Husband ID’d as killer by prosecution’s star witness

…as trial continues in High Court

As the Miguel Barker murder trial continued at the High Court on Tuesday, a dramatic turn of events saw Shanieza Clarke being called as a surprise witness by the prosecution after she mysteriously disappeared from the Inner Bagotville, West Bank Demerara area following Donessa Barker’s death on April 30, 2015.
Miguel Barker called “Allan” was in hiding after his wife was brutally stabbed at Bagotville. He was caught days after and was charged for the crime. He denied that he was responsible for his spouse’s demise and has been maintaining his innocence since his arrest.

However, Clarke contended otherwise in her testimony via Skype from Suriname before the jury and Justice Navindra Singh on Tuesday where she chronicled events of “Allan” being seen with a knife on the night prior to his wife’s killing. Led by Prosecutor Tiffini Lyken, Clarke stated that she met Donessa Barker, also known as “Vanessa” on Easter Monday in 2015. The prosecution’s star witness told the 12-member jury that Miguel came to live at her father’s house at Inner Bagotville where she had also resided.
Clarke highlighted that he had come to live there about one month prior to April 30, 2015, the day of his wife’s murder.
As her testimony continued, the witness recalled that on April 29, 2015, she, Donessa and a friend, “Kelly” went to a “wake house” and returned home after 23:00h.
According to her recollection, as they were having a conversation, she heard rustling in the bushes and her electricity suddenly went out. She looked outside however to see her neighbours still had electricity. Sometime after, she said she looked through the window and saw Miguel Barker about 10 feet away, standing in the yard smoking a cigarette.
Clarke claimed that she and Donessa went into the yard and there was Miguel standing with a knife in his hand, saying: “All man deserve a fair chance.” At this point other persons were present, and the witness told the court that she told these individuals to convince him to drop the knife.
“Allan drop the knife and continued to walk out. After Allan walk out, I picked up the knife and held it behind me,” the witness recounted.
Chronicling the events that transpired the following day, Clarke said she reported the matter from the previous night to the La Grange Police Station.
“I gave the officer the knife and make a report about the incident that happened on the 29th,” the star witness highlighted.
She further noted that on April 30 around 15:30, she was sleeping when Javonna Frank, her step-sister came to her home and woke her up and they had a conversation.
As Clarke’s testimony continued, she related that she, Javonna, and Donessa were talking about music when Donessa went to get her phone. She told the court that she later heard, “Oh gosh, Shanieza come now!” At that point, Clarke said that she armed herself with a cutlass which was under her bed and went towards the room the Barkers shared.
“I walked towards the room and I saw Allan Barker stooping at the window and he turned to the side and looked at me and I saw Vanessa Barker with blood on her face,” the witness noted from her recollection of events.
Clarke told the jury that after Allan looked at her, she pushed the door and he jumped through the window.
“After he jumped through the window, Vanessa run out of the room and fell on the front landing. She was panting for breath and blood was shooting out from her neck and hand. After I saw it, I shake she and say ‘stay with me, I going and get help’,” Clarke observed, adding that neighbours helped her and the Police came afterwards.
Under cross-examination by Defence Counsel Maxwell McKay, the witness maintained that her story was true and that she indeed saw Barker through the tall Bamboo bushes and that she was able to do so from the light that shone from the neighbours.
Before the woman’s death, the couple had been married for more than a year. Prosecutors Abigail Gibbs and Narissa Leander are assisting with the State’s case.