3 ‘army’ men seen near crashed car

SOMETIME before the car with Clint Huggins’ body was set ablaze, Corporal Garvin Armstrong said he saw three persons dressed in army camouflage standing near the car which appeared to have crashed into a fence on the Uriah Butler Highway, Mt Hope.

Armstrong, a traffic policeman, who testified at the trial of three men accused of murdering Huggins, said he was on his way home at about 1.45 am on Carnival Tuesday in 1996 when he first noticed the crashed Nissan Laurel car, the uniformed men and two other cars parked close by.  He said he  recognised the uniforms the from the lights of vehicles.  Some five hours later, at about 7.15 am, while he was on his way to work, he noticed the crashed car had been destroyed by fire. Armstrong was testifying before Justice Alice York Soo-Hon in the Port-of-Spain Third Criminal Court, where Arnold Huggins, his cousin Leslie Huggins and Junior Phillip, are on trial for the murder. The victim was a key State witness against Dole Chadee. 

The State’s case, which is being presented by prosecutor Wayne Rajbansee and Natasha George, is that the trio accepted a $3 million contract to kill Clint. Arnold is being defended by Ian Stuart Brooks, Leslie by Keith Scotland and Dawn Mohan, and Phillip by Osbourne Charles SC instructed by Chryslin Moore.

Also testifying yesterday was Clint’s father, Neville Huggins, who gave an account of his family tree and his relationship to the accused. He also recounted for the jury telephone conversations from his Glencoe safe house with his nephew Leslie Huggins over the Carnival period about the whereabout of Clint, who had left his safe house at Teteron. He said Leslie told him Clint had gone to a Carnival fete at PSA grounds, Long Circular, on Saturday night, then travelled by maxi taxi to Arima and then to Guaico, Sangre Grande. Clint stopped off at Mulchan Street, Guaico,  and walked about a quarter of a mile into the street to the home of Leslie. He arrived there Sunday  morning about 5 o’clock. The cousins started a “lime” cooking and drinking.  Leslie later took Clint to San Juan where he wanted to collect something from “Natty”. They did not find Natty, but ended up at the home of one of Natty’s relatives.