Murdered Police Officer Trial Begins
By Suelika N. Buchanan
(Basseterre; St. Kitts): The trial of Romeo Cannonier, the man accused of killing Constable Delvin Nisbett, commenced at the Basseterre High Court, on Monday 15th October.
The prosecution alleges that Cannonier murdered Nisbett on July, 25, 2004 in the Dieppe Bay area.
In their opening statement, the prosecution pressed to prove that Cannonier did in fact shoot Nisbett several times, in his head, back, chest and abdomen, effectively killing him and they also sought to build on the pathologist’s report, which stated that Nisbett died as a result of hemorrhage and shock.
The prosecution also argued that Nisbett’s DNA was found on some money that Cannonier had in his possession.
About thirty witnesses are expected to testify in the case, on behalf of the prosecution, including the girlfriend of Cannonier, who said he had confessed to killing Nisbett and had given reasons as to why.
The first witness who was called to testify was the mother of Constable Nisbett, Gloria Nisbett.
In her testimony, she said that she now owns the shop on Main Street, Tabernacle, which belonged to her son, up until the time of his untimely death. He was just 32 years old and was in the Police Force for ten years.
She noted that on July 25th, 2004, she visited him at his shop and helped him close up, after he counted his earnings for that day. The day’s earnings were approximately EC$ 2000.
Gloria disclosed that Constable Nisbett placed the money in his pocket, after which both of them left the shop to catch a bus. She took a bus which was traveling east, in the direction of Christ Church where she lived.
The mother of the deceased then testified, amidst spurts of tears, that the next time she saw her son was at the funeral home, after he was killed.
The second witness was Monica Williams Cannonier, who was the girlfriend of the deceased. She noted that she and Constable Nisbett were involved for three years and had a son together.
Williams Cannonier also testified that she was fully aware that the accused is her cousin.
She said that she last saw Nisbett on July 22, 2004, and last spoke to him on July 25th, around 9 p.m.
The next witness to testify was Beverly Carey, a pre-school teacher who said she was traveling on the same bus as the deceased. She noted that the Constable Nisbett disembarked the bus in Saddlers and headed in the Dieppe Bay direction.
Two other witnesses, Yvonne James, a pre-school teacher, and Vincent Huggins, a worker at Beaumont Park, both testified, in court, stating that they walked with the deceased at different times on the night of July 25th.
Dion Daniel, a Bus Driver/Electrician of Dieppe Bay, testified that he saw Nisbett walking along the Main Road, in the direction of Dieppe Bay, while he was taking some passengers to Parsons Village.
Daniel said that he let off the passengers in Parsons and headed towards the Dieppe Bay area.
“As I travelled, I heard two shots and as I got closer I saw two men in a crouched position wrestling,” he said.
Daniel said that he was driving slowly at that time and was unable to identify who the persons were.
He stated that he heard two more shots and saw one of the men stumble into the street and collapsed.
“Then I saw the other man walk over to the other guy, bend over and fire several more shots at him,” he added.
Daniel said that he was still unable to identify the persons and reversed his bus and travelled back to Parsons Village to call for help.
He noted that a half an hour after, he travelled back to the scene where he saw the incident occur and he saw people gathered around and realized that it was Nisbett lying in a pool of blood.
In the cross-examination, Lawyer Hesketh Benjamin asked Daniel how long he had known the accused for.
To which the witness said for almost twenty years.
“So can you say for certain that you saw the accused that night?” Benjamin asked.
“No, I can’t say,” answered Daniel.
The trial continues through today, October 16th, as the jurors will hear from the prosecution and other witnesses.
