BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FOUR of nine prosecution witnesses have so far testified in the murder trial of Delvin ‘Jeremiah’ Benjamin, which began today (June 16).
Benjamin is accused of murdering 37-year-old Steve ‘Steam Fish’ Pemberton of Ottley’s Village at about 11:25 p.m. on August 23, 2008.
Senior Counsels Dr. Henry Browne and Hesketh Benjamin are representing the accused while Crown Counsel Rhonda Nisbett-Browne is lead prosecutor in the matter.
The first prosecution witness called to give evidence was Dr. Stephen Jones, a registered medical practitioner in St. Kitts and a Consultant Pathologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados.
Jones told the court that he performed the autopsy on Pemberton’s body and found that he received a total of 10 gunshot wounds about his abdomen and lower limbs and died as a result of hemorrhage and shock.
Jones also gave an overview of the areas on Pemberton’s body where each bullet wound was located.
The prosecutor asked the doctor if a person would be able to speak with such injuries, to which the doctor replied, “The injuries did not affect any organs that had to do with speech.”
During his cross-examination, Dr. Browne asked how tall the victim was and the specific parts of the body where the wounds were inflicted.
Jones said that the victim was about 5’6” tall and the majority of his wounds were on the left side of his body, while there was only one wound on the right.
It was also revealed during the cross-examination that there were a cluster of wounds on the left bottom and thigh and also on the lower leg.
The doctor also said the bullets were in the upright position.
The second witness to testify was Pemberton’s sister; a waitress who resides in Newtown.
She told the court that she identified her brother’s body to Officer Bergan at the Joseph N. France Hospital’s Morgue at about 10:55 a.m. on August 28, 2008.
Woman Police Constable Gleneava Shaw, who was stationed at the Cayon Police Station at the time of the incident, was the third witness.
Constable Shaw said that at about 11:26 p.m. on the day in question, a female called the police station and told her something and she informed two police officers who were at the station.
Shaw said she received another call and informed the Emergency Medical Service of the contents of the conversation.
The final witness for the day was a resident of Ottley’s Village.
The witness said they had known the deceased since 1990 and the accused since he was a baby.
On the day in question, the witness told the court they had awakened to a startling noise which sounded like that made on zinc.
The person said they looked at the time and saw that it was 11:11 p.m., and when they were about to look outside they heard the sounds of feet running through their yard.
The witness also said they heard another strange noise which sounded like a gunshot.
They witness further told the court that they attempted to make a phone call but their cellular phone fell and they tried to crawl from where they were to their bedroom to use the house phone to alert officers at the Cayon Police Station.
The witness added that after the second shot, she had heard a series of other gunshots, by which time their mother and daughter were awakened from their sleep.
The trial continues tomorrow before His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas at the Basseterre High Court.
