At the trial of Jahryl Reid, who is accused of murdering Mabura businessman Colin McLean, witness Oscar Hector yesterday recalled being overcome with emotions after discovering his friend’s lifeless body.
Reid is on trial for the capital offence before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow and a 12-member jury for the April 27, 2014, murder of McLean, 52, at Mabura, Upper Demerara River.
Hector told the court that he and McLean had been friends for about three years and lived a stone’s throw away from each other. He said that they saw each other frequently sometimes twice a week.
Hector recalled receiving a phone call from a friend, which prompted him to go to McLean’s home on the day in question. He said that after arriving, he called out for his friend, but got no answer.
He said he peeked through some lattice work above the louvre window and observed a door in the residence to be ajar. The man said that after further repeated calls went unanswered, he decided to go to the nearby Mabura Police Station.
Hector told the court that after he made a report, a group of police officers accompanied him back to McLean’s residence, where they broke the lock on the door to gain entry.
Upon entering the premises, Hector recalled being reduced to tears after discovering his friend’s lifeless body on the bed.
Sergeant Harvey Sutherland had previously testified about going to McLean’s home with a party of policemen and having to break the lock to get in, after which they discovered the man’s remains.
Responding to questions from Prosecutor Shawnette Austin, Hector said that he had seen his friend just the day before he was discovered dead, and that McLean made no complaints to him about any problems he had with anyone.
Asked if he knew Reid, the witness said he was not familiar with the name. When asked if he knew the person sitting in the prisoners’ docks, however, Hector responded in the affirmative.
He told the prosecutor that he had seen that said man seated in the dock (Reid) on about three occasions a few weeks before McLean’s death.
Testifying at yesterday’s hearing also was taxi driver Wilford John, who recalled Reid hiring him to be transported from Mabura to Linden.
John told the court that he was at the car park at Mabura plying his trade when he was approached by the accused, whom he hadn’t previously known. He said that Reid asked him the cost from Mabura to Linden and he told him $30,000.
John said that the man told him he only had $20,000 and he agreed to take him at the lesser price.
The witness said that during their approximately 3½-hour drive to Linden, Reid was repeatedly asking him, “How far we deh from Linden?”
John said he asked the young man why he seemed to be in so much of a rush and he responded that his girlfriend had just given birth and was in a hurry to get to her. He said that as they conversed during the journey, the accused also told him that he worked with a Brazilian as an excavator operator.
The taxi driver said that after they arrived in Linden, he dropped Reid off at the Georgetown car park.
He said that upon his way back to Mabura, he was stopped by a minibus driver, and based on information communicated to him, he turned and headed back to the Mackenzie Police Station where he was questioned by police.
Asked if he knew McLean and for how long, John told the prosecutor he did, for about two years as he bought food from his shop.
The taxi driver said he had last seen McLean at his shop the day before he was found dead.
The trial, which is being heard at the High Court, in Georgetown, continues this morning at 9.
The State’s case is being led by Austin in association with Siand Dhurjon.
Meanwhile, Reid is represented by defence attorney Madan Kissoon.
