Victim’s son among three to testify as trial opens

THE State called three witnesses yesterday in the trial of  Dhanraj Singh for the murder of chairman of the Rio Claro/Mayaro Regional Corporation Hansraj Sumairsingh.

One of them was Sumairsingh’s son, Visham, who told the jury in the San Fernando First Assize Court how he discovered the body of his father at the family’s  beach house in Mayaro on December 31, 2000. Visham said that he last saw Sumairsingh at their home on December 30, while he (Sumair-singh) was preparing to go to a beach house the family owns at Gran Lagoon in Mayaro. Visham said he spoke to Sumairsingh on the telephone that day around 3:30 pm and he then left for San Fernando. Questioned by acting assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Devan Rampersad, Visham said that on the following day he was awaken by his stepmother, Sandra Sumairsingh, around 2 pm and together with his sister, Kavita,  they went to the beach house.

He testified before Justice Melville Baird  and the jury of eight men and four women that he observed a Bluebird car parked at the side of  the house. The two front doors were open, Visham testified, and the radio was on. He said that two lights in the front part of the house were on and he heard the sound of a cooling fan coming from inside the house.
Visham told the jury that he went to the back of the house and tried to look  through ventilation bricks. He said he saw the lower part of  the  legs of his father at the doorway next to the living room. Visham told the court that he prised  the back door open with a piece of iron and went inside. The witness said that he saw the body of his father lying in a corner of the living room. The body was next to the front door and there was blood on the walls and door.

Visham testified that he went outside the house and spoke to his sister and step-mother after which he went to the house next door and telephoned the police. Visham testified that he later identified his father’s body at the Forensic Sciences Centre in Port of Spain on Janaury 3, 2000. The witness was cross-examined by attorney Prakash Ramadhar who asked him if he was aware that his father’s cell phone had been reported in the  newspaper as having been found in a boat. The witness answered yes.

The other witness called was Police Sergeant, Trevor Alexander.  He testified that he was a police photographer who took photos of the house and the deceased body. The jury was shown the photographs, except for two which were withheld on instructions by Justice Baird.
Rajcoomar is holding for Karl Hudson-Phillips, Queen’s Counsel, together with Ramadhar and Jenner Hudson-Phillips, for the defence. Gregory Hoods, a police draughtsman also testified. The trial will resume this morning.