In a landmark ruling that concludes a 24-year mystery, Barbados High Court Justice Donna Babb-Agard delivered a scathing condemnation of 81-year-old Winfield Nurse for concealing the death of his 12-year-old granddaughter Rasheeda Bascombe and deceiving both authorities and his own family for over a decade. The court sentenced Nurse to 13 years imprisonment for unlawfully disposing of the child’s body, though he will serve only two years and 24 days after credit for time already spent in remand.\n\nThe case unraveled through Nurse’s own 2013 confession, revealing that Bascombe sustained a fatal stab wound during an altercation in January 2002. Rather than seeking medical assistance, Nurse abandoned the injured child with the knife still protruding from her abdomen. He returned two days later to discover her deceased and callously disposed of her body over a cliff in Jackson, St Michael.\n\nJustice Babb-Agard characterized Nurse’s conduct as \”absolutely reprehensible,\\” noting his elaborate efforts to maintain the deception. He falsely reported Bascombe’s disappearance, claimed she frequented \”unsavoury places,\” pretended to search for her, and even displayed her photograph in the family home—all while knowing her tragic fate.\n\nThe judge emphasized the profound psychological trauma inflicted upon the family, particularly Bascombe’s mother Hermena Straker, who died without learning her daughter’s fate or achieving closure. Nurse’s actions transformed what might have been a tragic accident into a prolonged injustice, manipulating both investigators and grieving relatives through calculated falsehoods.\n\nAlthough initial murder charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence, prosecutors successfully pursued conviction for unlawful disposal of a corpse. The court determined this case warranted exceptional severity due to Nurse’s systematic obstruction of justice and the extraordinary duration of his deception.
Elderly man to serve two more years for dumping granddaughter’s body in cover-up
