The two men accused of murdering Gary “Fingas” Cann have been found not guilty by a majority verdict.

After more than five hours of deliberation by the twelve person jury, Zikai Cann, 24, and Jermaine Simmons, 38, were acquitted of premeditated murder and using a firearm in shooting of “Fingas” Cann, who was shot dead outside of his girlfriend’s home on Sound View Road, Sandys.

Crown counsel Loxly Ricketts said the shooting was the result of a dispute between Parkside and Money Over Bitches (MOB), two of the Island’s gangs.

While the victim was a member of the North Hamilton-based Parkside gang, Mr Ricketts told the court the defendants were involved with the Sandys-based MOB.

While Mr Rickets had told the jury it was unclear who pulled the trigger, both defendants played a role in the killing, hiding in wait in a garden until the couple arrived.

Zikai Cann was found not guilty on both charges by a vote of nine to three, while Mr Simmons was cleared of the same charges by a vote of eleven to one.

The court head that at around 10.20pm on December 15, 2009, the couple had just arrived at the home when a gunman emerged from the darkness and opened fire.

The victim was struck by a single bullet, which passed through his arm and into his chest.

Mr Rickets noted witness testimony, which put both defendants on a motorcycle leaving the area moments after the shooting, and a jacket and jeans which were found the day after the shooting at Zikai Cann’s girlfriend’s home.

The clothing was found to contain both Zikai Cann’s DNA, but component particles of gun shot residue (GSR).

According to phone records, the girlfriend, Tiffany Eatherly, texted a friend on the evening of the shooting saying something had happened and her “boy” would be dropping off some clothes at her house.

Mr Ricketts said that while Zikai Cann’s mother took the stand, telling the jury her son was at home at the time of the shooting, her evidence was inconsistent with the facts before the court, suggesting that she was lying in order to protect her son.

And while Mr Simmons did not take the stand, Mr Ricketts noted his police interview, in which he claimed he had merely “heard of” his co-defendant and knew nothing about either MOB or Parkside.

“He may be the only Bermudian who has no idea what MOB is, no idea what Parkside is,” Mr Ricketts said. “Does that sound like something which is plausible? Reliable?”

However defence lawyer Craig Attridge, representing Mr Simmons, said his comments were clarified later in the interview when he explained that he thought Bermuda’s gangs were nothing compared to gangs overseas.

Mr Attridge argued that the only evidence linking his client to the murder was the testimony of a single witness, rife with inconsistencies and discrepancies.

While the witness — who cannot be named — told the court he saw both defendants on a motorcycle at the junction of Sound View Road and Somerset Road shortly after the shooting, Mr Attridge said he told police a day after the murder he couldn’t recognise either man on the cycle.

And while he told the court the men stopped at the junction for as long as 25 seconds, he had told police they had run right past the stop sign at high speed without slowing.

Mr Attridge said: “What he’s told you and the police four-and-a-half years later is either a figment of his imagination or a reality he has created and very much believes but bears little resemblance to the truth.”

Charles Richardson, representing Zikai Cann also noted the witnesses’ changing version of events, questioning why two people who supposedly just committed a murder would stop to obey a traffic sign while making their getaway.

And he suggested that the murder may have been committed by members of the St Monica’s Road, Pembroke based 42 gang, noting that the firearm used in the shooting was found on the property of Jakai Harford — an alleged 42 member and the brother of murder victim Kumi Harford.

Mr Richardson asked: “Do you really think one gang is going to share guns with another? Really?”

Admitting the jacket did have his client’s DNA, it also contained the DNA of at least three others and there was nothing to indicate his client had been wearing the jacket on the evening of the shooting.

“There’s not one indication of a red and black jacket being worn by any one of the defendants or any one involved in this crime,” Mr Richards said.