First witnesses take the stand in landmark judge-only murder trial

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By Latrishka Thomas

[email protected]

The first witnesses took the stand yesterday in the inaugural judge-only murder trial of Jeffrey Daniel.

The prosecution alleges that Daniel is responsible for the murder of David Roberts on May 21 2021 in Newfield.

Five witnesses were called to testify on the first day of the trial, shedding light on the events surrounding the fateful night.

The first witness to appear was Jessica Roberts, the wife of the deceased, who shared details about the events leading up to the tragic incident.

She told the court that Daniel was once in a relationship with her daughter and the step-daughter of the deceased and that on May 16 2021 at around 9pm he entered their Newfield home looking for his ex-girlfriend but Roberts asked him to leave because his step-daughter did not wish to speak to him.

Fast forward to May 21 that year, Jessica recalled that while she and her husband were in bed, her daughter came into their room and told David Roberts that Daniel was in the yard.

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Jeffrey Daniel (File photo)

She said he went downstairs and she heard a commotion and heard her husband saying “me tell you for nuh come back in my yard”.

According to her, there were also some chopping noises and then her husband’s voice faded away.

Jessica said she left her bed and went downstairs, opened the door and saw Daniel standing beside a car looking directly at her with her husband’s cutlass – which she described as sharp and not having a handle – in his hand.

“Jeffrey dropped the cutlass and walked forward towards the tank and turned it on and washed blood off his head and said ‘the man chop me nuh’,” she recalled.

She said she then closed the door and the accused was banging on it asking questions which she couldn’t recall in her testimony.

Her husband was nowhere in sight and when she went back upstairs her daughter said to call the police which she did.

The police arrived in about half an hour to an hour and spoke to her and pointed out the cutlass on the floor, she said.

Her husband was still nowhere to be seen but after the police left she went back to bed and waited for her husband to turn up.

When the sun came up, Jessica says she went looking for Roberts and found his slippers outside the yard and then saw a trail of blood.

She said she went to his garage and “I saw my husband bleeding beside a car. One of his hands was on the car. I checked his pulse and didn’t feel anything. I started crying and started panicking. I was in shock and I kept running back and forth,” she told the court.

She said although she couldn’t see his face she recognised his boxers, head shape and body.

In cross examination, the defence – represented by attorney Wendel Alexander, formerly known as Robinson, and Wayne Marsh – questioned if the witness stayed inside despite hearing a commotion and she affirmed.

He also tried to establish through this witness that the deceased was the one who went out with a weapon.

The next witness, Jahmina Jackson, was the step-daughter of the deceased.

She had been in a relationship with Daniel for nine years but broke up three years prior to the incident due to his refusal to stop drinking, she told the court.

On May 16 2021, she said she heard Daniel climbing a ladder near her bedroom window, leading to her mother shouting at him.

However, it was on May 21 that the situation escalated. Jackson was in bed when she heard a car window shatter and an alarm go off. The car in question belonged to David and was parked in their yard.

She said she saw her stepfather grab his cutlass and go outside, and a scuffle ensued. Jackson couldn’t see the details but heard Daniel say, “wa you hit me for”.

Later, she witnessed Daniel washing blood off his face when she went downstairs and peeped through a crack in a door.

She said the police were called and they spoke to her mom, searched the area and left.

The next morning she said she walked down the road to a garage and saw the deceased in a sitting position slumped over with blood all over him.

During cross-examination, the defence suggested that Jackson and the deceased still had communication and even engaged in sexual activities after their breakup, but she claimed not to recall.

When questioned about why she didn’t go outside during the ordeal, she responded, “no reason”.

Otis Archibald, a corporal who was attached to Freetown Police Station at the time, told the court that he was the one who responded to a report of a trespasser on May 16 and was also the one who handed over the bloody cutlass to another officer by removing it from a secure vault.

In cross examination, it was revealed that he did not know how the cutlass got into the vault.

Constable Jamie Williams, who was stationed at the same police station at the time of the alleged murder, said he and a corporal responded to the call from Jessica on May 21 and had difficulty following the directions to the house but got there in about 15 minutes.

He said he was told of the altercation and was shown the cutlass which he took up and carried back to the police vehicle where the corporal was waiting.

Contrary to Jessica’s evidence, this witness claimed he was told by the wife that the deceased washed his hands and face and then ran down the road.

Officer Archibald also claimed to have seen a broken car glass but was unsure of how it broke.

He said after speaking to Jessica they searched for hours for both men but never found them.

The defence attorney sought to ascertain whether this witness searched the garage but he said he was not aware of its existence but searched nearby bushes.

The lawyer also questioned why he didn’t call for back-up and he essentially stated that it was not necessary.

Corporal Lauriston Nelson then testified to accompanying officer Williams to the home of the deceased on May 21 and observing from by the police vehicle.

He was also at the scene when the body was found.

Another police witness also took the stand before the matter was adjourned until today.

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