March 6, 2003 – The prosecutor in the case against a man charged with the September murder of St. Croix shopkeeper Rose Ovalle is calling the disappearance of the government's lead witness, Ovalle's husband, "odd."
Assistant Attorney General Marie John-Drigo said on Thursday that charges against 22-year-old Khamil Barker were dismissed earlier this week without prejudice, meaning they could be reinstated later. A major reason for the dismissal, John-Drigo said, is that Miguel Ovalle apparently left St. Croix with the couple's two school-age children and returned to his native Dominican Republic.
Rose Ovalle, 33, identified Barker as her assailant moments before she went into surgery at Juan F. Louis Hospital on the afternoon of last Sept. 23. She died several hours later. Police accused Barker of having robbed the Ovalle Convenience Store in Estate Calquohoun and of shooting the victim three times that morning.
Miguel Ovalle told police investigating the shooting that he had been in the back of the store at the time, ran to the front when he heard gunshots and his wife's scream, and saw Barker get in a car and flee the scene as his wife clutched her bleeding abdomen. Police said Barker was known to the Ovalles as a customer who regularly bought cigarettes and newspapers at the store.
John-Drigo said the prosecution learned soon after Christmas that Miguel Ovalle and the children were gone. She said he told a police detective that he would be back on St. Croix in time for the trial but did not notify the Attorney General's Office of his plans to leave the territory.
The couple owned two convenience stores on St. Croix. Miguel Ovalle sold them both, along with two vehicles and other personal effects, John-Drigo said.
Besides the victim's identification, "he is the one who identified Mr. Barker," John-Drigo said of Miguel Ovalle. "We found it odd that he would identify him and not be interested in seeing the matter brought to justice."
She said there was no way the trial could go forward without the husband's testimony because by law a defendant has the right to confront any prosecution witness.
John-Drigo said police are still investigating the matter. "We would like to speak with Mr. Ovalle," she said, and "continue investigation of the case."
She said it is not necessarily strange that the family of a murder victim should move away from the community where the crime occurred. But she said it does seem curious that the victim's closest relative, who was also the only witness, should seem uninterested in the outcome of the case against the man accused of killing her.
In Miguel Ovalle's absence, she said, "at this point, we've lost the opportunity to develop the case further."
Police said at the time of the shooting that Miguel Ovalle described the gunman's getaway car as a green Honda sedan driven by an accomplice. (See "Getaway driver sought in store owner's murder".) No one else has been charged in connection with the case.
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