Nigerian born Doctor requested for $18,000 before he releases forensic report – this triggered a firestorm in Jamaica

Dr Christopher Ogunsalu stirred up a hornet's nest recently by requesting J$1.8 million for the release of his findings from an analysis of remains believed to be those of a murdered Trinidadian school teacher Michelle Coudray-Greave.

Michelle Coudray-Greaves, as gathered by KiyoandFilo Blog is a Trinidad-born teacher at Cornwall College, Montego Bay. She was the daughter of a Trinidad and Tobago government minister, whose burnt body was found in a cane field in the western parish of St. James last June, after she was reported missing for two weeks.

According to reports available to KandF, Dr Ogunsalu was expected to deliver his forensic reports at the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court where Ivan Taylor, a 46-year-old taxi driver, who was accused of killing Michelle Coudray-Greaves, is being tried.

However, Ogunsalu, who was President of the Caribbean Osseo integration Dental Implant Society in 2004, was reported to have declined releasing the findings until the sum of J$1.8 million ($18,282) is paid. The news of his refusal caused mass outrage.

One of the persons said to be dissatisfied with the development was Marlene Coudray (the mother of the deceased teacher). Jamaican Observer reported she was unhappy with the dental expert’s action because it led to the murder case being delayed unnecessarily.

"The family is very distraught and disappointed about how the whole thing had unfolded," Marlene Coudray, Trinidad and Tobago's minister of Gender Affairs, told the Jamaica Observer.

"We have been very distressed," she added "I could not understand what had been happening."

THE TURN

However, things took a different turn, when the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Paula Llewellyn announced on Thursday that Dr Ogunsalu has had a change of mind and will provide the findings for free.

On Friday, the medical expert delivered the forensic dental report to the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court clerk, Natalie Malcolm. Llewellyn said he explained to her that the whole ordeal was a misunderstanding.

Meanwhile, KandF learnt the murder case would be transferred to Home Circuit Court in Kingston. DPP Paula Llewellyn said she had issued the directive seeking the change in venue based on certain difficulties being experienced in the case; apparently pointing to the absence of dental records which were used to identify the body.

Come July 16, the matter will be transferred to the Home Circuit Court in Kingston where 46-year-old Ivan Taylor will eventually be tried for Coudray-Greaves' murder.

Dr Christopher Ogunsalu, a Nigeria-born naturalised Jamaican Oral Surgeon graduated from the University of Ibadan in 1987, before travelling to UK and Jamaica for his Masters and Doctorate degrees.

He is a full-time faculty staff of the University of the West Indies, Mona Kingston, Jamaica, where he lectures Medical, Dental, Physiotherapy and Bachelor of Basic Medical Sciences Students in Anatomy. He also lectures the MSc Students in Forensic Science in the area of Forensic Odontology and Anthropology.