Nelson Henry, 30, is accused of the June 29, 2011 murder of Edward Lord, Jr.
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 7, 2017–An accused murderer who has been on remand for over six years will most likely go home if a key prosecution witness is not located by next Tuesday, when the case is scheduled to continue.
The trial of Nelson Leroy Henry, 30, accused of the June 29, 2011 murder of Edward Emmanuel Lord, Jr., was scheduled to begin this morning in the Supreme Court of Justice Adolph Lucas, who is hearing the case without a jury.
Henry is being defended by attorney Oscar Selgado, who did not have to say anything this morning because the prosecution’s case, which is being presented by Crown Counsel Janelle Tillett, ran into early difficulty when its main witness was a no-show at court.
Tillett told Justice Lucas that her main witness could not be located.
Justice Lucas told her to hold on, as he began writing notes.
When Tillett resumed her submission, she told the court that a subpoena was served on the mother of the witness at her Logwood Street home on Sunday by Constable Gregory Cayetano, but she refused to sign for the subpoena.
“The subpoena stated that the witness was to appear before Your Lordship on Monday, September 4, at 9:00 a.m. Yet the witness did not appear on that date. The Crown took further steps to locate the witness on Tuesday, September 5. Up to the present, the Crown has still not located the witness,” Tillett told the court.
Citing Section 85 of the Indictable Procedures Act, Tillett asked Justice Lucas to issue a bench warrant for the witness.
“The Crown, at this moment, wishes to prove that the subpoena was served,” Tillett said.
“You have to be careful how you bring people to court under compulsion,” Justice Lucas told Crown Counsel Tillett.
The Crown then called PC Cayetano to the witness stand, and he gave evidence that he had served the subpoena on Glenda St. Claire, the mother of Catherine Parchue, the witness who could not be located.
Cayetano also testified that he gave a copy of the subpoena to Inspector Sanchez of the Gang Suppression Unit for their assistance in serving it to the witness.
Crown Counsel Tillett told the court that the witness, Parchue, “was to give evidence that she saw the accused shooting Lord, and that she had identified the accused at an identification parade.”
Following the formal proof that the subpoena was served, Justice Lucas issued the warrant for Parchue’s arrest
“The matter is adjourned to Tuesday, September 12, 2017. If the witness is not located, except for exceptional circumstances, this matter will be dismissed in lieu of the Crown not entering a nolle prosequi,” Justice Lucas declared, before the case was adjourned.
Lord was killed execution-style when his assailant sprayed bullets at him with a machine gun on Mahogany Street, opposite Brick City Barber Shop.
Lord, according to news reports about his murder, was standing on the side of the street conversing with two other men when his assailant appeared and sprayed at least 20 bullets in his direction. At least 7 of those bullets found their mark in various parts of Lord’s body.
Police Press Officer, Fitzroy Yearwood, commented that Lord’s attacker was “brazen and ruthless” for carrying out the execution quite near the Mahogany Street Police Sub-station.
Lord was tried and acquitted in March, 2009, of the August 27, 2007 murder of George “Junie Balls” McKenzie when the key witness failed to show up to testify.
In October 2010, Lord was shot in the face, but had survived that shooting.