BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – OWING to his submission of a guilty plea, the murder trial of Terrence ‘Wang’ Browne lasted less than 30 minutes yesterday (Feb. 23) at the Basseterre High Court of Justice.
Browne was charged with the murder of his then girlfriend’s husband, Terrence ‘De Whale’ Francis and also with manslaughter, which took place at Camps Village on November 25, 2006.
When he appeared before the court yesterday morning, and before the prosecution could have presented its opening statement, one of his lawyers, Dr. Henry Browne, requested that the indictment be put to the accused a second time as a particular course would be taken.
Browne pleaded not guilty to murder and guilty to manslaughter and because the case was already placed in the hands of the jury, its members were asked to formally find him guilty of manslaughter and not guilty of murder. The request was granted.
According to the facts of the case, on November 25, 2007, the two men were in the shop of Christine Francis, the estranged wife of the deceased and girlfriend of the accused.
She left both of them at the shop and went to her home, which she shared with the accused, and began preparing herself for bed. While doing so, the accused went to the home and repeatedly said to her that the life he was living was not one he should have lived.
She responded by asking him to vacate her home and proceeded to put his clothes out of the house. But the accused took his clothing back into the house and began beating his girlfriend who drew a knife in an attempt to defend herself. She however discarded the knife behind a door and called her husband via telephone. He arrived on scene and tried to talk Browne into leaving the house.
The court was told that at one point the deceased placed his hand on the shoulder of the accused and told him to leave, which was when he [the accused] reached for the knife that Christine had earlier discarded and stabbed Francis in his neck.
The court was further told that Francis took the shirt he was wearing and tired it around the wounded area in an attempt to stop the blood flow. He was taken to the Joseph N. France General Hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.
It was revealed that Browne called his brother, who is a member of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force, and he took him to the police station where he turned himself in.
Browne’s sentencing hearing is scheduled to take place tomorrow (Feb. 25).
