The trial of Berbice businessman Charles Henry, who is charged with fatally shooting a man whose home he had been dismantling, began yesterday before Justice Franklyn Holder at the Berbice Assizes.
Henry, called “Bristol,” has pleaded not guilty to the charge that on April 16, 2014, he murdered Errol Lindo, called “Son Son.”
In her opening address, Prosecutor Natasha Backer said that on April 16, 2014, the accused, along with other persons under his employ, went to Lindo’s home at Caracas, West Canje, where he instructed the workers to dismantle a house owned by Lindo.
At the time, Henry had not gotten permission from Lindo to break his house. Lindo subsequently returned home and a disagreement arose between the two men and Lindo was shot.
“He did not do so once, but he inflicted multiple gunshot injuries, which caused Lindo to die. He did kill or murder Errol Lindo,” Backer emphasised.
Prosecution witness Cassandra Arthur, who lives eight houses away from the then crime scene, recalled seeing Henry opposite Lindo’s home on the day of the shooting, while five men were seen in the deceased’s yard, where they were dismantling his house.
She said she questioned Henry and he responded by saying his lawyer gave him permission to break the house.
The woman said she asked members of the demolition team for the zinc sheets from the property to fence her back yard and the accused later instructed his workers to give her the zinc sheets after the demolition exercise was completed.
The witness said she returned home and shortly afterwards her attention was drawn to a crowd nearby. She said she jumped on her bicycle and rode to the location, where she saw the accused exiting Lindo’s yard.
“At the time he was talking on his mobile phone. He told the person on the phone he had just shot a man. I abused him with words before entering the yard and seeing ‘Son Son’ lying on the left side of the yard under a cherry tree, while his sister was next to him,” she recounted.
Arthur noted that Lindo was not dead at that time as he was speaking to his sister.
The witness said she then informed the accused that Lindo was not dead and that he needed to get him to the hospital. However, she noted that the accused responding by questioning if the injured man was not dead as yet.
She later said that after speaking on his mobile phone, the accused was seen reentering the yard and later exiting with a white piece of cloth holding an axe, which was removed from under a guava tree in the yard. The axe was being used by the demolition team.
Arthur said she telephoned two taxi services to transport Lindo but it was the police patrol vehicle which ended up taking him to the New Amsterdam Hospital.
Henry is being represented by a team of lawyers led by attorney Nigel Hughes.
Arthur, under cross-examination by defence attorney Kim Kyte, said she knew the accused as he would visit the area and indicate to some of the residents that they were occupying his lands.
The witness said she did not witness anyone pelt the accused but noted that as she was returning home a loud explosion was heard and she observed that the accused’s car was on fire.
Further, she said the accused claimed the land where she lives but added that neither she nor her husband ever received letters from a lawyer to vacate.
Also testifying yesterday was Agnes Joseph, the sister of the deceased, who recalled going to the Operating Theatre at the New Amsterdam Hospital where a doctor showed her the motionless, naked body of her brother. She said he had openings on the abdomen, left thigh, left arm and the left side of his neck.
Police Corporal Ryan Caesar also testified and he recalled the accused electing to give an oral statement in which he said he acted in self-defence.
Answering Kyte, the policeman said he was not aware that an axe, nor an electronic tablet was lodged at Central or Reliance police stations.
Another witness, Detective Sergeant Curtis Cort, told the court that he took 16 photos of the crime scene and during the post-mortem examination.
Under cross-examination, the witness said although he searched the crime scene thoroughly, with the exception of a trench, he did not find any spent shells.
A representative of the United States Embassy in Georgetown was also present to observe the proceedings as Henry is an American citizen.
The trial will continue today.
