Double murder accused Paul Vincent was given meals and allowed to bathe and use the washroom while detained at the Siparia Police Station, police witnesses testified yesterday. On the third day of the trial in which Vincent, 32, is charged with the 2005 murders of Radha “Pixie” Lakhan and Taramatee Toolsie, 40, San Fernando judge Mark Mohammed explained to the jury why that type of evidence was being led.
The State, the judge said, is saying Vincent gave the police statements confessing to the murders. Therefore, he said, the State must prove that the statements were given voluntarily and not under duress or oppression. Acting Sgt Joseph Solomon, acting Cpl Odel Gupta and PC Anil Boodlal all testified about their interactions with the accused at the station between April 19 and April 22, 2005. They testified how they gave the accused meals and took him to the bathroom during different intervals.
They said he made no complaints to them. Solomon said on April 19, 2005 after 2 am he, PC Ramjag and other officers went to Vincent’s home at La Brea Trace, Siparia, where he (Solomon) arrested him. Solomon said he asked Vincent how he got a “dried-up” scar on his left upper forehead. “I heard the accused reply, ‘A man hit me with a bottle in me head Friday night in Siparia.” He said the accused was taken to the Siparia CID and placed in an enclosed, air-conditioned, well-lit room furnished with a chair.
Solomon said on April 20, 2005, the accused refused a bread and sausage sandwich and a cup of tea. The officer said the accused was allowed to bathe and use the toilet facilities. He said the station has one bathroom facility which is used by officers and suspects. In cross-examination, attorney Rekha Ramjit put to Solomon that Vincent told him he was too upset to eat. Solomon denied this.
Boodlal testified that on three occasions he gave the accused meals, one of which was a chicken burger and red sweet drink brought for him by his aunt Gloria Seerattan. Gupta said on April 19, 2005, around 4.45 pm he, Sgt Wells and other officers took the accused to the office of district medical officer Dr Bhimsingh, where he was examined. Lakhan, of Spring Trace, Siparia, and Toolsie of La Brea Trace, Siparia were raped and strangled in bushes near their homes in 2005.
Lakhan disappeared on her way home after school on March 22 and her skeletal remains were found a month later. Toolsie disappeared on April 15 and her body was found under tyres and garbage bags three days later. The trial continues on Monday.