April 4, 2007 — The brother of a New York man found shot to death outside the Frenchtown post office nearly two years ago has said the V.I. Justice Department bungled their investigation of the double homicide.
Saman Dashti — brother of Tristan Charlier, a Queens, New York tourist gunned down in June 2005 — said the V.I. Justice department made myriad mistakes that led to the dismissal of charges against the only two suspects in the murder last week.
Dashti's remarks Tuesday night echoed similar outrage from the family of the other victim, Leon Roberts, also of Queens.
"They said they didn't feel the case was strong enough," Dashti said. "You know, being a New York family, what do you do about it?"
Dashti and the Roberts' family said V.I. authorities should have never allowed the lone witness to the crime to be in contact with prisoners at the Golden Grove Correctional Facility, where he was held in protective custody until it came time to testify.
The witness, Goshnell "Foma" Walters, allegedly wrote a jailhouse recantation late last year in which he claimed police and prosecutors forced him to finger brothers Akil and Jahmal Hart.
The document is widely speculated to have been dictated to former police detective Joel Dowdye, who was allegedly in an adjacent cell to Walters'. Dowdye was later convicted of murder for shooting his ex-girlfriend in the head and wounding a St. Croix radio personality.
Dashti said Walters may have been influenced by police, guards or other prisoners to change his story, or he may have simply decided that it was the quickest way to get out of jail.
Citing a lack of evidence, prosecutors dropped charges against the Hart brothers.
The dropped charges also followed a public feud between prosecutors and then-Attorney General Kerry Drue.
"That made me just basically upset about how the whole prosecution handled the case," Dashti said by telephone from New York.
The murders devastated both families, especially the Roberts, who relied heavily on Leon Roberts' income. Since his murder, the family has lost its home.
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