By Angela Burns Piper
At the end of the day Wednesday,
some nine witnesses had been called to give evidence in the much-publicized
case in which four American men are charged with the murder of
a fellow American Lois Livingstone McMillen.
The body of the 34 year-old artist from Connecticut was found
along the seashore of Drakes Highway in West End on Saturday
January 15th, 2000. The suspects are William Labrador,
37, a financial adviser from Southampton, New York; Alexander
Benedetto, 35, who worked for a publisher in New York City; Michael
Spicer, 37, a law student from Virginia and Evan George, 23,
an unemployed construction worker from Washington D.C.
The men were arrested the same day on suspicion of murder and detained in police custody until January 19th, when they were arrested and charged on a warrant in the first instance. A few days later, the case came up for hearing in the Magistrate’s Court to determine whether there was a prima facie case to proceed with a trial. The case was referred to the March criminal assizes, but has been adjourned several times since then, because of a delay in obtaining the results of forensic evidence.
When the case came up for hearing at the beginning of the March criminal assizes, Justice Kenneth Benjamin made it clear that he would not tolerate any further delays. The case was set to begin on April 2nd. And so it did, under tight police security and under the watchful eyes of several local, regional and international journalists.
The local firm of McWelling Todman - Hayden Douglas and visiting Bermudian attorney Richard Hector, who took over from Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, now Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is representing Labrador. Benedetto is represented by Paul Dennis of O’Neal Webster O’Neal Myers Fletcher & Gordon, while J.S Archibald & Co. represents Spicer and George.
Appearing for the prosecution are attorney
Theodore Guerra of Trinidad and Tobago, BVI Senior Crown Counsel
Terrence Williams and Crown Counsel David Abednego. The first
witnesses called on Monday included neighbour Sheena Andrews
of West End, who found the body; Constable Joycelyn Rhymer, who
responded to the report made to the West End Police Station and
Beulah Romney, another neighbour. Chief Inspector Jacob George
was called to give evidence Monday afternoon. His testimony lasted
throughout the afternoon and the entire day Tuesday. He was the
officer who arrested the four men and was in charge of the investigation.
He told the Court he made the arrests on the basis of what appeared
to be blood on a shirt belonging to Spicer, a cut on Labrador’s
nose - an explanation for which he did not accept and the discovery
of three pairs of wet, sandy shoes at Zebra House, where the
men were vacationing.
Defense attorneys discounted the evidence, in particular that of the shirt, as no stain could be seen on the shirt in evidence. It was also argued that the men were wrongfully detained in the first instance, for four days without being charged, longer than the legal period not exceeding two days. “So, this was a ripe case for habeas corpus,” said Dennis.
For this case, some 93 exhibits were collected, including clothes, fingernail clippings and scrapings and hair. Mr. Archibald insisted that there was nothing in this evidence to connect his clients to the crime of murder.
On Wednesday, WPC Rhymer completed her testimony and so too, did U.S Coast Guard Petty Officer Jeffrey Simms, who spent some time with the accused the night before the murder.
The court then heard evidence from Sergeant Duncan Williams who took Spicer’s statement and from Pathologist Dr. Francisco Landron, who performed the post mortem on January 18th. Dr. Landron noted that the body had multiple abrasions and contusions, water in the lungs and brain and sand particles in the bronchial tree. He said this suggests death by drowning. The pathologist was eventually asked to return on Thursday morning.
Mrs. Josephine McMillen, the deceased’s mother, took to the stand mid afternoon Wednesday. The McMillens own a vacation home in Belmont, West End and have been resident here for the past 21 years. She said on this particular visit to Tortola, her family had arrived December 30th, 1999. She recalled that her daughter socialized with the accused on a particular night during the week prior to her death. The final witness on Wednesday was Detective Acting Inspector Dennis Jones, who took Labrador’s statement. The case is expected to continue at least for another week.
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