The two men charged with the murder of 48-year-old gas station operator Sylvia Edwards are to return to the Home Circuit Court on March 16 next year when their trial will begin.

The trial date was set Wednesday when the men appeared in the Home Circuit Court.

The Crown is alleging that Edwards was kidnapped along Red Hills Road, St Andrew, in July 2000. When a demand for a ransom of $200,000 was not met, she was fatally shot and buried in a shallow grave in the hills of St Andrew.

Bail revoked

Rohan Masters, 31, craft vendor, of Luke Lane, Kingston and 45-year-old businessman Rupert Wallace, of Morant Bay, St Thomas, are charged with the murder.

Masters had breached one of the conditions of his bail and his bail was revoked last month.

Attorney-at-law Tom Tavares Finson, in applying for the restoration of Masters' bail, said he was under a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily. He said Masters lived in a tenement yard but when the police went to his home to check on him, he was at a different section of the premises.

Strict conditions

Senior Puisne Judge Marva McIntosh granted Masters bail in the sum of $500,000 with a surety and also imposed strict bail conditions. The judge gave Masters a stern warning that if he was not at home during the hours of his curfew, his bail would be revoked.

Wallace, who used to live in St Catherine, is now living in St Thomas. The judge said he should return to court Friday to give the police sufficient time to verify his address.