the person been threaten don't behave accordingly, then the threat is carried out. The police need to concentrate their efforts on what the person initiating the threat was trying to deter or encourage.
Posted 16 May 2014, 5:33 p.m. Suggest removal
spoitier says...
The Port Authority had stole land from many people in Grand Bahama, this man was one of the few that was still fighting for what is his.RIP
Posted 16 May 2014, 6:53 p.m. Suggest removal
akbar says...
I met this gentleman in passing at Port Lucaya last year. He was telling a friend of how he was arrested after the incident at Fortune Bay with his heavy equipment. He also mentioned how the party involved had offered him a fee that was WAY below value for the property and how he had refused it. The Supreme Court only takes on cases which are valid in their opinion. The port authority has served its usefulness in Grand Bahama. It is one of the main reasons economic growth has been stifled in GB to keep their pockets lined. Some of the blame should be placed at Grand Bahamians who seem to believe that they owe the PA for GB's development. But they have been compensated over the years a million fold. Now it seems that and I say it seems, that they are resorted to murder to keep Grand Bahamians in bondage. Successive governments have kept renewing the lease without even renegotiating the terms because the PA have them in their pockets and their croonies could get high paying jobs and political contributions from the PA. Enough is enough! Time for us as Bahamians to send a strong message to the PA, that if they are implicated that we will not tolerate this. They are no better than the criminals who are systematically destroying our Bahamaland. People how much more can we take? I will bet you that we will hear some phony baloney story about some kind of love triangle. Sad.
Posted 16 May 2014, 7:07 p.m. Suggest removal
sheeprunner12 says...
Sooooooooooooooooo, yall Grand Bahamians just wake up to that???? GBPA has been operating like the Mafia since 1955. It had its own system of apartheid and its own Uncle Tom johnny jumper ......... a certain "Sir"
Posted 16 May 2014, 8:52 p.m. Suggest removal
spoitier says...
The problem with Grand Bahamians is they wouldn't stand together, so this guy was one of the few of the new generation that is fighting for property that was stolen from them. I was only a boy when my grandmother showed me papers for property and court documents that my grandfather was fighting Port them in court for, I talk to my siblings about it a couple of years ago and they told me that she didn't mention this to them. After reading about this guy it click to me that the port rob most folks in Grand Bahama out of their property with the help of the government, I told my brother to try and gather up some families to start a class action suit against the Port and he reminded me how hard it is to get GB folks on the same page on anything. I was looking forward to having a conversation with him, when I visit this summer, but that won't happen now. RIP
Posted 16 May 2014, 11:50 p.m. Suggest removal
carmichaelrdgal says...
The telephone calls can be traced and all conversations to whom im sure this will be done. sure this person not only used this phone once. This can be tracked
Posted 16 May 2014, 9:45 p.m. Suggest removal
John says...
not really..people buy sim cards for a specific purpose..once they use them they ditch them..of course there is technology that allows cell phones to be traced regardless of what sim card was used in them but that is another whole can of worms
Posted 16 May 2014, 10:44 p.m. Suggest removal
sheeprunner12 says...
Its called National Intelligence Agency ............. DUH!!!!!!!!
Posted 17 May 2014, 6:21 p.m. Suggest removal
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Posted 17 May 2014, 10:12 p.m. Suggest removal
jusscoolin says...
Yes, his girlfriend should be a suspect in this matter. But the statement made in this article seams to puzzle me peoples " every time he changed his phone number somebody get it and threaten him.” How and who had his number every time he changed it? This is too odd.
Posted 18 May 2014, 10:56 a.m. Suggest removal
sheeprunner12 says...
The phone records of Mr. Hepburn's several recent mobile phones will definitely create a list of suspects in this case. What are the laws pertaining to using phone records in Bahamian courts????????
Posted 18 May 2014, 11:50 a.m. Suggest removal
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