The caution statement of Anthony De Paul Hope was tendered into evidence yesterday when the murder trial of the trio accused of killing Colleen Forrester continued in the High Court.
Hope, who was Forrester’s nephew, Ralph Tyndall and Kevin O’Neil were jointly charged with the 2007 murder of Colleen Forrester whose decomposed body was found in a septic tank at the William Street, Campbellville house where she was caretaker.
Hope’s caution statement described a series of events leading up to the woman’s death which essentially pointed a guilty finger at his co-accused Tyndall also known as ‘Nick’.
According to the statement, Hope related that on the night of the incident, he and O’Neil had returned from the Main Big Lime to find Tyndall in the William Street house. Hope then inquired his reason for being in the house while explaining that Forrester would not be pleased.
According to the statement, it wasn’t long after that Forrester who had arrived with her granddaughter ventured upstairs and started making comments about the state the house was in.
The woman reportedly sent her granddaughter downstairs in the company of O’Neil to bring buckets of water to clean the house.
According to Hope’s statement, it was while O’Neil and the woman’s granddaughter were downstairs that Forrester discovered Tyndall in the house and started quarreling. As a result of the argument, Hope said, Tyndall took a piece of wood and lashed the woman in the head and proceeded to choke her before striking her once more to her head.
The statement went on to say that the men then wrapped the woman’s body up in cloth and later disposed of it by stuffing it in the septic tank; they also made attempts to clean up the blood.
Additionally, it said, Hope had reportedly sent the woman’s granddaughter to the shop to purchase cigarettes but upon her return, Hope told her that she could not stay in the house and she should take a mattress over to the neighbour’s where another sibling was staying.
Hope’s statement further revealed that the next morning, when Forrester’s son went looking for her, he told the man that his mother had travelled to Trinidad. In the statement Hope had told investigators that he was scared to tell anybody what happened because Tyndall had threatened to kill him as well.
However, Tyndall’s caution statement, which was admitted into evidence last Thursday, fingered Hope, also called ‘Papa’ as having murdered his aunt.
Tyndall statement recalled Forrester’s arrival and indicated that he had hidden under the bed and then in a wardrobe as she did not want anyone at the house.
According to the statement, he had heard a sound and on emerging from the wardrobe discovered Hope standing over his aunt with a short fat stick in his hand; he was bloodied and so was his aunt.
The statement claimed that he walked down the stairs and told O’Neil, “Look wah Papa do upstairs boy. He kill his auntie,” before going home. He added that the next day, he said he received a call from Hope, who said he and O’Neil had disposed of the body in the septic tank in the yard.
Meanwhile, Government Forensic Pathologist, Dr Nehaul Singh presented an autopsy report describing his findings on the post-mortem examination. Dr Singh related that the woman died from a subdural brain hemorrhage as a result of blunt trauma.
He further explained that even though Forrester’s body had the stench of faeces, no trace was found in her body which would indicate that she died before being stuffed in the septic tank.
Additionally, the body bore several marks of violence, including a laceration to the top left side of the head and teeth marks on her tongue, the latter of which is indicative of somebody being forced to bite down on their tongue.
Apart from that, there was also recorded bleeding beneath the skin of the skull and the muscles of the neck which may have been as a result of compression or strangulation.
The pathologist also explained that considerable damage was done to the woman’s larynx which could have been as a result of pressure being applied by the attacker(s) in attempts to possibly restrict her from screaming or using her voice.
The trial, which is being heard before Justice Roxane George, continues today when the caution statement of O’Neil is expected to be tendered into evidence.
