I SAW WOMAN STRUGGLING AND SHAKING

Nature lover Ainsley Le Tren, who had climbed the Cumberland Hill transmitting tower to get a better scenic view of that part of Trinidad by evening,  ended up focusing his binoculars on a man strangling a naked Patricia Cox, secretary to attorney Joseph Melville. Le Tren told a Port-of-Spain jury yesterday that the man was stooping at the back of the woman with her head locked in one of his arms. He said he looked on to make sure that the duo were not lovers, and when he saw the woman making a trembling motion and struggling, he shouted out. The man then got up, pushed his hand by his waist and started running towards Le Tren.

Le Tren said he climbed down the tower, jumped on his motorcycle and rode off. The man Le Tren was speaking of was described by Cox as Jason Holder, one of three men who attempted to murder her. Le Tren was the fourth witness to testify before Justice Melville Baird in the Port-of-Spain First Criminal Court,  where attorney Joseph Melville and taxi driver Hilton Winchester are charged with conspiracy to murder Cox,  the attempted murder of Cox, kidnapping and assaulting her on June 28, 2001, at Cumberland Hill, St James. Holder, who is also charged with some of these offences, is not before the court because he cannot be found. Another man, Ainsley Alleyne, who was also charged with the offences, turned State witness, but is now deceased. Melville is being defended by Nathaniel King and Ken Sagar while Winchester’s attorney is Thomas Cunningham. State attorneys in the matter are senior prosecutor Trevor Ward and prosecutor George Busby. About 6 pm, on June 28, 2001, Le Tren, a driver, who at the time worked at a Point Cumana hardware, had gone up to Cumberland Hill to take in the view as he had done on other occasions.

While climbing the tower, he saw a person stooping down about 300 yards away. When he reached the top of  the tower he took out his binoculars and focused them on the person. He saw a male person stooping down, then getting up and walking about two feet, and stooping down again.  The man was stooping down at the head of a naked woman who had a piece of cloth tied around her feet. He then wrapped his arm around the woman’s neck. Le Tren demonstrated to the court how the woman began shaking as if trembling, and struggling. He said: “I looked on to see if they were lovers or something. But when I saw the person struggling and shaking, I shouted out. The guy let go of the lady’s  head and started running towards me, pushing his hand in his waist. I kept looking at his face and when he was coming closer to me, I proceeded down the tower and jumped on my motorbike and rode away.”

Le Tren said he rode for about 15 minutes down Cumberland Hill and went to Fort George, where he sought the help of a security guard and the use of a telephone. He got no such help, and then proceeded to his home. He and his brother then went to the St James Police Station and reported what he had seen. It was about 8 pm. He and the police then went to Cumberland Hill and with the help of torchlights, they found a pair of panties, a shirt and a brassiere. Also testifying yesterday was Zedekiah Aaron, the watchman of the building at 18-20 Pembroke Street, which housed Melville’s law office. Aaron said that on the day in question, he saw Cox leave the building about 3 pm and walk up Pembroke Street.  Sometime later, he saw Melville enter the building. Hearing continues today.