Less than 24 hours after he was dismissed as the managing director of Clifton Heritage National Park by Prime Minister Phillip Davis, 62-year-old Mario Bannister, appeared in court charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
Bannister, along with Dontee Riley, 26, and Christian Napier, 28, were charged in connection with the murder of Philip Adderley, who was stabbed to death with his hands and feet bound together, earlier this month.
Bannister was charged separately with being an accessory after the fact in the killing. Riley and Napier were each charged with murder.
They were not required to enter pleas to the charges when they appeared before Chief Magistrate Roberto Reckley.
A one paragraph statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said only that “Prime Minister Davis directed the immediate termination of Mr Mario Bannister from his position as Managing Director of Clifton Heritage”. It gave no further details.
Clifton Heritage is a national park on the western end of New Providence Island in the Bahamas. It is managed by the Clifton Heritage Authority and has an area of 208 acres.
Riley and Napier allegedly killed Adderley, 36, on August 14 and Bannister allegedly enabled the suspects to evade the law on August 15, the same day that Adderley’s body was found partially submerged in waters near an abandoned building near Stuart’s Cove.
The three accused were informed their matter would proceed to the Supreme Court through a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI) with the Chief Magistrate indicating that he was unable to grant them bail due to the nature of the offence.
The VBIs will be served on February 13, 2025.
