Ex-soldier testifies against cousin

The occupants of the Port-of-Spain Eighth Magistrates Court listened attentively as Jason Percival spoke of the alleged formulation of a plan by his cousin Cpl Ricardo Stevenson and several other men to abduct Maharaj.

Percival, who had consented to be extradited to the US to face charges in connection with the kidnapping of Maharaj, is the State’s main witness and was brought back to Trinidad just to give evidence against Stevenson, 40-year-old Doreen Alexander-Durity, 27-year-old Zion Clarke, 32-year-old Anderson Straker, soldiers Sgt Leon Nurse and Private Ricardo De Four, brothers Wayne and Kenneth Pierre, Kevin Nixon, Kevon De Merieux, and Christopher Sealey, also called Michael Bourne.

The ten men and one woman are charged with Maharaj’s murder.

Maharaj, 62, was kidnapped while liming at the Samaan Tree Bar in Aranjuez on April 6, 2005. His remains were found in two barrels at Grande Curacaye, Santa Cruz on January 8, 2006.

The witness was escorted in and out of the courtroom through the door used exclusively by the magistrate and other court personnel. For over three hours, Percival was called upon by special prosecutor Israel Khan SC to recall the details of and the implementation of the alleged plan.

He will continue giving evidence when the matter resumes on September 11.