Just days after he was identified as one of the home invaders who robbed and fatally injured Anna Catherina resident Balram Teekaram, murder accused Alvin Semple yesterday said that he knew nothing about the crime.
Semple was at the time leading his defence in sworn testimony before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow and a 12-member jury at his trial at the High Court in Georgetown.
The allegation against Semple is that on April 16, 2011, he murdered Teekaram in the course or furtherance of a robbery. It is the state’s case that the accused and others entered Teekaram’s home in the wee hours of the morning on April 13, 2011, with the intention of robbing him and in the process the man sustained injuries which resulted in his death three days later.
In his testimony yesterday, pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh gave Teekaram’s cause of death as brain haemorrhage due to gunshot injuries. Following the doctor’s testimony, the state closed its case. Semple’s attorney Madan Kissoon then made a no-case submission but it was overruled by the judge, who called on Semple to lead a defence.
Responding to questions from Kissoon, Semple told the court that on the evening of April 12, he was at his Anna Catherina home watching television and later retired to bed sometime between 8.30pm and 9pm.
He said after waking the following morning at about 7.30, he traveled to Georgetown, where he was approached by a police officer who informed him that he was needed for questioning in relation to a robbery.
The accused said the officer’s request shocked him and he explained that he knew nothing about any robbery.
Asked under cross-examination by prosecutor Tamieka Clarke whether he knew Balram’s son Yogindra Teekaram, Semple answered in the affirmative, while adding “only by seeing him.”
Asked if he played cricket with Yogindra, Semple said no. He said that while he did play cricket, he never played with Yogindra.
He said he occasionally played cricket and would see Yogindra from time to time.
Semple confirmed when asked by the prosecutor that he had known Yogindra for five years prior to the day in question. He, however, disagreed with the prosecutor’s suggestion that he ever had any conversation with the younger Teekaram about his father or whether his father owned a gun.
Responding to further questions from Prosecutor Clarke, the accused said that he was never at the Teekaram’s home about 2am on April 13, 2011 and as a result knew nothing about being in the company of two others and demanding money and jewellery.
Yogindra had earlier testified via Skype from the United States that he recognised Semple as one of the men who invaded his father’s home after a rag he used to hide his face fell off during the fatal attack.
Yogindra had said that he was well-acquainted with Semple from the community, where they played cricket together. According to him, the accused had asked him sometime before the attack whether his father owned a gun and he had told him no.
Semple also called as a witness his aunt Dhanraji Gurdai, with whom he lived.
When asked by Kissoon, the 59-year-old woman said that her nephew was at home on the night of April 12 and she was able to see that he slept at home that night.
Gurdai, who said she suffers from diabetes, told the court that she resultantly frequents the washroom about four to give times each night and she saw her nephew sleeping in his bed whenever she got up.
The witness said that she lives in a small zinc house in the Anna Catherina Squatting Area with a small hall area and kitchen. She said that the structure has one bedroom, with two beds; hers, and the other, Semple’s.
She said that whenever she gets up to go to the washroom, she has to pass her nephew’s bed.
When questioned, she told state counsel Shawnette Austin that she can recall seeing Semple asleep in his bed on the night of April 12, 2011.
The trial continues next Wednesday, when both the prosecution and defence are slated to give closing addresses.
