Local author researching Cayman fugitives
Author Peter Polack has begun research on his next book Fugitives and Free that profiles ten fugitives from criminal justice who have never been caught. Three chapters are devoted to fugitives from the Cayman Islands Robert Delisser, Shane Guilfoyle and Shawn Mourao. Delisser was arrested in the Cayman Islands in March 1989 and fled in December 1989 by sea plane off Seven Mile Beach leaving behind a $400,000 cash bail posted by his uncle which was taken by the court. He has never been arrested thereafter.
Guilfoyle was convicted by Magistrate now Grand Court Judge Ramsey-Hale in 2013 before fleeing the Cayman Islands to Canada. He was later sentenced to two years imprisonment in absentia and the Toyota Corolla car in which the drugs were found forfeited to the Crown.
In 2012, Shawn Mourao, a South African boat captain working for a Cayman tour company was charged with sexual assault of a cruise passenger before fleeing in 2013. He is the only one of the three believed to be on the Interpol wanted list for the Cayman Islands.
Polack pointed out that: “this is far from a complete list for the Cayman Islands where some persons are never pursued such as the manager of the Pines Retirement home accused of theft of over $300,000 or some fugitives openly living in Canada such as the former manager of Rackhams. Neither the Attorney-General, DPP or RCIPS have provided public information on the number and description of fugitives from the Cayman Islands or the efforts made to return them to face justice. Such a situation did not happen to Syed Hassan formerly of UCCI returned from Switzerland or the many persons returned from Jamaica. A disappointing lack of effort on a cornerstone of justice that sees many others face the music and imprisonment. There is an unpleasant odor of selective extradition.”
Description
A compendium of fugitives across age, color, nationality and crime beginning with the aged Scottish drug lord, Billy Blackledge, who started his trade in Jamaica during the seventies. Many around him have been extradited and imprisoned while he successfully remains on the run. El Chapo should have sought his counsel on how to escape the long arm of the law. The book will profile ten fugitives who have managed to avoided capture by authorities including Interpol, the FBI and US Marshals Service, sometimes for decades. The book will see much interest after massive publicity for the recent capture of notorious El Chapo Guzman and Whitey Bulger after extensive searches. It will include some on the FBI most wanted list such as fugitive Robert William Fisher sought since 2001 for the alleged murder of his wife and two young children before exploding the family house in Arizona. Mormon and fluent French speaker Jason Derek Brown killed the guard of an armored car during a robbery and has not been seen since 2004. Lester Eubanks raped and killed a 14 year old girl before eluding prison guards after his conviction at a shopping center in Ohio in 1973. He has disappeared for nearly fifty years and would be 78 years old today. Colombian ELN guerrilla Gustavo Aníbal Giraldo Quinchía who escaped from prison in 2009,is wanted for kidnapping and arms trafficking. Also known as Pablito, he is believed to have been involved in the 2018 kidnapping of an engineer. South African tourist boat captain, Shawn Mourao, raped his cruise ship passenger in a public bathroom before fleeing the Cayman Islands in 2012. The only woman, Black Liberation Army Joanne Chesimard escaped prison in 1979 where she was serving a life sentence for killing of a policeman in 1973 before fleeing to Cuba. She is believed to have returned to the USA briefly in 2015.Research may ultimately suggest some are dead.
Chapters
William “Billy” Blackledge – Scotland and Jamaica
Robert DeLisser – Jamaica
Robert William Fisher – USA
William Biscomb Hall – UK and Uruguay
Joanne Chesimard – USA and Cuba
Jason Derek Brown – USA
Lester Eubanks – USA
Gustavo Aníbal Giraldo Quinchía – Colombia and USA
Shawn Mourao – South Africa and Cayman Islands
Shane Guilfoyle – Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Canada
Biography
Peter Polack is a former criminal lawyer in the Cayman Islands for several decades. He was a contributor to Encyclopedia of Warfare in 2013.His books are The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War: South Africa vs. Cuba in the Angolan Civil War (2013),Jamaica, The Land of Film (2017) and Guerrilla Warfare: Kings of Revolution (2019). Polack has worked as a part-time reporter for Reuters News Agency in the Cayman Islands 2014-16. He is now researching his next book Fugitive and Free: Criminals Who Escaped.
