The family of a convicted armed robber claim he was killed after taking heroin laced with rat poison ? and say the authorities are refusing to hold an inquiry.

Last year the coroner ruled out an inquest into the death of Rupert Elroy (Roy) Archibald because an autopsy concluded the former prisoner died of natural causes in July 2002.

Archibald had been serving a 30-year sentence for his part in the 1997 armed robbery of the Somerset branch of the Bank of Bermuda.

But the family allege his death was tied to the murder case against his 39-year-old brother Stanford Glenfield (Monk) Archibald who was convicted last summer for the 1985 killing of Aaron Easton.

The Crown used convicted murderer Troy Shorter as a witness in that case.

In a letter sent to the Island?s media, Archibald?s eldest brother Larry wrote: ?My sense is that as long as Roy was around the Police could not proceed with their plan to convict Monk.

?Their Crown witness was afraid to testify so the case was continuously delayed. Then one day out of the blue we hear that Roy has died.?

Earlier in the letter the deceased?s relatives spoke of Roy, who was 41 when he died, of being a ?political prisoner who was perceived as a menace to some who felt threatened by his presence?.

?They were intimidated as Roy never conformed to the colonial system. Because he was fearless his presence was felt.?

During Stanford Archibald?s trial Shorter admitted to lying to defence counsel but claimed he?d done so because he was afraid of Rupert (Roy) Archibald who shared the same cell block ? even though defence counsel pointed out that Rupert Archibald died on July 15, 2002 and yet he continued to lie to them after that.

In the letter Archibald?s mother and brother wrote: ?After Roy?s passing a quick date was passed for the Stanford?s case.

?He was sentenced to life after the testimony of Crown witness Troy Shorter.

?The murdered man?s mother stated in the media after the conviction that even she does not believe the right man has been convicted.

?With the ?deal? now complete, Shorter, who was sentenced to life, is out of Westgate on work release and is due to be released from the prison facility. His pending release has been kept quiet from the public.?

Shorter had been convicted of the July, 1986 murder of Roger Redman in which the Hayward?s Supermarket owner was shot in the back of the head with a 0.38 calibre handgun during a hold-up.

Shorter was sentenced to hang in March, 1989 but his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in March, 1989 by the Governor.

Rupert (Roy) Archibald had also been convicted in relation to the Redman incident. He was originally sentenced to life plus 24 years on charges of murder, attempted murder, armed robbery and using firearms.

On appeal, however, the murder and attempted murder convictions were quashed and Archibald?s sentence was reduced to 15 years in total of which he had served ten.

Less than one year later he did the Somerset bank job. understands Shorter is at the half-way house Transitional Living Centre next to Westgate. Director Sharon Swan would neither confirm nor deny that.

She referred to the bad publicity surrounding the release of child murderer Chesterfield Johnson. ?I know that the publicity did at that time, it did nothing but make the public all excited.?

Shorter escaped from prison in 1991 and was on the run for five months. He was hiding in an attic when he was captured, and said he would rather die than return to prison. He then tried to commit suicide and tied a cable around his neck before leaping from the attic.

The Archibald family are demanding to know what the authorities are hiding over the death of Rupert after pointing out that inquiries were being held into the death of Steven (Pepe) Dill and Heys (Bucky) Marshall Johnston.

An autopsy revealed Mr. Archibald died of a heart attack, or a myocardial infarction, which was brought on by natural causes as he was being taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in an ambulance on July 15 last year after complaining of chest pains at Westgate.

But the family said the reason why there had been no inquest was because Roy had taken heroin laced with rat poison.

Larry Archibald wrote: ?Roy was an illicit drug user while incarcerate and had no problems getting drugs while at Westgate. He used to say when there was nothing (drugs) on the street there was definitely a supply at the facility.

?My brother was a user of heroin which is a downer. This substance alone cannot cause a heart attack but if it was laced with rat poison this could explain the heart attack and hence no inquest.?

At the time of Archibald?s death stories surfaced that illegal drugs taken by inmates had been mixed with contaminates after four prisoners were taken to hospital suffering from chest pains.

Mr. Archibald claimed in his letter drugs could only get in via prison staff and that someone high up had been responsible for the drugs getting to his brother ? even if an inmate was used as a go between.

He claimed his brother never usually got sick but had complained of chest pains and had been given indigestion medication on the day of his death. He then felt worse and, according to Mr. Archibald, inmates had said prison staff took a long time before tending to him.

?We therefore believe if he had been given emergency care immediately my brother might have still been alive today. This is the conspiracy the political authorities, the Police and the prison authorities tried to cover up.

?Personally I sense that Roy?s death was politically motivated and that is the reason nothing has been done.

?The way my brother?s situation has been handled is nothing more than shabby. No-one ever notified the family of the conditions surrounding Roy?s death. The family to date has never seen a Police report. We were never notified there was to be no inquest and the case will be closed.

?Rather my family found out from news reports that this would be the case.

?As long as the so called authorities of the law do not do anything, there will be no closure to my brother?s death and the so called justice system further undermined.

?We strongly feel that Roy?s passing caused the unexpected death of my father Rupert Sr., exactly two months after the tragic event. The following year of both deaths my youngest brother gets convicted for murder and sentenced to life.

?Through these events 60 percent of my immediate family has been annihilated. My mother and I demand an explanation through an inquiry into Elroy?s death and nothing less.?

He said efforts to get an explanation from the Home Office Ministry had been unsuccessful.

Shortly after his death Government said Archibald had suffered a heart attack as he was being rushed to hospital by ambulance.

Although doctors and nurses administered life-saving measures, Archibald was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival, roughly an hour and a half after the initial report.

Calls to Acting Home Affairs Minister Michael Scott and Prison Commissioner John Prescod were not returned yesterday.