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Third trial of alleged wife killer ends in hung jury
Alan Morrison
The trial of Alan Morrison, who is accused of murdering his reputed wife Donna Thomas, ended yesterday, in yet another hung jury. Delivering the decision to the court was the jury forewoman who said that the jury was unable to arrive at a unanimous verdict. She said that the decision was in the proportion of nine guilty to three not guilty.
When asked by trial Judge Sandil Kissoon whether further directions on the law or facts of the case would enable them to arrive at a unanimous verdict, the jury forewoman responded in the negative.
In light of the jurors’ decision, Justice Kissoon further remanded Morrison to prison and informed him that he will remain there pending an indictment for another trial based on directions by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Morrison was facing his third trial for allegedly murdering Thomas between May 26 and 27, 2015 at a home they shared at 65 D’Urban Street, Werk-en-Rust. His previous trials, in 2014 and 2015, both ended with a hung jury.
Based on facts, the two shared a common-law relationship and resided at the said address
Donna Thomas
where Thomas’ lifeless body had been found in a pool of blood with multiple stab wounds to both hands.
Earlier this week, Police Constable Detective Jason Kyte testified that Morrison admitted to inflicting a wound to his wife’s neck with a knife, nearly six years ago.
According to the police witness, Morrison told him, “I was going out and she (his common law wife) didn’t want me to leave. I had a knife and I cut she on her neck. I didn’t know that would have happen to she.”
When Constable Kyte took to the witness box, he recalled that during May 2012, he was stationed at the Brickdam Police Station where he performed duties in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
According to the detective, on May 26, 2012, he was summoned to the scene of an alleged murder at the aforementioned address. This was around 09:00hrs, he said, adding that upon his arrival he saw Thomas lying on her back on a “makeshift” bed in a bedroom situated in an apartment building.
The police witness recounted that the woman was dressed in multi-coloured clothing. He said, “I examined the body (of Thomas) and I observed wounds to the left hand and what appeared to be blood on her hands, bed and face. I caused the scene to be processed by Detective Lance Corporal (Desmond) Johnny and ranks from the Crime Scene Unit.”
Constable Kyte said that Thomas’ body was later escorted to the Lyken Funeral Home. Constable Kyte told the court that the day after the killing, he made contact with Morrison who was in custody at the Brickdam Police Station and told him of a murder allegation to which he responded orally, but refused to give a written statement.
Also testifying was Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh who gave Thomas’s cause of death as asphyxiation due to compression to the neck, compounded by blunt force trauma to the head. He noted that the deceased had 16 incised wounds to one hand, while the other had six such wounds, which he considered to be defensive wounds.
The wounds were not fatal, he said, but contributed to significant bleeding, and the victim died as a result of being deprived of oxygen and the heart stopping.
Appearing for the state were Prosecutors Mandel Moore and Lisa Cave. Attorney Maxwell McKay represented the murder accused.
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