ONE OF the two men who were accused of murdering two employees during an attempted robbery at the Unipet gas station, Seaforth, St. Thomas, in September 1999 has been sentenced to hang.
He is Paul Murray, 21-year-old labourer, of Seaforth.
Kemar Williams, labourer, of Seaforth who was jointly charged with Murray was freed of the murder charge.
The Crown, represented by Marjorie Moyston, Crown Counsel, led evidence at the trial in the Home Circuit Court that at about 9 p.m. on September 16, 1999, some men went to the gas station in Seaforth. They demanded money but got none. They then shot Mark Brown and Damion Archer, employees of the gas station.
A witness tesfifed that Murray, whom he did not know before, came into the office and demanded money. Another man later came in and both men fired shots hitting the two men. The witness said he was also shot. He pointed out Murray at an identification parade. He did not identify Williams.
Another witness said that he heard explosions and saw a man running from the gas station. He said he later saw the man coming from the side of a house and he recognised him to be Williams, because of the clothes he was wearing.
Forensic evidence was given that gunpowder residue was found on the hands of both men. The test showed an elevated level in Williams' case. The forensic analyst said that it was not likely that residue of such elevated level would have been found on a person's hand who had fired a gun two and a half days previously.
Attorney-at-law George Soutar, who represented Williams, asked the jury to free Williams because the evidence against him was very weak.
The men had denied committing the offence.
The jury retired for three hours and freed Williams, but found Murray guilty of murder. Mr. Justice Mahadev Dukharan sentenced Murray to hang.
Attorney-at-law Earl Wright represented Murray.
