Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
A JURY HAS freed 29-year-old Jamaica Defence Force soldier Gregory Burke, who was accused of murdering four persons in a house in Cave Valley, St. Ann, seven years ago.
Burke was charged with the murder of Paul Barrett and his wife, Sadie, Glassington Outar and his common-law wife, Marcia Barrett.
The Crown led evidence at the trial in the Trelawny Circuit Court that about 1:30 a.m. on August 3, 1998, three men entered the house of the four deceased and shot them dead.
Two witnesses testified that they were awakened by the explosions. One of the witnesses said that after the explosions ceased, he looked outside and saw men leaving the premises. The witnesses said that before Paul Barrett died he called Burke's name as one of the men who attacked him.
Another witness said he heard Marcia Barrett calling Burke's name and begging Burke not to murder Outar. The witness said he saw Burke and two other men leaving the premises after the explosions had stopped. He added that Burke was armed with a revolver and a shotgun.
Under cross-examination by attorneys-at-law Valerie Neita-Robertson and Thalia Maragh, the witnesses said they gave reports to the police 28 days after the incident. They said they did not give a full report earlier because they were afraid.
PLEA OF INNOCENCE
Burke wept as he made his unsworn statement from the dock. He said he was innocent of the charges. Burke said the deceased Outar was involved in the theft of cocaine from Colombian traffickers and he was framed to divert attention from the real killers.
Burke's trial was aborted in March 2000 because of allegations of interference with the jury. He was tried in October 2001 and convicted of the charges. He was sentenced to hang, but appealed. The Court of Appeal ordered a retrial which ended in Burke's acquittal.
Justice Bryan Sykes presided at the trial.
