Witness: I saw woman being choked

Charlene Vidal, of Turure in Sangre Grande, was giving evidence against murder accused Paul Cox.

Cox, of Coal Mine in Sangre Grande, is before Madame Justice Joan Charles at the Port-of-Spain Second Criminal Court charged with murdering his girlfriend Deidre-Ann Layne.

Vidal said she was at home at about 6.40 pm with her parents and brother, when she heard dogs barking. When she looked outside, Vidal said, she saw Layne kneeling close to a fence with Cox kneeling behind her. He appeared to be choking her.

Vidal said her brother came out of their house with a flashlight and she saw Cox’s face. Cox and Layne ran up an incline and fell into a ditch, she said. When the police and EHS officers arrived on the scene, Vidal said, one of the officers touched Cox with a rod and he (Cox) sprang up with a knife in his hand.

Vidal said she heard an explosion and ran into her home.

Another witness, EHS officer Sean Bissoon, said he was sent to the farm that evening on duty. He said he and a colleague accompanied two officers to a pond on the farm and he saw Cox with a knife sticking out of his throat. He said the accused lunged at one of the officers and he heard a loud explosion. Cox fell into the pond and crawled on top of Layne, Bissoon said.

Cox was taken for medical treatment, Bissoon said. When he felt for a pulse on Layne, he said, there was none.

Attorneys Oscar King and Andrew Cassimire are representing Cox, while attorney Cheron Raphael is appearing for the State.

Hearing resumes tomorrow.