Investigative Journalist Mel Ayton Pens #JusticeDenied about Intrigue, Assassinations and Black Power in Bermuda

Justice Denied - Bermuda’s Black Militants, the “Third Man,” and the Assassinations of a Police Chief and Governor is the first full account of the 1972/1973 assassinations of Bermuda’s governor, Richard Sharples, and police chief, George Duckett. The book includes a Foreword by Dr. Carol Shuman, a former journalist with the Bermuda Sun and Mid Ocean News.

During the 1970s, a black power organization in Bermuda, which modeled itself on the American Black Panthers, conspired to bring about social change “by any means necessary,” including assassination. The struggle for equal rights in Bermuda during this period both imitated events in the United States and was heavily influenced by them. This is especially true for the role American black militants played in encouraging Bermuda’s youth to challenge the white power structure on the island. Bermuda became the first nation to suffer the violent effects of the importation of 1960s-style American Black Power militancy. As a result, Governor Sharples, Police Chief George Duckett and others were murdered.

Justice Denied points the finger of guilt at a faction of the black militant group led by the ‘Third Man’, who controlled the convicted assassins. The author names the Bermuda businessman, a convicted drug dealer who assisted the assassins in financing their political aims through drug deals and bank robberies. Ayton also concludes that the real story about the assassinations was ‘whitewashed’ by consecutive Bermudian governments in the interests of racial harmony.

This investigative book is based on interviews with police officers involved in the investigation into the assassinations and murders, as well as interviews with prison officers familiar with two members of the assassination team. Additional material for the book was gleaned from the previously secret Scotland Yard murder files, British Foreign Office files, court records, newspaper archives and interviews with the Bermudian governor’s widow.

Paul Donnelley, author of 501 Most Notorious Crimes, says of Justice Denied, "Murders in paradise... Mel Ayton has proved in previous books that he has a consummate skill for unraveling the facts behind conspiracies or debunking them where they don't exist (JFK, RFK, MLK to name but three). His latest book is no exception. It reads like a thriller, but every word is true and his telling of racism, riots, murders, and cover-ups on Bermuda makes this an unputdownable page-turner."