BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE case took six years to be brought before the Court and some eight weeks to be completed, but it only took the jury around two hours to return guilty verdicts on the murder charge for the five men from St. Paul’s.
The men - Moses Gardener, Shenroy Francis, Nelson Challenger, Jomi Rawlins, and Glenroy Smithen - stood trial for the murder of Gregory Zakers whose lifeless body was discovered on a cliff in Black Rocks on April 12, 2008.
Their trial began on March 11 with the prosecution calling on a long list of witnesses to give evidence on its behalf, including Zakers' mother, his girlfriend, Forensic Pathologist Dr. Stephen Jones and a number of hostile witnesses.
The trial also included a number of closed hearings that determined how the case should be put to the jury with regards to the hostile witnesses.
With the date for the close of the January Criminal Assizes passed and the opening of the May Assizes approaching, it caused the Court to call for an earlier start at mornings and end well into the night.
On Friday (May 2) the Court journeyed to St. Paul’s to visit the scene of the crime, where one of the key witnesses had stated that she heard screams and saw someone in a yard beating something on the night of April 10, 2008.
The prosecution finally closed its case this week and earlier last evening (May 9), following the judge's summation, the jury retired for deliberation and emerged with guilty verdicts.
Now convicted, the men are expected to be sentenced sometime within the next Criminal Assizes after completion of their Social Inquiry Reports.
Meanwhile, the close of the January Assizes will be held on Monday (May 12) and the May Assizes will open on the following day.
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