Three men accused of killing Allen “Tiger” Hodge after he returned to his Mayaba residence while they were allegedly robbing it on Sept. 10, 2010, were each found not guilty of murder yesterday afternoon at the High Court.
Marcus Lloyd, Wakeem Guishard and Mitch Christopher were cleared of the charges by a nine-member jury, who returned the verdicts after more than three hours of deliberating.
During the prosecution’s closing remarks on Monday, Principal Crown Counsel Tiffany Scatliffe-Esprit told jurors that Mr. Hodge’s murder was especially heinous.
The victim, whose body was recovered from the living room, received 15 gunshot wounds, and his teeth were scattered across the floor, according to the Crown.
“This was not a typical murder,” she remarked. “He was slaughtered.”
The Crown alleged that Mr. Guishard and Mr. Christopher, as well as another accomplice, Terrance Charles, went to Mr. Hodge’s unoccupied home with the intention of stealing his drugs, but brought along firearms in case he returned.
Mr. Hodge returned, said Ms. Scatliffe-Esprit, and the defendants shot at him using a Glock and an AK-47.
“They dealt with him and now he’s dead,” she said.
Mr. Lloyd supplied the guns that were used to kill the victim, claimed the Crown, and orchestrated the plan to rob Mr. Hodge.
Convict’s testimony
The Crown’s case relied heavily on the testimony of Mr. Charles, who is serving a life sentence in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years after pleading guilty in 2011 to murdering Mr. Hodge.
Mr. Charles alleged during the trial that the three defendants were his accomplices, but claimed he had originally lied to police about their involvement because he was scared to snitch on his friends.
However, Mr. Lloyd, the only defendant to testify, refuted Mr. Charles’ allegations, and said he had never harmed or plotted against Mr. Hodge.
In their closing remarks this week, defence attorneys Patrick Thompson, Jamal Smith and Valerie Stephens-Gordon criticised the Crown’s lack of concrete evidence against their clients, and questioned the character and intentions of Mr. Hodge.
“Can you believe a person like Terrance Charles?” Mr. Thompson asked the jury, pointing out that the witness is an admitted liar and convicted murderer.
The case, which began on April 13, was being tried at the High Court for the third time.
The three defendants were first tried last year, but after two days of deliberations, the jurors were unable to come to a unanimous decision, and they were dismissed on March 27, 2015.
The trio’s second trial began on March 9, but ended 13 days later after High Court Justice Vicki Ann Ellis declared a mistrial due to unexpected difficulties with two jurors.