by Bennette Roach
Deceased Businessman Aubrey Barry
Orin Francois Redwood-Evans arrested and charged in mid-October last year, has been found guilty for allegedly murdering former local businessman Aubrey Barry at his home in Manjack here in Montserrat. Barry died enroute the same morning to hospital in Barbados, where he was medivaced after he sustained severe head injuries. One source said that she was only able to identify Barry by his teeth because of the injuries to his head.
At the trial over the incident which took place late on October 3, 2012 and into the morning, the 19-year-old male Orin Francois Redwood-Evans gave an unsworn statement in which he admitted to killing Barry, but claimed it was in self-defense. Evans claimed the killing took place when he thought after having reported to the police on a previous occasion he had chased an intruder who had broken into his apartment at the same location in Manjack.
The jury comprising of eight (8) females and one (1) male returned the verdict after a mere two-hour deliberation after hearing evidence under the presidency of Judge Albert Redhead. Senior Crown Counsel and his assistant Kristen Taylor for the Public Prosecution office prosecuted the trial while experienced and senior attorney-at-law David S. Brandt defended Evans.
Convicted Orin Evans
In his unsworn statement, Evans said that following this incident when he chased the purported intruder he took up a piece of two by four from outside and kept it in his room for protection until the lock could be changed.
Evans, who at the time was a prison officer, was a downstairs tenant of the house where Barry lived, gave his account of the details of what happened when he came in contact with the persons in his house on October 3 close to midnight. He said after the incident he put on the lights and realized that it was his friend Aubrey on the floor. He later drove Barry’s vehicle to the police station where he reported the incident.
The jury returned a unanimous verdict after listening to and considering the evidence from 30 witnesses over seven days. The convict has been remanded at Her Majesty’s prison where he awaits sentencing, postponed until November 27, pending a social enquiry report, which is expected by November 26.
In comments reported by ZJB radio defense attorney David Brandt he will await instructions from his client for an appeal of the verdict, while Oris Sullivan says he thinks justice has been served.
Brandt said: “The jury has spoken and that is the end of the matter. I do not know if my client will instruct me to appeal, but if he does I will have to look at the record to see if there is any are any mistakes made in the trial…”
On the other hand Oris Sullivan said he will not comment on the verdict, “but to say that the system of justice that we have in Montserrat has worked in the way we expect it to…a jury of his peers considered the evidence and returned a verdict of guilty…”
The maximum time for a murder conviction is life in prison, since the death penalty has been abandoned in Britain and its territories.
