Cousin claims accused was with him during attack

Bartica Massacre trial

− as defence calls its first witness

In a dramatic and shocking departure from the general tenor of the trial and the account of other witnesses, Sheldon Williams, the cousin of murder accused Mark Royden Williams, has testified that the alleged gang-member was with him on the night of the February 17, 2008 massacre at Bartica.

The court heard that this was the first time in almost nine years that the man has made such a disclosure that his cousin was with him at his Cummings Lodge, Georgetown home.

Dennis Williams and Roger Simon are the other accused standing trial at the Demerara High Court for the deadly attack.

Mark Royden Williams’ surprise alibi comes as the defence is now calling witnesses, two days after the prosecution rested its case. Taking the witness box on Thursday morning, Sheldon Williams testified amid bouts of hyperventilation as he was being questioned.

Led by Mark Williams’ defence attorney, Roger Yearwood, Sheldon told the court that on the night of the Bartica attack he was in bed lying down, when his cousin, Mark touched him and said something. The witness, who is a taxi driver and former Policeman, explained that he turned on the television and saw the report. The jury, however, heard that the man went back to sleep as he was in “a lot of pain”.

More jarringly, Sheldon recounted that some time in June 2008, he was in a room at his home in Cummings Lodge praying when he looked out to his verandah and saw Police surrounding his yard. His cousin, Mark was there at the time. Sheldon noted that he was taken to Sparendaam Police Station, but did not know what happened to Mark at that point.

The witness told the court that he was charged with harbouring a wanted person, but the charges were later dismissed. The jury also heard that the ex-Policeman, who served in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from 1995-2004 until his dismissal, had known murdered Policemen Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir and Constable Shane Fredericks, who were like ‘a brother and father to him’, respectively. Upon questioning by Attorney Yearwood, the witness claimed that he did not testify to cover up for his cousin, Mark. Under cross-examination by State Prosecutor Stacey Goodings, Sheldon stated that he heard that his cousin was selling “guinip” in Manchester Village, Berbice, but that he was visiting them in Georgetown at the time of the Bartica attack. The witness also admitted that he never visited his cousin while he was at Berbice.

The prosecution sought to establish a number of discrepancies and credibility issues in Sheldon’s testimony. The witness was unsure whether or not he was arrested in June or February 2008. The man later noted that he did not think that it was important to inform the Police that Mark was with him when the Bartica attack had occurred. The jury heard that he never testified in the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) at the Magistrates’ Court.

“I was scared for my life…from then till now,” Sheldon testified. Presiding Judge, Justice Roxane George, SC, then interjected: “Scared of what?”

“I was a cop, I lost a lot of squaddies,” the witness responded in a moment of brief hyperventilation. Sheldon also admitted that “lying” led to his dismissal from the Police Force after he submitted three weeks of sick leave when he was never sick. When asked by Prosecutor Goodings, Williams could not provide the regulation numbers for the murdered police ranks whom he claimed to have known like a brother and a father. When the prosecution suggested that the witness’s entire story was not true, he maintained that he never told Police about his cousin being with him because he was “scared for his life”.

Aside from the three standing trial, two others, the other accused Clebert Reece and Michael Caesar, pleaded guilty to manslaughter late last year, and were sentenced to 420 and 1080 years in prison respectively. Additionally, Reece and fellow gang member Dwane Williams had identified Mark Royden Williams and Dennis Williams as being part of the gang that carried out massacres at Lusignan, Bartica and Lindo Creek.

It was while residents were watching a game of 20/20 cricket on that fateful night that gunmen stormed the Essequibo community and slaughtered three Policemen and nine civilians. Meanwhile, Justice George has overruled submissions made by Attorneys Shaphier Hussain and Peter Hugh, the defence counsels of Mark Royden Williams’ co-defendants. The trial continues next week.