By Samantha Simon
Testimony of the officer first on scene at Indian Creek on April 13 2020 – when Bruce Greenaway’s body was discovered – wrapped up yesterday morning, followed by one of the three males who found the body taking to the stand.
Four people are on trial for killing the Falmouth father-of-two three years ago. They are police officer Jason Modeste, and Defence Force soldiers Shakiel Thomas, Armal Warner, and Aliyah Martin.
The second witness yesterday was one of two owners of a farm in the Indian Creek area. He had allegedly been there to check on his farm with two other employees to tend to the animals as well as to check on fish pots they had set in the cove that they checked on a weekly basis.
According to the witness, he and the employees arrived at the Indian Creek location at approximately 2pm and he proceeded to board his windsurfing board to go in search of a missing kayak they suspected might have been washed away by the tide while one of the other employees went to launch a boat to go check on the fish pots.
During the time when the witness was on the water, he reportedly saw what appeared to be persons up in the area known as Block House in Shirley Heights. This was later revealed to him to be officers who were allegedly performing patrols in the area.
The witness claims that whilst out searching the western part of the cove from the water, he spotted what appeared to be human feet to the west of the boat and instructed his employee to check further.
Upon seeing the body, his employee stated that they should leave and then ran from the area while the witness took a closer look and identified that it was in fact human feet clad in boots.
He and his employees then returned to their vehicle and went back to the farm where the witness questioned his employees as to whether either of them were aware of anyone being missing from social media posts or other sources but was met with negative responses.
They then proceeded to head towards the Dockyard Police Station but were intercepted along the dirt road leading away from Indian Creek.
The witness disclosed that while he did have a phone on him at the time, he was not certain if his employees did, and no effort was made by any of them to directly call 911 or the Dockyard Police Station.
When asked why they were out after the then enforced curfew hours of 12 noon, the witness says that he informed the officer that they had a curfew pass, but that there was a bigger issue currently.
He then explained their discovery of the body, and the witness and one of his employees joined the officer and his comrades in the police vehicle before the remaining employee went back towards Falmouth to seek the other owner of the farm, who was the brother of the witness.
After they returned to Indian Creek, the witness directed the officer in charge to the western area of the cove, at which point, upon witnessing the body, the Dockyard Police Station was contacted.
The witness then went on to say that he remained in the area until approximately 7pm, during which time he came in contact with a member of the deceased’s family whom he says identified the body.
The defending counsel, however, challenged this statement, stating that while the person was there, she had not at the time identified the body.
When asked if he had seen any other things that appeared out of the norm in the area, the witness admitted that he had seen what appeared to be tyre tracks belonging to a vehicle that seemed to have turned around upon meeting the barrier chain which bore a combination lock that blocked a portion of the road that led into the farm.
He also claims to have seen what appeared to be a blue latex glove on the side of the dirt path from April 9-13 but said the item was nowhere to be found on April 14 when he returned to his farm.
He did not report these two findings to officers until several days later when he made his official statement at Cedar Grove.
The witness was questioned as to the number of animals he has lost in the time he has had the farm and he reported that he has lost a significant number of sheep and goats and has made reports to the police with no success.
He was asked if he had ever made any threats towards anyone who trespassed on his farm should he discover them but he denied this.
Further questioning revealed that DNA samples had supposedly not been collected from the witness and he did not recall any such samples being taken from either of his employees.
He also disclosed that he knew both the deceased and the first arriving officer from their presence in the community but was not personally acquainted with the officer.
He described the deceased as “very slick with his mouth and always making jokes”.
The trial was adjourned at 4:22pm and will resume Thursday at 9am.