A relative of missing woman, Vincia James, and a police officer who specialises in forensic investigations were the witnesses who took the stand yesterday in the ongoing murder trial of Mikhail Gomes.
Gomes is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, James, who has not been seen or heard from since April 7 2017.
The prosecution – led by Oris Sullivan, Director of Public Prosecutions in Montserrat – first called the great-grandmother of James’ child, who shared details of an alleged disagreement between Gomes and James which supposedly left James in tears.
The woman visibly struggled to piece together the timeline of that incident, which led the defence, through attorney Lawrence Daniels, to question her ability to see without glasses, which she confirmed she wears occasionally, in regard to her identifying a vehicle the defendant was supposedly driving.
The second witness then detailed a number of items found in the North Sound area in October 2021, several years after James’ disappearance.
The items, which were scrutinised by both the prosecution and the defence, included bank, ID and insurance cards supposedly belonging to James and her son, as well as other personal things including feminine hygiene items.
It was previously suggested that the police had discovered items belonging to James, but those speculations were only confirmed during yesterday’s court sitting.
James, a mother-of-one, was last seen on surveillance camera leaving her Old Parham Road workplace, Dixie Operations Ltd, shortly after 1pm on April 7 2017, and despite several search activities soon after, her body was never recovered.
Gomes was charged with her murder some time after her disappearance, but denies killing her. Prosecutors, however, believed there was enough circumstantial evidence to proceed with a trial.
The trial is set to continue Wednesday at 9am.
