Stolen jewelry shown in court

THE JEWELRY which was allegedly stolen from the scene of the gruesome Cascade triple murder, was yesterday exhibited at the Port-of-Spain Second Criminal Court. Two gold chains, one gold ring, one pair of earrings and an “Aquarius pendant,” estimated at $2,000, were identified by  jeweler Abdullah Mohammed as the items that the prosecution’s star witness, Dion Jones, had sold at his Maraval store on December 14, 2001. The jeweler of 15 years said he had paid Jones $450 for the items. When Jones, of Bush Street, San Juan, took the stand, he told the court that on December 12, 2001, he was plying his white Nissan B12 Sentra along the Maitagual/San Juan route, when he was stopped by one of the accused, Daniel Agard, and offered a private job. He said Agard had claimed that he (Agard) had been evicted and needed someone to transport his stuff.

Although he and Agard were “good friends,” the witness said, he did not know his proper name prior to seeing him at the Homicide Bureau. He said he had only known the accused as  “Dougla.” Later that day, he said, he picked up Agard and the other accused, Lester Pitman, outside Pitman’s Maitagual home and Agard directed him to a house on Mendes Drive in Mt Hope. Jones said Agard asked him if he could keep the two televisions and two small bags he had removed from the house. The taxi driver said that since he had no space in his house to keep the items, he asked his brother, Darryl Calvin McDonald, to store the items and McDonald agreed. Jones said when he dropped Agard and Pitman off, Agard told him to keep the smaller of the two televisions as payment until a cash payment could be made. 

He also said Agard hired him to take a him (Agard), a male friend and their girlfriends to Maracas Beach on December 14. On their way to pick up the male friend at his Mendes Drive, Mt Hope home, Jones said Agard asked him if he knew any jewelers and he recommended Kazim’s in Maraval. After picking up the “girls,” Jones said, they stopped off at Kazim’s and Agard gave him a bag with some jewelry to take in to the store to sell. Everyone else remained in the car. He said he was told to return later to collect the money for the jewelry. Approximately four hours later, they returned to Kazim’s, collected the money and he (Jones) dropped everyone off at their respective homes. He said he was paid a total of $300 for the job. On December 18, while working his usual route, Jones said he was arrested and accompanied the police to the houses where the two televisions and a laptop were being kept. The items were retrieved and taken to the police station. The following day he accompanied the police to Kazim’s, where the jewelry was retrieved. Jones said he was charged with receiving stolen property and was subsequently granted immunity.

He denied claims by the defence that he had fabricated the story to save himself from going to prison. He insisted that he had not been told what to say by Sgt Wayne Dick and Insp David Ned. Jones said he had no idea what immunity was when it was suggested to him by Dick. He later accepted after he had sought legal advice on the meaning of the term and not because Dick had pressured him into accepting. When McDonald took the stand, he told the court that had agreed to keep the items when he was asked by Jones on December 13. The items, McDonald said, included two televisions and remote controls, a cable box and a bag containing a laptop. He said the larger of the two TVs was kept at his friend Miguel’s house and, since he was not computer literate, he took the laptop to his friend Chris Callender’s father’s business place to “see if it was connected to anyone. I had no idea it was hot,” the witness said. However, in his statement to the police a few days after the incident, it was recorded that in response to questions by the police if he knew the items had been stolen, McDonald had said “yes it was hot.”

McDonald said he heard that the police were looking for him on December 18,  and when he spotted the vehicle, he stopped the officers and identified himself. He took them to Miguel’s house, where the larger TV was retrieved from the bushes. He later took them to Callender’s Hillsdale Crescent, Mt Hope home, where the laptop was retrieved and taken to the police station. Callender later told the court that he had taken the laptop to his house but had not “opened it once. I never asked Darryl if the items were hot,” he said. Agard and Pitman are before Justice Herbert Volney charged with the murders of 59-year-old John Cropper, 83-year-old Maggie Lee, and 51-year-old Lynette Lichglow Pearson. The three were found with their throats slit at Cropper’s Mt Anne Drive house at Second Avenue in Cascade. They were reportedly murdered sometime between December 11 and 13. Agard is being represented by attorney Mario Merritt and Pitman by Wayne Sturge. State attorneys George Busby and Trevor Ward are prosecuting. Hearing resumes today.