The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON


Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A CONSTRUCTION worker said he saw the man accused of murdering a rich banker seated on a porch for two hours before hearing gunshots and then spotting the same man running across a nearby field.

The worker, who cannot be identified for protection reasons, said the man had what appeared to be a gun in his hand and soon he heard the sound of a scooter.

The construction worker ran up the driveway to the Compass Point studio parking lot where he stood over the body of Hywel Jones, who was moving but could not speak because of the blood coming from his mouth.

As the worker gave his testimony about what he saw the morning of April 22, 2009, 29-year-old Franklyn Stubbs sat listening in the prisoner’s dock just behind his lawyer, Dorcee McPhee.

Stubbs denies the murder of 55-year-old Hywel Jones, of West Bay Street.

Mr Jones had pulled up in the parking lot of his office when he was approached by a gunman and shot in the head as he was getting out of his Chevrolet Equinox.

Mr Jones was rushed to Doctors Hospital and died of his injuries two weeks later after being declared brain dead.

Stubbs was taken into custody a year later.

Prosecutors Darnell Dorsett and Basil Cumberbatch alleged Stubbs was the gunman in an “execution” killing.

Yesterday, the worker told the court that he came to work at the Gambier ramp at 7:45 in the morning with a co-worker and foreman. The witness said he was working on the north side of the ramp closest to the sea.

“Did you see anything while working?” Prosecutor Dorsett asked.

“I observed a young man sitting down by the porch of the old PLP headquarters. For the time being that he was there, he wouldn’t move. When people come down the hill, he never moved,” the worker said.

The prosecutor asked about the significant of where the man was seated and people frequenting the office.

“That’s normally a bus stop where people stand to catch the bus,” the worker said.

“Did anyone speak to him?” the prosecutor asked.

“No ma’am,” the witness answered.

Are you able to give a description of this man you observed?” Ms Dorsett asked.

“He was about 6’1” or 6’2” with a dark complexion,” the witness answered.

“How long did this man stay in your sight?” the prosecutor asked.

“For two hours. He was smoking cigarettes,” the worker said.

“Do you recall what he was wearing at the time?” the prosecutor asked.

“He had on a dark hoodie, dark hat, dark pants,” the witness answered.

“What was the weather like that day?” the prosecutor asked.

The worker said that it was “very hot” that day, He said the man’s dress made him weary.

“How many times did you see him during that time?” the prosecutor asked.

“I saw him like every minute because I kept looking up to see the ladies coming down to the bus stop,” the worker said.

The worker said he did not speak with the man who did not initiate a conversation.

The witness said it was around this time that he heard a honk and looking up, he saw a blue Chevrolet Equinox which he said belonged to Mr Jones.

“Normally Mr Jones speak to us when he’s driving through but that morning he honked his horn,” the worker said.

“I saw the guy got up, jump over the railing and ran up the driveway. A few seconds after that, I heard two gun shots. I looked up and I saw the guy running across the field,” the court was told.

“Do you know where he was running from?” the prosecutor asked.

“He was running from the location in front of the yellow and white building where Mr Jones was parked. He appeared to have a gun in his hand, greyish chrome,” he said.

“Was he the same man that you saw on the porch waiting for two hours?” the prosecutor asked.

“Yes, ma’am” the worker said.

The construction worker continued his testimony that he “ran up the driveway and saw Mr Jones lying on the ground.”

“He was moving and he was trying to talk but blood was coming out his mouth,” the witness said.

“You said that bullets appeared to be coming out of his head?” the prosecutor inquired.

“Yes. There was two dark spots on the left side,” the witness said.

The witness said while he was standing over Mr Jones, he heard the starting of a scooter, but did not see it.

The worker testified that he went to the Central Detective Unit on March 3, 2010 and participated in an identification parade where he picked out suspect no. 4 in a line up of eight men.

“This is the same guy on the porch?” the prosecutor asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” the witness answered.

“If you were to see him again would you be able to identify him?” the prosecutor asked.

“He’s in the box wearing a dark blue jacket,” the witness said pointing to Stubbs who was seated in the prisoner’s dock.

“Is he the same man you saw running up the driveway you saw Mr Jones pull in?” the prosecutor probed further.

“Yes,” said the witness.

In cross-examination, Mr McPhee asked the witness about his statements to the police.

“How many statements you gave to the police?” the lawyer asked. The worker said he gave two statements to the police, one on the day in question and the other on the day of the identification parade.

“Would you say that what transpired on the day you gave the statement to police was fresher back then than what you are saying in court now?” Mr McPhee asked.

“It’s basically the same because I didn’t forget anything,” the worker said.

The lawyer suggested to the witness that he did not put in his statement to police that the man he saw jumped a rail and ran up the driveway. The witness, however, claimed that he did.

“So you were looking at the girls coming to the bus stop. You weren’t really checking for the guy,” the lawyer suggested.

“Yes,” the witness agreed.

“You didn’t see anybody else on the porch?” the lawyer asked. The witness said no.

The lawyer suggested to the witness that he didn’t see the man running away because, based on his evidence, the shooting occurred in the back of the building which he could not see around.

The worker answered that the constituency office and the Compass Point Studio did not take up the entire lot and he was able to see the man running across the field.

“You didn’t see the shooting, you only heard gun shots?” the lawyer asked.

“Yes” the witness answered.

The lawyer asked if, while at CDU, he asked the officers to let the suspects wear hats. The worker said no.

“So you could identify someone you saw with a hat on without a hat at the ID parade?” the attorney asked.

“Yes,” the witness answered.

The trial resumes today at 10am before Justice Indra Charles.