Witnesses give chilling revelations of wounds to Shermel’s body
By Pauline Waruguru
Nevis Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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| Warrington Phillip leaving High Court, Nevis |
CHARLESTOWN, Nevis - MEDICAL DOCTORS and neighbours of Shermel Phillip revealed at the High Court chilling details of injuries to her body, allegedly inflicted by her husband on Friday, February 16, 2007, the day she was murdered.
Her husband, former Leeward Islands spin bowler, Warrington Phillip, was charged with the murder of his wife but pleaded not guilty to the offence. He is being represented by Senior Counsel Dr. Henry Browne and the prosecution team is led by Barbadian Attorney-at-law Sir Richard Cheltenham, QC.
Several prosecution witnesses have so far testified, including Barbadian pathologist Dr. Stephen Jones and Shermel’s mother as well as Dennis ‘Rudi’ Browne, the man who discovered her lifeless body in her car.
On Monday (Nov. 10) Browne testified that after he had entered Shermel’s yard and found her motionless body within the vehicle, he called out to her neighbours, former Commissioner of Police Calvin Fahie and his wife Yvonne, and they both joined him at the residence of the deceased.
Browne told the court that Fahie opened the doors of the car and, with the aid of his
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| Dr. Chandy Jacob conversing with a police officer |
[Fahie] flashlight, they were better able to see the body lying in the vehicle.
This was confirmed by Fahie when he took the stand on Tuesday and gave a descriptive account of what he saw. “I observed an incised wound on Shermel’s neck. There was blood on the rear seat. Shermel’s head had blood and I formed an opinion that she was dead.”
Fahie also testified that he observed Shermel was well dressed “as if she was preparing to proceed somewhere”. He further stated that after his observation he, his wife and Browne left the dead woman’s residence to call the police.
In his testimony, Dr. Chandy Jacob said he arrived at the crime scene at 8:30 p.m. after being alerted by the police.
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Sir Richard Cheltenham
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He told the court that he knew the deceased and she was already dead by the time he began to examine her. He said the body was laid between the two seats with the lower half on the rear seat and the upper half on the front seat. The Dr. also pointed out that a lot of blood was seen on the floor of the car.
Dr. Jacob said that he observed deep gaping lacerations on the right side of the neck and multiple deep and penetrating lacerations on the left side.
He added that there were three lacerations on the right side of the face and also on the left forearm, all directing from the elbow and pointing downwards. There was a laceration on the left shoulder and a deep penetrating laceration to the right side of the face.
Asked by Sir Richard whether he had an opinion as to whether Shermel had resisted an attack, Dr. Jacob said it appeared that she had resisted due to her body’s posture.
He also told the court that he had observed her body in the presence of police officers. And in response to Dr. Browne question of what the police officers wore, he said protective gear such as aprons and gloves.
Asked whether the body was stiff when he arrived at the crime scene, he answered Dr.
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| Ex-Police Commissioner Calvin Fahie |
Browne in the negative. The defence counsel also enquired in what state was the blood on the floor of the car and Dr. Jacob said it was clotted.
Dr. Jacob told the court that the body was removed, placed in a plastic bag and driven away by an undertaker.
Barbadian Forensic Pathologist Dr. Stephen Jones also gave vivid details of the nature of Shermel’s body after he had completed post mortem on February 19, 2007. He said she was wearing a pair of white pants and a short blouse, and was heavily blooded. He also said her body bore a deep gaping irregular defect measuring 9.5 x 4 centimetres.
He described the injuries on Shermel’s body as stabbed wounds and noted some of them as having irregular and straight skin edges. Asked by Sir Richard what kind of instrument may have been used, he said one with a sharp edge. He said moderate degree of force was used and she had died of stab wounds to the neck with haemorrhage and shock.
Dr. Browne asked the Forensic Pathologist whether the containers having samples of Shermel’s body had been sealed before he gave them to the police, and he answered in the affirmative. The defence counsel also asked Dr. Jones if there was any loose hair of Shermel’s assailant on her body and he said he did not observe any.
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Dr. Henry Browne
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Another witness, Aquila Rawlins, told the court that on the day Shermel was murdered, she and her mother, Malva Rawlins, passed close to the deceased’s gate on their way to a choir practice. “I was walking with my mother. We were going for choir practice. We walked along the main road.” Rawlins told the court that as they were passing Shermel’s residence, she saw the hazard lights of the deceased were flashing and the horn was blowing.
“The car was moving side to side. I heard a voice. Somebody was saying something…it was the voice of a woman,” she said.
Both mother and daughter, in their testimonies, told the court that they had seen a red pick-up (PA1986) that belongs to Warrington Phillip near a ghaut within the vicinity of Frank Williams’ residence.
On being asked by Dr. Browne whether she had discussed this case with her mother, her grandmother by the market, or anybody else, Aquila said she had only held discussions with the police.
Dr. Browne asked Rawlins if she had checked her watch to determine the time she and her mother had passed by Shermel’s gate, and she said they were accustomed to leaving for choir practice around 7:00 p.m.
Several other prosecution witnesses claimed to have had contact with Phillip on the night his wife was murdered, including Tricia Williams, a resident of Cotton Ground, who told the court that Phillip had passed by her house at 6:37 p.m.
She said he told her that he had lost his phone and had borrowed hers, adding that when she called him about an hour after, Phillip was crying as he asked her, “Tricia, you didn’t hear what happened?”
Another witness, Joseph Simmonds, testified that he saw Phillip at 7:45 p.m. driving his red pick-up on the right side of Pump Road. Simmonds said he was roasting chicken at the time and the pick-up was travelling from the cemetery to Government Road. He claimed to have been five feet away when he saw Phillip and he stopped as “Side Kick’s” vehicle was blocking him.
Another person who said he saw Phillip on the night his wife was murdered was Olsen Maynard, an employee of the Four Seasons Resort. ~~Adz:Right~~
“Phillip’s red pick-up was parked on the Four Seasons main road. He was sitting on the lawn. He was crying. I told him the road was dangerous,” Maynard said. He told the court that Phillip was seemingly upset and he contacted Garfield Claxton, a friend of Phillip, who went to take him to the hospital. “Gary drove Phillip's pick-up onto a lawn and removed it from the main road.”
In his evidence, Claxton told the court that he informed Phillip that something had happened but [Phillip] replied he already knew. “He had a CD in the vehicle. He removed it, broke it and said, ‘Somebody tried to kill him at Octagon Friday before and he had called 991 and no-one had responded.’ “He said he would go after the fellow ‘right now’,” Claxton said.
Claxton said he had called the Resort’s security personnel who assisted him to get Phillip into his [Claxton] vehicle. He also said that Phillip was asking, "Where is my wife? How could they kill my wife?"
In his cross examination of Claxton, Dr. Browne asked if he had seen any blood stains or any blood at the time he had driven Phillip's vehicle from the main road to a lawn. Claxton said he did not see any blood.
Dinsdale Pemberton of Hard Times, a taxi driver, told the court that he had seen Phillip drive his red pick-up at 8:25 p.m. while he was taking some guests to Jessups. And Brian Claxton, a Four Seasons’ employee, told the court that he had seen the accused at 8:00 p.m. at Sea Spawn on Friday, February 16, 2007 and he was having one or two beers.
According to Brian, the accused was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans and [Phillip] had stayed at the Sea Spawn for 10 to 15 minutes.
It was also revealed that when Claxton drove Phillip to the hospital, he was attended by Dr. Ravi Shankar at 9:00 p.m. as an outpatient in the emergency room. According to Dr Shankar’s testimony, the accused looked distressed, he was crying and enquiring what had happened to his wife and had complained of having headaches.
Dr. Shankar said he had examined him and found his blood pressure was 166/93 while his purse was 125 per minute. He stated that Phillip had an abrasion in one straight line on his right arm measuring three and a half inches. He said the abrasion was fairly recent but was not bleeding. He also told the court that Phillip was anxious; and when asked by Sir Richard what had caused the anxiety, he said it could be by emotional or physical drama.
Dr. Shankar testified that he again met Phillip when a blood sample had to be taken from him for a DNA test on February 19, 2007. He said the extraction of the blood was authorised by Assistant Commissioner of Police Joseph Liburd, who was then the Superintendent of Police at the Nevis Division.
In his testimony, Assistant Commissioner Liburd said he met Phillip a day after his wife was murdered, which was after his arrest. He said he had informed Phillip that he would order a sample of blood to be removed from his body, but also informed him that he was not compelled to have it drawn. The Assistant Commissioner also informed Phillip that the sample would have helped in establishing his innocence or guilt.
Liburd told the court that Phillip said, “Liburd, I will give you my blood because...me not kill my wife cos I would not do something like this.”
The hearing continues.
