The widow of businessman Keith Clarke, Dr. Claudette Clarke, became overwhelmed with emotion during cross-examination in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
At one point she declared that he has nothing to hide.
Dr. Clarke also rejected a suggestion that the back of her yard is an escape route to Red Hills Road in St. Andrew. The suggestion was made by defence attorney, King’s Counsel Valerie Neita Robertson.
Keith Clarke was shot and killed during a military operation at his home in Kirkland Heights in May 2010.
Three soldiers, Lance Corporal Greg Tinglin, Corporal Odel Buckley, and Private Arnold Henry, are on trial for his murder.
Robian Williams has been covering the trial.
On her fourth day in the witness box, Dr. Claudette Clarke appeared to be in distress as the defence fired several questions at her regarding the incident in which her husband, Keith Clarke, was killed.
Dr. Clarke had testified that during the military operation on May 27, 2010, she, her husband, and their daughter, attempted to go down in the basement of their house.
She said they heard noises outside as though someone was breaking into their house.
Defence attorney representing Greg Tinglin, King’s Counsel Valerie Neita Robertson, suggested that the basement of the house was the safest place to go.
Dr. Clarke testified that they weren’t able to go into the basement because they couldn’t find the keys to open the door.
KC Neita Robertson continued, “I put it to you that the reason you never went in the basement was because there were persons down there.”
A seemingly overwhelmed Dr. Clarke wiped her eyes as she responded, “Madam, nobody was in my basement.”
The defence further suggested to Dr. Clarke that the back of her property is an escape route to Red Hills Road and that people can walk from her yard and reach there without difficulty.
To that, Dr. Clarke responded, “I don’t agree with you. I cannot walk there, I have never seen any body walk there. I don’t know if you can ma’am. I will pray for you, but I have never done it before.
Again, KC Neita Robertson submitted that there were men in the house on the day in question as the security forces searched for the now-convicted drug lord Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.
But Dr. Clarke rejected the submission. She maintains that her husband was the only man in her house at the time.
More than 50 crime scene photos were shown in court.
In the pictures, eight beer bottles were seen on a table in a section of the house that was identified as a sitting room. Three more beer bottles were spotted in the basement.
The trial will resume on Monday morning at 10.
Credit: Source link