The murder trial of Agricola native Jermaine Savory, who is accused of shooting to death Melissa Payne during the course of a robbery on November 5, 2008, continued before Justice James Bovell-Drakes at the High Court in Georgetown.
In the company of at least one other person, Savory allegedly murdered Payne after the woman and her reputed husband, John Fraser, had stopped at Agricola on their way to Georgetown in an effort to correct a mechanical fault that occurred on the GHH 5399 Toyota Canter truck in which they were travelling.
On trial: Jermaine Savory
The 12-member jury, which was recently empanelled to make a judgment on the case, heard the testimony of Agricola resident Lorraine Isaacs, who was one of the first witnesses on the scene after Payne was shot. On Tuesday, she recalled that on the morning of the robbery and shooting that she was assisting her mother in packing some mangoes when she observed a traffic jam on the Agricola Public Road, which was caused by a broken down canter.
Some time after, she heard two loud explosions which sounded like gunshots just moments apart. Isaacs said she saw a woman fall to the ground and she crossed over the road and saw her in a sitting position bracing and she was bleeding. She later highlighted that she knew the accused, Savory, since he was a young boy growing up in the village in addition to knowing Otto Bagot, a man with whom she had shared a relationship. Bagot was implicated as an accomplice in the murder.
The next witness, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Elston Baird, who had been attached to the Ruimveldt Police Station in 2008, recalled when Savory was interviewed. In his testimony, ASP Baird recalled that Savory admitted to being involved in the robbery, but denied pulling the trigger.
‘“Inspector, is me and Otto do de robbery and is he who shoot de woman’,” Savory allegedly told the Police Officer while in custody.
This comes as a departure from the account of Payne’s reputed husband, John Fraser, who positively identified Savory as the assailant during his emotional testimony before the jury on Monday.
Reports back then were that while Fraser was attending to the vehicle around 08:30h that morning, armed bandits approached them. Fraser had managed to escape, but Payne, from Den Amstel, West Bank Demerara, was eventually shot after refusing to hand over her bag, which reportedly contained some $100,000 cash and other valuables. After she tried to escape with her handbag, the bandits had swiftly pursued her and opened fire; they made off with the bag and her gold chain. Payne subsequently died while being transported to hospital.
Some nine years after the murder was committed, Savory is represented in court by Attorney Maxwell McKay, and Prosecutors Mandell Moore and Orinthia Schmidt are presenting the State’s case. Police Inspector Eon Jackson, a ballistics expert, also took the stand on Tuesday in a trial in which some nine witnesses are expected to testify.
