The boy attempted to pass off, as his own, his father’s wet underwear that had been hanging from a clothes line. The revelation came from a detective constable during the second day of trial in the Westmoreland Circuit Court.
The 13-year-old boy is accused of raping, buggering, and killing a nine-year-old girl he knew.
As outlined in a post-mortem report in court on Wednesday, she died of asphyxia caused by manual strangulation. She also had lacerations of the vagina and anus. Both the accused and victim are under the age of 18 and their identities, as well as some individuals giving testimony and the name of their community are being withheld to protect both minors.
During his testimony the detective told the court that, as part of his investigation, he went to the home of the accused and asked for items such as the boy’s school uniform, shoes, and underwear. With his father looking on, the boy complied but later tried to deceive the police when asked to present his underwear.
The detective told the court that the boy told him he had taken a bath and his underwear was washed and placed on the clothes line. He complied when asked to take the detective to the underwear in question. However, the detective was surprised when he was shown a wet and “unusually large” underwear. The detective noted that even though the boy was tall and stout, “it could not be his.
It was bigger than him”. The detective then asked the boy to show him other underwear he had and was presented with four of similar size. These, he said, were more likely to fit the accused in comparison to the one he had been shown earlier. “I became very suspicious of what was shown to me earlier. The underwear that was shown to me earlier outside in comparison to the four I saw did not match.
So, I requested that he take off the underwear that he was wearing,” the lawman told the court. He testified that the boy’s blue and grey boxer-type underclothes had a “darkish stain to the front section of the underwear”. “I became very interested of what I observed on the underwear and I took possession of it,” the detective said in responding to questions marshalled by Renelle Morgan from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The boy’s khaki pants also had a green discolouration to the knee section of both legs, the detective stated.
“I took possession of it and informed [the accused] that he is a suspect in the murder of… [the victim] and cautioned him,” said the detective. The accused then forcefully retorted, “Mi nuh know nutten bout dat!” the detective said. When later asked if he knew the victim, the boy replied in the affirmative, the detective said from the stand. Earlier in the day, the court had heard testimony from the victim’s mother.
The prosecution and the defence also agreed to accept the statements of the police and doctor who did the post-mortem. The five statements were then entered into evidence as numbered exhibits. Four of the exhibits are from the police and the other from a doctor.
The case is being heard by Supreme Court Judge Courtney Daye. The prosecution is led by Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn, supported by Morgan and Loriann Thugwell. The defence is led by Denley Saddoo and supported by Devon Brown.
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