BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE prosecution which was led by Rhonda Nisbett-Browne told the court that Marsham was killed in a cruel manner by the hands of Alpha Duporte and was just in his prime at age 24.
She said the issue of identification is extremely important and that witnesses said it was Duporte they saw.
She said the first witness, Jessica Gumbs, who has known Duporte since he was a baby said she heard a commotion and saw some boys by a Tamrind Tree which is near the main road between Godwin Ghut and Halfway Tree.
Nisbett-Browne reminded the jury that Gumbs said it was Duporte she saw with a gun standing over Marsham firing shots.
“No one or nothing was blocking her view; he was not masked; she saw his face. Her evidence strongly supports the fact that Alpha committed the crime,” she said.
The next witness’ evidence the prosecution referred to was that of Royden Gumbs, who was coming out of a shop on the day of the murder, and saw “Alpha and his people them”.
Kyam Veira also said he saw someone who appeared to be Duporte and said he remembers seeing the person who was shooting wearing a white jersey and shooting from behind a tamrind tree.
Sister of Dexter Marsham and also mother of Duporte’s son, Jacintha Marsham said that on July 18, 2009, Duporte came to pick up her son and was wearing a white jersey, a black tam, black shoes and black or brown pants.
The evidence from Barbadian Pathologist Dr. Stephen Jones who performed the post mortem on the late Marsham said that he had five gunshot wounds and he recovered two bullets from his body.
“Shooting was done intentionally and caused the death of one man and wounded others… Raga was behaving real raga that day,” said the prosecution.
Senior Counsels Dr. Henry Browne and Hesketh Benjamin are representing Duporte and during his closing arguments, Browne questioned loop holes in the prosecution’s case and said the case did not make sense and questioned why certain witnesses were not brought in to give evidence by the prosecution.
Browne said that on the day of the incident Duporte went to pick up his baby, and while he was in a pick-up truck, brother of the deceased, Ricaldo Marsham tried to open the door.
The second time Duporte went to pick up his son, as it was raining the first time, Jacintha had to take the son to him down the road.
“The other time we heard of Ricaldo was that he was cradling his brother,” Dr. Browne said.
Photographs of Marsham’s body at the scene of the crime and spent bullet shells which were captured by Corporal Lewis Welch were brought into evidence and Browne asked the jury to refer to the photographs.
He told them that there was a sheet covering Marsham and no one knew how it got there or who placed it there.
He said WPC Shamika Williams who stated she saw Dexter being held by his brother Ricaldo, and witnessed him taking what appeared to be his last breath, did not know who covered Marsham with the sheet.
He also said that the jury cannot trust the evidence of Jessica Gumbs and asked where were the casings from the five wounds.
Browne also said that in the photograph there seems to be a gash on the left side of Marsham’s face while according to their evidence he was shot on the right side of his scalp and the bullet was recovered from his right lower jawbone.
He said the prosecution did not explain the wound.
Dr. Browne told the court that only two bullets were recovered from Marsham’s body yet there was evidence he had five gunshot wounds and said that there were no spent bullets around his body.
“Dr. Jones took two bullets from the body and gave them to Shamika, Shamika said she took them to the court below. Where are the bullets now? No casing was found by the Tamarind Tree, but he was firing from the tree??” Browne asked.
Browne also said that Sergeant Benjamin is supposed to be the investigating officer in the case but he was not called as a witness.
Dr. Browne asked several questions before he ended, “Where is his brother? Where did the white sheet come from? Who put the white sheet over Marsham? Why is it only two bullets were found? Where are the other three? Where are the casings for the bullets by the tree? What happened to the two bullets taken from the body?
“Who said it was only one gun?”
His Lordship then gave a summation of the case and evidence to be considered before the jury went to deliberate at about 1:30 p.m.
According to the prosecution, on July 18, 2009, Alpha Duporte did murder Dexter Marsham in Godwin Ghaut in the vicinity of his home.
Originally Curtlee ‘2Pac’ Rogers and Duporte were jointly charged, however, the case was dropped against Rogers by the prosecution due to insufficient evidence.
The case began last Monday, Nov. 28 at the Basseterre High Court, before His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas. The lead prosecutor in the matter is Crown Counsel Rhonda Nisbett-Browne.
The prosecution called a total of 14 witnesses while the defence decided to say nothing and called no witnesses after the prosecution closed its case.
