THE LAST five years of Winston Hall’s life must read like a best-selling novel.
On the run in Barbados and neighbouring islands; hiding in the hills and seeking food and shelter for well over 1 000 days and nights; disguising his identity and changing his personality; distrusting every new face every new day of his life and scheming to find a way to be several steps ahead of the law; eaves-dropping on the news to keep his captors at bay, it must have all added up to an often tense, trying and drama filled episode in the life of a simple country boy, now just 25 years old.
Sought by an embarrassed police force, loved and hated by his folks, written into the history books and the musical scores of Barbados music, Winston Hall is a name every Barbadian knows today.
From the first day Winston Hall put wheels on his heels until he was outfoxed on the seas between the pretty Grenadine Islands yesterday morning, he has remained in the headlines of the papers and the hearts of many of his fellowmen as they both sought to untie the knotty details of how this youth could elude all.
For some he was the longest “jogger” in Barbadian history.
For others he was the Bajan Harry Houdini popping up here and disappearing in a flash. Speculation was rife about his whereabouts… People claimed that if Hall were still alive he would have had to resort to petty crime to survive, and at no time since his disappearance have his fingerprints positively turned up at any crime known to the public, nor has he been seen.
On the other hand, others speculated that he was shot and his body dumped at sea. Some even went as far as saying he had applied to join the police force!
Then there were those who held the opinion that Winston Hall was still alive, while others who had followed his movements before his arrest held the view that a badly burnt headless torso which was found on some rugged terrain in St. Joseph was his.
Now that he has been found, people will always remember and some may even relish the exploits of Winston Hall, not only because he is the only person in local criminal history, who, having been arrested and charged for murder, escaped the clutches of the law for so long, but also because of how he baffled and frustrated the police, and intrigued the general populace for over four- and-a-half long years.
Since Hall’s daring daylight escape on March 18, 1985, two of his partners, Peter Bradshaw and David Oliver, have been condemned to death for their part in the murder of Cyril Sisnett, of Francia Plantation, St. George.
About two weeks after his escape, police expressed belief that they were closing in on him. Belief was perhaps the closest they got to the escapee, up until yesterday.
Time and time again police “stepped up” their searches on Hall, but their stamina seemed unable to match that of the fleet-footed criminal, who still managed to elude all the dragnets.
Police were of the opinion that the longer he remained on the run, the greater the chances of him making contact with people who would assist him in leaving the island.
He was frequently reported to be spotted in St. Joseph, where he was reared. Police issued warnings that it was an offence for anyone to harbour a wanted criminal, when it was rumoured that people were offering the prisoner food and shelter. Joint forces of police and soldiers carried out sweeping searches of wooded areas in St. Joseph, but all to no avail.
The cracking sound of gun shots and the pungent smell of teargas came frequently from St. Joseph gullies as police combed wooded areas which were believed to have become the home of the wanted man.
A team of about 16 detectives from the CID also converged at the Shallow Draught in June 1985, and searched the cabins, funnels and even removed coverings of the lifeboats on two inter-island vessels, Albatross and Stella 5, looking for Hall.
On August 29, that same year, Hall again gave a squad of about 60 policemen the slip after investigations revealed that he was hiding in an abandoned house at Frizers, St Joseph.
Arundell Greenidge, the man in charge of the search, said there was evidence that Hall was at the house for a number of days.
In June1985, the Hall family received a $400 cheque from an anonymous businessman, who told the family: “it is most unfortunate that an innocent family should be made to suffer because a brother has broken the law”.
His comments were in reference to a charge by Hall’s brother Desmond that he was taken by police to a road in St. Lucy asked to strip, handcuffed, and beaten. He was subsequently taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, treated and discharged.
Four officers, Sergeant Livingstone Burrowes, Constables Denis Headley, David Hackett and Lloyd Brancker, were suspended from duty in October 1985 after being charged with beating Desmond Hall.
In March 1988, Magistrate Haynes Blackman dismissed the case against them.
Yesterday’s capture was one of the biggest, longest, most time-consuming man-hunts since the days of Simeon “Buddy” Brathwaite in 1977, and Lloyd Linton, in the 1950s, who is still wanted in connection with a murder.
Ironically, last night the Winston Hall saga ended where it all began. Perhaps his novel will be called From Oistins to Oistins.
