[caption id="attachment_71862" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Vincent Robinson."]
The family of a Belfast man who was found dead in suspicious circumstances in New York four years ago are calling on police to reopen his case.
35-year-old Vincent Robinson's body was discovered by his girlfriend in his Woodside apartment in Queens during the late evening/early morning of July 4-5, 2008.
Robinson's naked body was discovered on the hallway floor. The autopsy report said he died by hanging and his death has been recorded as suicide.
However, his family in Belfast are not convinced and believe he was murdered. Crime scene photographs and the autopsy report show abrasions to the upper body as well as a wound to the back of the head.
Vincent Robinson left Belfast for New York in April 2007 to make a better life for himself. The previous month his friend Joe Jones was killed by the Continuity IRA after being viciously beaten and then murdered with a spade in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.
Eddie Burns was also shot dead by the CIRA in the west of the city on the same night. The Robinson family doesn't believe that Vincent's death has any connection to the double murder.
At the time of his death, Vincent was working illegally in New York as a laborer on building sites. According to those who knew him he was a popular member of the Irish community in Queens.
However, the Irish Echo can now reveal that pressure is mounting on police to reopen the case after an independent report into Vincent Robinson's death.
According to Derek Carson, the former Deputy State Pathologist for Northern Ireland, there are several discrepancies about how the body was found that suggest that the death was not by suicide. Carson also has other concerns which raise further doubt on the original police investigation.
In his report for the family he writes: "There were also unexplained injuries of two types on the body. Firstly on the back of the head there was quite a substantial blunt impact injury, measured by the pathologist at 1 3/4 inches and with associated bruising indicating that the injury was caused prior to death.
"This injury has not been explained and the position of the body and the apparent absence of any bloody stain on the side of the stair does not suggest that it could have occurred during a hanging process.
"Secondly, there were a number of linear abrasions/shallow lacerations visible on the front of the neck and extending quite sharply downwards and from left to right. Further linear abrasions can be seen on the photographs, on the abdomen/ lower chest and on the front of the left forearm.
"Self-inflicted wounds with suicidal intent normally run horizontally across the front and sides of the neck, and across the front of the wrist(s), and not in the angles seen in these photographs. These injuries have not been explained in the autopsy reports."
Carson concluded his report by saying that the latter wounds were "apparently made by a knife."
Vincent's aunt, Magdalene Robinson, said Carson's report backs up the family's belief that her nephew was murdered.
"There are so many contradictions surrounding the night he died which adds to the confusion and our suspicions," she said.
"Hours before he was found he'd been on the phone to his former partner in Belfast making plans for his children to come over to New York to visit him. He was so looking forward to that.
"Then some people said he was drunk while others said he was completely sober. But not only are there now inconsistencies with people's stories but there are now inconsistencies around his injuries.
"What we want now is for the police in New York to re-examine the case and to follow the forensics. If that means interviewing witnesses again, then so be it.
"Vincent went to New York to better his life and died in circumstances that are far from clear. The family need answers and we won't be satisfied until we get them.
"If anyone can cast any light into what happened to Vincent that night please contact the NYPD and tell them what you know," she said.
The family is also calling for anyone with information to contact the group Relatives For Justice in Belfast which is assisting them in their case at 011-44-2890-627171, or their attorney in New York, Eamon Dornan at (718)707-9997. Magdalene Robinson can also be emailed at megrobinson@hotmail.co.uk.
