"Wanted Dread or Alive" The Getaway Driver
On "The Getaway Driver" Host Henry K updates the narrative surrounding the individual known as Dennis Lobban, infamously referred to as Leppo, as he explores the hauntingly intricate web of conflicting stories that have emerged since his purported death in 2018. Within the broader context of Jamaica's tumultuous history, Henry K then focuses on the legacy of the late Sybil Hibbert, a pioneering journalist who chronicled the country’s underworld with a deftness that transcended mere reporting. Her work not only captured the pulse of Jamaica during its formative years but also intertwined personal narratives with larger societal issues, thereby enriching the discourse surrounding crime and justice. Henry K reflects on how Hibbert's unique perspective as both a journalist and the spouse of Isadore Dick Hibbert, the lead investigator in the notorious murder of Peter Tosh, imbued her reporting with an unparalleled depth. Finally, examination of Steve Russell, the alleged getaway driver, adds another layer of complexity to the investigation, as Henry K argues that the true story behind Tosh's murder has been obscured by a labyrinth of deceit, misinformation, and sensationalism, leaving a legacy fraught with questions that remain unanswered. Produced by Henry K in association with Voice Boxx Studios Kingston, Jamaica
ROOTSLAND NATION Reggae Music, Podcast & Merchandise
subscribe to the Herb and Legends feed below
Easily listen to Herb and Legends in your podcast app of choice
Transcript
Apparently the man they call Leppo has died three times now, each death different than the last.
Speaker A: Tower Correctional center in: Speaker A:That was based on information from someone close to the case.
Speaker A:And since then, I've received two completely contradictory accounts of what happened to him.
Speaker A: arole around the same time in: Speaker A:That soon after his release, Lepo was poisoned to death on Matthews Lane in Kingston.
Speaker A:Which surprised him, being that in prison Leppo was very careful.
Speaker A:All he ate was biscuits and water.
Speaker B: r as me know him dead in that: Speaker A:And then, just as things are getting really confusing, I get a text message from a friend of the show who works closely with Jamaica's DCS Department of Correctional Services, which reads as follows.
Speaker A:Dennis Loban, AKA Leppo, was found guilty of murdering Tosh and originally sentenced to death by hanging.
Speaker A: However, in: Speaker A:As far as I know, when his sentence was commuted, he was on death row in Spanish Town.
Speaker A:After that, he was moved to the general population of the penitentiary.
Speaker A:That's where I had the chance to meet and talk with him several times.
Speaker A:From what I understand, he passed away while still in custody.
Speaker A:As far as I know, from what I understand, from what I heard, why is it that everyone from inmate to prison official always prefaces any statement about Leppo with a disclaimer?
Speaker A:Three different scenarios, all from people who should know.
Speaker A:The deeper the rabbit hole gets, the more it seems a man like Leppo, who knew too much about too many, might find it convenient to die more than once.
Speaker A:Could it be that Jamaica's most notorious killer just vanished from the system somewhere in that liminal space between shadows and light, between truth and legends, urban legends.
Speaker B:Where there's smoke, there's fire.
Speaker C:Entertainer and reggae star Bob Marley, Rita Marley, and the manager of the Whaler's, Don Taylor, are now patients in the University Hospital after receiving gunshot wounds during a shooting incident which took place at Marley's home at 56 Hope Road tonight.
Speaker A:How long shall they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look?
Speaker A:The passing of another Jamaican superstar, reggae dynamo Peter Tosh, one of the original winners, and passed away by the gun.
Speaker A:By the gun.
Speaker A:There's a profound difference between observing life through a screen and immersing yourself in its raw unfiltered.
Speaker A:Reality.
Speaker A:Today's digital world has birthed a generation of voices who speak from climate controlled studios, flowing through carefully calibrated microphones into the safety of digital airwaves.
Speaker A:Voices like mine.
Speaker A:Yet too often, this new media is oblivious or even shows contempt for old school journalists.
Speaker A:Battle tested reporters who are so much more than just content creators or influencers.
Speaker A:They are truth seekers.
Speaker A:Individuals that recognize that history isn't written from a distance.
Speaker A:It's documented from up close by fearless journalists.
Speaker A:Women like Sybil Hibbert, who for over five decades was a court and crime reporter that not only covered Jamaica's complex underworld, she breathed the same air as her subjects.
Speaker A:She stood in the same courtrooms and faced the steely gaze of those who preferred their stories.
Speaker A:Untold judges, police prime ministers.
Speaker A: Cybil's journey, beginning in: Speaker A:In the courtrooms where she made her name, she wasn't just recording verdicts and testimonies.
Speaker A:She was capturing the pulse of a young nation, finding its voice.
Speaker A:And what makes Sybil Hibbert's legacy so special is how she elevated crime reporting from a mere recitation of facts into a journey through Jamaica's soul, revealing intricate connections between race and class, between past and present.
Speaker A: in: Speaker A:This is a woman that helped write the island's history.
Speaker A:She was survived by her husband, retired ACP Dick Hibbert.
Speaker A:He remembered Sybil as the best wife a man could have.
Speaker A:He said she was loving, caring, dedicated, loyal.
Speaker A:I could do nothing wrong for her.
Speaker A:We kept no secrets from each other.
Speaker A:And let me just interrupt this touching love story to say, when Sybil's husband makes that simple statement, we kept no secrets from each other.
Speaker A:Well, those words carry intriguing resonance, especially given that she was married to Assistant Commissioner of Police Isadore Dick Hibbert, the lead investigator in the Peter Tosh murder.
Speaker A:And being that Sybil's remarkable insights into the crimes that rocked Jamaica, including the Tosh killing, often supplied pieces of the puzzle scarcely known at the time of the crime, one might wonder about the depth of her sources.
Speaker A:Conversations over late night dinners, subtle nods of understanding between a husband and wife who both share this shady world of crime and power.
Speaker A:I mention this because when you read Cybill's recounting of that fatal September night published years later in her column, well, let's just say there's a nuanced dance between what's said and what's implied.
Speaker A:This was more than just her usual story.
Speaker A:This was personal.
Speaker A:Her beloved husband Isadore, then retired, was lead investigator in the Tosh killing, a high profile murder that, thanks to his handiwork, actually wrapped up quick and easy, with Dennis Loban's guilty verdict only taking 11 minutes for the jury to reach.
Speaker A:Too easy, perhaps.
Speaker A: Then, in: Speaker A:Hibbert, now 78, thinking about legacy, knowing that some truths need to seep out slowly, cleverly leaves a trail of breadcrumbs, or should I say dreadcrumbs within her old columns, pieces of a puzzle that help reveal the story behind the headline and shine a new light on Dennis Lepo Loban's co defendant Steve Russell, AKA the Getaway Driver.
Speaker A:Jamaica observer the Night Peter Tosh was Killed by cybill E.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:And after the impact of his brutal murder hit the local and foreign press, what other sensation could one have imagined the bloodthirsty killers had in mind when they also massacred in one sitting?
Speaker A:Well known broadcaster and disc jockey Jeff Dixon Fry and another man known as Wilton Brown Santa Davis, survived to revisit this blood curdling tale, but not before Marlene Brown went through agony, as at first blush it was thought a bullet had lodged in the back of her head.
Speaker A:She went, as Jamaicans would say, to death's door.
Speaker A:It was a story that would be followed well beyond the shores of this beautiful Caribbean island.
Speaker A:Winston Mackintosh, known to his legions of fans as Peter Tosh the Stepping Razor.
Speaker A:He was known for his biting lyrics and radical disposition that endeared him to those who opposed the establishment.
Speaker A:To symbolize this, he carried a guitar in the shape of an M16 rifle, and it was, ironically, by the gun that he would meet his fate.
Speaker A:I can just imagine Mrs.
Speaker A:Hibbert there in her Sligoville home, perched at her battle station in front of an old Remington typewriter in her pulpy Film noir style.
Speaker A:She recounts most of the same details of the crime as the Supreme Court decision, however, with the added benefit of time and of course, her husband, Detective Hibbert.
Speaker A: Cybil's: Speaker A:Mrs.
Speaker A:Hibbert writes loban had been allowed to visit the Barbican Road residence from time to time and even became familiar with the trained dogs therein.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:Marlene Brown, who was also shot, played dead and survived.
Speaker A:Indeed, all persons present were shot after being ordered to lie face down on the floor.
Speaker A:The popular word on the street was that Loban felt betrayed after allegedly serving jail time in the place of Tosh.
Speaker A:But this was not the evidence that came out in court.
Speaker A:This is a crucial point that needs to be addressed.
Speaker A: e time I moved to Kingston in: Speaker A:The ghetto grapevine had this as a revenge killing.
Speaker A:It was personal.
Speaker A:Urban legend was that Lepo Loban, loyal friend and soldier, took a gun rap for Peter Tosh after being pulled over by the police.
Speaker A:Loban claimed Tash's gun was his and went to prison for his friend with the understanding the reggae singer would financially provide for his girlfriend and child while he was behind bars, only to learn that Peter Tosh reneged on his word that his family was hungry, destitute, out on the street begging for food.
Speaker A:So upon his release, Leppo exacted revenge for this betrayal.
Speaker A:That's quite moving, right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Pulls at the old heartstrings.
Speaker A:Hearing it, one might feel sympathy for Leppo, even be able to justify his actions.
Speaker A:Imagine going to jail for a friend, and because of his broken promise, your children are starving out in the streets.
Speaker A:It would drive any man to murder.
Speaker A:It's a good story.
Speaker A:Too good.
Speaker A:Too contrived.
Speaker A:First of all, we know what Leppo was arrested for and why he was in prison.
Speaker A:His only gun related charges were for robbery with aggravation, shooting with intent to kill and wounding with intent to kill.
Speaker A:Nothing resembling simple possession.
Speaker A:These were serious violent offenses.
Speaker A:The way the police hated, despised Peter Tosh.
Speaker A:If he was even remotely involved in an offense of that magnitude, he would have been dead on the spot.
Speaker A:As Sybil Hibbert points out in her piece, the revenge motive for the killing was never even mentioned in Court.
Speaker A:And never mind the trial.
Speaker A:Loban never even brought it up on the night of the murder.
Speaker A:We've heard every witness account of what happened in that house.
Speaker A:And at no time does Leppo call out Tosh for letting his children starve.
Speaker A:That would have been the first thing out of his mouth.
Speaker A:Furthermore, Leppo had been out of prison for seven months before the murder.
Speaker A:Hanging with Tosh, burning herb, chilling at Plymouth Avenue.
Speaker A:That doesn't exactly paint a picture of a desperate dad hell bent on revenge, does it?
Speaker A: And even In Timothy White's: Speaker A:No, that story shows up way later.
Speaker A:Most likely planted by professionals, part of an elaborate disinformation campaign surrounding the murders and muddying the waters.
Speaker A:The Jamaican government and police spokesmen had thrown out a kitchen sink full of motives for that night.
Speaker A:All lies, including drugs, gangs, money, the Marleys.
Speaker A:But nothing stuck or grabbed people's attention until the revenge killing theory emerged.
Speaker A:It was juicy and salacious, played into Tosh's dark reputation as a hothead and disruptor.
Speaker A:Just enough to make it believable, just enough to finally throw off the scent of the hounds tracking justice for Tash.
Speaker A:You know, a greater injustice than his unsolved murder is the way the system went about slandering his legacy, trashing his reputation after his death, in order to cover up and distract people from really taking a look at the motives behind that night.
Speaker A:And I love how Mrs.
Speaker A:Hibbert takes notice of overlooked, forgotten moments, knowing that one strategically placed line can shift an entire narrative on its head.
Speaker A:Like when she, Marlene Brown, was shot in the head, but lived.
Speaker A:When the men were about to leave, one of them observed, she's not dead.
Speaker A:He was about to turn back, but Loban commanded, come.
Speaker A:She's dead already.
Speaker A:So you mean to tell me, after all the drama, the shooting, the killing, the unknown assailant tells Leppo that Marlene isn't dead, goes back to kill her, and Leppo stops him, says, she's dead already.
Speaker A:The same Leppo, we've been told, is a crazed, bloodshot eyed killer who minutes earlier was frantically calling out Marlene as the cause of all this violence, is now sparing her a final bullet to the brain from the Tall Man.
Speaker A:It makes no sense, runs counter to every narrative.
Speaker A:Unless, of course, Leppo really isn't a killer and was coerced into being there that night.
Speaker A:Maybe he did fear for the welfare of his children, after all.
Speaker A:But that threat wasn't coming from Peter Tosh.
Speaker A:When it comes to the tale of Steve Russell, the getaway driver, Mrs.
Speaker A:Hibbert shifts gears on her typewriter, opting now for the raw, unfiltered words of her husband, the lead investigator in the case, by directly quoting entries from his personal journal.
Speaker A:She wants to be precise, wants nothing left unsaid.
Speaker A:She understood the most important part of any crime story wasn't the crime itself, but what it reveals about the people touched by it.
Speaker A:In this case, her husband.
Speaker A:From the journal of the Assistant Commissioner of Police, retired Isadore Dick Hibbert.
Speaker A:Steve Russell, a taxi driver of a St Andrew address, was taken into custody for questioning in connection with this investigation.
Speaker A:He revealed that prior to the murders he had been engaged by Leppo Loban to transport him and two men in his taxi to the Barbican residence of Tasch.
Speaker A:He was not advised as to the purpose of the visit.
Speaker A:On the night of the murders, Loban and two man boarded his taxi in the vicinity of the Carib theatre at Crossroads St.
Speaker A:Andrew.
Speaker A:As arranged, he was told by Loban to wait at a particular point while they went in the house.
Speaker A:Sometime after the three left, he heard several gunshots and then he saw Leppo and the other two men running towards his taxi.
Speaker A:All three men running, each with gun in hand.
Speaker A:According to Russell's story, Loban stated to him, drive, drive.
Speaker A:He'd been driving along Halfway Tree Road when he noticed a police radio car followed closely behind him.
Speaker A:Russell, in a statement, told how on reaching the vicinity of the Carib theater, Lepo Loban and the other two men jumped from the taxi and escaped.
Speaker A:The following morning, Russell heard on the news about the murders of Peter Tosh as well as the shootings of other persons at the Barbican residence to which he had transported Loban and the other two men.
Speaker A:As a result, the witness stated he went to see Police Constable Leonard Austin at Austin's home in Corville Gardens off Washington Boulevard.
Speaker A:He'd gone there to seek Austin's advice as to what he should do.
Speaker A:Austin told him to keep quiet, end quote.
Speaker A:That was the reason, according to Russell, he had not gone to the police station to report the matter.
Speaker A:I went to see Constable Austin.
Speaker A:I was accompanied by a team of detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department.
Speaker A:I told him what Russell had said and inquired of him whether it was true.
Speaker A:Austin said it was not.
Speaker A:I pointed out to him that a man's life depended heavily on his.
Speaker A:The Constable's story.
Speaker A:Austin replied, I never spoke to him.
Speaker A:Consequently, Russell was arrested and charged in connection with the murders of Peter Tosh Frye and Wilton Brown.
Speaker A:Loban was brought into CID headquarters by a Roman Catholic priest.
Speaker A:Sometime afterwards, he was interviewed briefly by me in connection with the names of the other two men who accompanied him to Tatch's Barbican Road residence on the night of the murders.
Speaker A:He refused to give their names or to give any information following a preliminary inquiry in Halfway Tree's resident Magistrates Court.
Speaker A:Both men subsequently appeared for trial in the Home Circuit Court.
Speaker A:At the end of the prosecution's case, Russell was acquitted.
Speaker A:Following a no case submission put forward by his counsel, the judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
Speaker A:Russell was discharged.
Speaker A:So we pick up the action in the getaway car right after the murders.
Speaker A:The frantic ride from the suburbs downtown.
Speaker A:Leppo wailing for Russell to drive a police radio car trailing close behind the group.
Speaker A:So the three gunmen spring from the moving bus and Russell heads home for the night.
Speaker A:But not before the squad car gets the license plate of the VW.
Speaker A:And soon after, we find Mr.
Speaker A:Russell face to face with Detective Hibbert, lead investigator in the Tosh case.
Speaker A:And the getaway driver spills all the beans.
Speaker A:He IDs Leppo Loban, and he tells the inspector that he works as a delivery driver for the store Hermes, located downtown, and occasionally uses their VW van for his side gig as a taxi man.
Speaker A:And unbeknownst to him, the round trip fare set up by the security guard at his job ended up being Uber passengers from hell.
Speaker A:He tells the detective when he hears about the murders on Plymouth Avenue, he immediately goes to the residence of Police Constable Leonard Austin to seek advice.
Speaker A:Once there, the constable tells Russell to, quote, keep quiet.
Speaker A:Which is why he never reports the incident to the police.
Speaker A:Okay, so we need to break this part down.
Speaker A:The story where Steve Russell shows up on the doorstep of Police Constable Austin the morning after the murders, seeking counsel from the cop, has to be one of the most confusing and inexplicable pieces of this entire puzzle.
Speaker A:We're never given any context for the visit.
Speaker A:Are they friends?
Speaker A:Relatives?
Speaker A:Associates?
Speaker A:Well, obviously not friends, because Constable Austin has absolutely no problem with throwing Russell under the proverbial VW bus by denying his visit to Detective Hibbert.
Speaker A:And here's the thing that makes no sense at all.
Speaker A:Steve Russell is going to be charged in connection with a triple homicide.
Speaker A:Facing life in prison, maybe even death, about to enter one of the most hostile prison Environments in the entire world.
Speaker A:A place where you need every friend you could find, where the only thing more dangerous than the inmates are the police and guards whose mercy you're at the hands of.
Speaker A:And yet, before getting locked up, Russell decides to make up some cockamamie story about going to the home of police constable Leonard Austin, confessing what happened at Tasha's home, and asking for advice on what to do.
Speaker A:Basically, we're to believe that Russell fabricated this entire lie, dragging Austin's name into the middle of a high profile murder investigation, drawing unwanted attention and scrutiny on the police officer for no apparent reason.
Speaker A:Oh, that is a great way to make friends and influence people on death row.
Speaker A:What would be the purpose of that hoax?
Speaker A:I mean, every freshman college kid knows when you visit Jamaica and you have an issue with the police, you shut up.
Speaker A:The last thing you do is piss off a friggin cop.
Speaker A:So why in the world would a street savvy hustler like Steve Russell risk his freedom, his health, his life by making up this false claim about going to visit Constable Austin the morning after the crime?
Speaker A:It lacks any rational explanation, except for one, which I'm sure Detective Hibbert deduced that was that Steve Russell was telling the truth.
Speaker A:He did go to see Austin and it was the police officer who was lying.
Speaker A:Why else would the lead investigator, Hibbert, decide to pay a personal visit to the constable, bring a team of detectives from CID to the meeting and document it all in his journal?
Speaker A:Hibbert, the Wylie veteran, felt something was amiss, pleads with Austin that a man's life depends heavily on his story, this being the opportune time to change any statements.
Speaker A:Still, Austin denies ever speaking to Russell, who is then arrested and taken into custody.
Speaker A:Hibbert had his doubts, but he was a man who chose his battles wisely.
Speaker A:This was neither the time or place to side with a murder suspect over one of his own.
Speaker A:For Steve Russell, the getaway driver, the story has a happy ending.
Speaker A:He's eventually exonerated for the murders, finds the Lord and becomes a minister to a church in Spanish Town, Jamaica, where he often leads his congregation in singing the music of Peter Tosh.
Speaker A:Dick Hibbert closed his journal as the rain tapped against his zinc roof.
Speaker A:The case was closed on paper, but not in his gut.
Speaker A:He would not forget that encounter with the young constable Austin.
Speaker A:There was a darkness behind those eyes.
Speaker A:Whatever Austin was hiding, it would surface someday.
Speaker A:And when it did, Detective Dick Hibbert would be there, his journal in hand.
Speaker A:On our next episode, we explore another crime that rocked the nation with eerie similarities to the Peter Tosh murder.
Speaker A:Just a coincidence.
Speaker A:We'll find out more when I play excerpts of my conversation with music historian and authority Roger Steffens, where he reveals new details about the gunman.
Speaker D:Well, I, I knew people who were there, of course, and I talked to a couple of them when their memories were.
Speaker D:Were very fresh.
Speaker D:Almost immediately after it happened, a couple of them, I.
Speaker D:I don't want to give their names, said that they suspected the.
Speaker D:The two other shooters that came with Leppo were quite striking.
Speaker D:They were very tall, and they identified them as.
Speaker A:Produced by Henry King.
