Former co-accused in the Lusignan massacre Dwane Williams called ‘Small Fren’ yesterday testified that he was part of a gang, which included murder accused James Anthony Hyles and Mark Royden Williams, that killed 11 people and that the killing was in revenge for the disappearance of Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins’s girlfriend.
Williams testified yesterday as a witness for the prosecution, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) having withdrawn the charge for the January 26, 2008 killing against him. He is currently under police protection.
The case is being tried before Justice Navindra Singh and a jury in the High Court.
Dwane Williams testified that he had known Mark Royden Williams also called ‘Smallie’ and Hyles known as ‘Sally’ for a number of years. He said that in January 2008, he lived in Buxton and on the 25th day of that month, ‘Smallie’ told him around 1 pm that they “going on a wuk”.
Dwane Williams said ‘Smallie’ told him to meet him later at Middle Walk, Buxton and at 11 pm he went there and met ‘Fineman,’ who he had known for about 5 years, ‘Sally’, ‘Smallie’, Robin Chung called ‘Chung Boy’, ‘John Eye’, Michael Fah/Caesar called ‘Capone’, and ‘Papa Willie’.
He said ‘Fineman’, ‘John Eye’ and ‘Papa Willie’ told them that they were going to “tek pay” for the mother of ‘Fineman’s child, Tenisha Morgan, who had disappeared. He stated that ‘John Eye’ gave ‘Smallie’ an AK-47 and handed shotguns to ‘Chung Boy’ and ‘Sally’.
According to Williams, they walked through a backdam which led them to a dam. “‘Fineman’ then told us tek a different house,” but told him and Otis Fifee called ‘Mud-up’ to stay on the dam. He said he and ‘Mud-up’ were armed with cutlasses.
Dwane Williams recounted seeing ‘Smallie’ and ‘Chung Boy’ jumping over a fence and shortly after he heard gunshots. Senior State Counsel Judith Gildharie-Mursalin asked him where ‘Fineman’ and others were at this time and he replied that they had gone into the area firing shots too.
After the incident, Dwane Williams said, they returned to their camp, which was located behind Buxton line top. He added that later he read about the shooting and where it occurred.
Mark Royden Williams is represented by attorney Roger Yearwood while Nigel Hughes is representing Hyles.
After Dwane Williams’ evidence, Yearwood proceeded to cross-examine him. He asked Dwane Williams if he ever told different versions of his story to which he responded no. Yearwood then asked him if he was a free man, given that the charge against him was withdrawn. Dwane Williams responded in the negative, adding that he was still in police custody but not in jail.
Dwane Williams said he was still in custody because he has to give evidence in relation to this matter but was not told whether he will be free after his role in the case was finished.
He also said that he was told by a policeman on July 15, 2013 that the charge against him had been withdrawn, but he was not served with any document from the DPP saying so.
Dwane Williams had given the police a statement two Fridays’ ago, as well as a caution statement when he was arrested back in 2008.
Yearwood suggested to Dwane Williams that he told the court in his evidence that ‘Smallie’ told him to meet him at Middle Walk Road, Buxton but he did not tell the police that when he gave his statement two weeks ago. Dwane Williams replied that such information was relayed to the police, but when shown a copy of the statement and asked to identify the section with those words, Dwane Williams admitted that he did not see anything in the statement that said so.
Yearwood then suggested to him that the reason why those words were not in his statement was because he never said them. He agreed with the suggestion.
Yearwood also told Dwane Williams that the caution statement he had given to the police when he was arrested was dated June 17, 2008 when he said that he was arrested in July of that year. Yearwood suggested that it would have been impossible for him to give a statement in June that year. The witness agreed with the suggestion.
Hughes, in his cross-examination, asked Dwane Williams if he was with ‘Fineman’ when over 30 people were killed in the incidents involving the Lusignan and Bartica massacres and the Lindo Creek killings and he responded yes. But the witness claimed that he just looked on at the Lindo Creek killings and did not do anything at the Bartica massacre other than wait on ‘Fineman’. The Bartica massacre, he claimed, was in revenge for the killing of one of the gang members.
Dwane Williams was arrested after he was found wondering in Ituni for ten days. When asked by Hughes, he said he knew he was facing 33 murder charges after he was arrested.
Hughes then asked Dwane Williams if in his caution statement he had said they were walking on the line top, when in his evidence to the court he said that they walk through the backdam. The witness replied that he did not say they walked on the line top. Hughes then suggested to him that the police put in that part of the statement and he responded yes.
Hughes probed as to whether he had informed the police that they did not walk on the line top as recorded in the statement. The witness replied that he did not do so. Hughes then suggested to him that the police asked him to sign the statement without reading it over; his response was yes.
Dwane Williams told the court that he does not know when he will be released from police protection. This was in response to Hughes’s suggestion that the only reason he did not want to say when he would be released was because they were going to see how he did in the witness box before they said under what conditions and when he will be released.
Asked further, if he did not mind being in prison for life and if he was happy where he was, Dwane Williams stated that he did not mind being in prison for life.
Hughes also suggested to the witness that in his caution statement he only mentioned that AK-47 weapons were used in the incident and the inclusion of shotguns in his evidence to the court was because the police told him shotguns had been used, since some of the victims had shotgun pellets in them.
Williams also said under cross-examination that while he was part of the gang, they used to undergo “jungle training,” which required them to shoot at trees.
Earlier in the trial, state witness Durwin Wright had testified that Hyles told him he killed the victims of the massacre.
Wright, who is also currently in protective custody, had been charged with the August 2007 murder of Kumar Singh, also known as ‘Mango Man’ and was committed to stand trial in the High Court.
Hyles and Mark Williams are accused of killing 48-year-old Clarence Thomas, his 12-year-old daughter Vanessa Thomas and his son Ron Thomas; 32-year-old Mohandai Gourdat and her two sons, four-year-old Seegobind Harrilall and ten-year-old Seegopaul Harrilall; 22-year-old Shazam Mohamed; 55-year-old Shaleem Baksh; Seecharran Rooplall, 56, his wife Dhanrajie Ramsingh, 52, and their 11-year-old daughter Raywattie Ramsingh in the wee hours of January 26.
The case continues today.
