BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SIGHS of relief were heard from family members of Charles ‘Abaloo’ Matthew yesterday afternoon (July 9) when a 12-member jury returned a unanimous verdict convicting Wycliffe ‘Wicked’ Liburd of his murder.
Since last week, the jury has been listening to witnesses of the prosecution, some of which recounted the moments prior to, during and following the fateful incident that occurred at about 10:45 a.m. at Lower Shaw Avenue on April 18, 2008.
Two of the prosecution’s witnesses testified that they witnessed the shooting incident, and while one said he did not know who the perpetrator of the crime was, the other repeatedly and categorically named Liburd as the shooter.
Also set before the jury was evidence from the defence. Liburd took the witness stand and, on oath, swore that he was not in the McKnight area when the incident occurred, but rather in the vicinity of the Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore Judicial and Legal Services Complex. He said he was there lending support to his friend Denzil ‘Para’ Williams who had a case at the Magistrate’s Court.
Liburd also produced three witnesses. Williams was one of them and he vouched for Liburd’s whereabouts between 10:30 and 11:30 on the day of the shooting, while the other two told the court that they had witnessed the shooting incident from beginning to end.
Their version of the incident varied significantly from that of the two key prosecution witnesses. However, it was apparent that the jury found the evidence of the prosecution witnesses to be true and that of the defence to be otherwise.
After lengthy closing statements from the prosecution leader, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paulina Hendrickson and defence counsel Vincent Warner, the trial judge, His Lordship Justice Francis Belle, provided a comprehensive summation of the evidence for members of the jury and gave them their instructions in accordance with the law.
The jury emerged after a 15-minute deliberation and, as the verdict was read, a stoic Liburd stood and listened to the decision of the men and women in whose hands his fate rested.
His Lordship ordered that a psychiatric evaluation and a social inquiry report be compiled; however, a date for their submission to the court has not yet been set. Nonetheless, His Lordship ordered that Liburd be brought back to court on Thursday, July 23 for a “preliminary session” during which a sentencing hearing date is expected to be set and other matters dealt with.
Before leaving the courtroom, Liburd was informed by His Lordship that the DPP has submitted written notice to the court that she would be seeking the ultimate penalty - death by hanging.
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