Rayana Michael, a former teacher of the Richard Ishmael Secondary School, on Thursday stood before Magistrate Judy Latchman to testify in the Preliminary Inquiry into the murder of Kescia Branche.
Murder suspect: Matthew Munroe
She told the court that she only knew the murder accused, Matthew Munroe through Branche, since he would usually pick them up after partying on the weekend.
The woman explained that after Branche’s death, she was invited to the Brickdam Police Station for a confrontation between herself and the accused but he reportedly told Police that he never saw her.
The matter will continue today before Magistrate Latchman. Munroe was represented by a different attorney from the last sitting.
He is accused of murdering Kescia Branche, a teacher, on November 7, 2017 in Georgetown.
Murdered school teacher, Kescia Branche
Attorney George Thomas, who is representing the 47-year-old man, told the court that his client, who has been in custody since November 30, 2017, has denied committing the crime, holding out that he was not in the jurisdiction.
In an attempt to form an alibi, Thomas claimed that his client’s mobile phone was confiscated by the Police and records can prove his claims.
The Police are contending that the car from which Branche’s body was allegedly dumped, reportedly belonged to Munroe. Upon receiving that bit of information, the Police immediately named Munroe as a person of interest. After spending some time in the United States, the man returned and presented himself to the Criminal Investigation Department in the company of his lawyer.
The Police stated that during interrogation, Munroe could not have provided information on his whereabouts on the night the woman was brutally attacked and more so, failed to give Police information on his missing car bumper.
Twenty-two-year-old Branche, of Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown, was discovered lying at the corner of Princes Street and Louisa Row in Georgetown on the morning of November 5.
She succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital two days after her discovery as a result of brain haemorrhaging and blunt trauma to the head.
According to reports, Branche had left home for a night of partying.
She left her three-year-old son in the care of a friend, who revealed that Branche told her that she intended to go to Palm Court to meet a male friend. The teacher later returned home, but subsequently left again. She told her friend that she would be home by 02:00h, but never returned. She was last seen leaving a nightclub on Lamaha Street in the company of two Police ranks.
The father of the woman’s son was also arrested after the teacher’s mobile phone was found in his possession. He, along with four Cops, were questioned about her death but were later released on station bail.
