ONE of two brothers who narrowly escaped the wrath of the Bartica massacrists “teared up” in the High Court on Thursday while giving his testimony in the case. Wilbert Chester and his brother Ishmael Chester were employed by Boodhoo’s General Store at Parika at the time of the massacre. They both worked on the company’s boat and survived the slaughter.

It got very emotional for Wilbert Chester Jr, when he took the stand before Justice Roxane George SC and a 12-menber jury at the trial when he broke down and cried as he recalled how he survived, saw the bodies of his colleagues on the stelling and when he couldn’t locate his brother. Wilbert said in February 2008, he was employed as a sailor on a boat called “Little Giant” owned by Boodhoo’s General Store at Parika and the boat used to travel from Parika to Bartica, then to the Essequibo Coast transporting cargo.

When led by State prosecutor Stacy Goodings on Thursday, he said on February 16, 2008, the boat left Parika for Bartica with himself, his brother, Ishmael Chester, Errol Thomas the captain and a man called “Kirby.”

Wilbert added that they arrived at the Guyana Power and Light wharf in Bartica at 16:40hrs and informed the store manager of their arrival, then the group returned to the boat. The next day, February 17, 2008, about 08:30hrs the boat was moored at the TH&D wharf where they were discharging cargo, but it rained and they did not finish until 16:30hrs, then went to the boat to watch 20/20 cricket via a portable television, he said.

Wilbert related that about 18:30hrs the three other men left the boat and went out, while he and his brother remained on board. He said after the trio had returned, he and his brother left the boat and went to the beach at a Duck Curry Competition. The witness added that they returned to the boat about 21:30hrs and after a conversation with his brother, he left the boat and went to the shop to buy cigarettes at the arcade.

Gunshots
However, on his way there he encountered a school friend and they went to a Chinese Restaurant and bought Guinness. He said it was while they were outside the restaurant drinking that he heard gunshots coming from the direction of the Bartica Police Station. Wilbert said he ran into the Chinese Restaurant and someone closed the door and he hid there, then when the gunshots subsided he returned to the boat.

Stelling
The witness stated that he searched the boat but could not find his brother, then went to the stelling where he saw three crew members lying motionless and he checked for a pulse and only Errol Thomas had. Wilbert,at this point in his evidence-in-chief, was moved to tears and had to take a little time to compose himself before he continued his testimony.

He added that he took Thomas to the monument on the road at 1st Avenue and he ran to the police station which is a short distance away, but there was no one there. “The place was empty” and he exited the station and a man came to assist him in taking the injured man to the hospital.
At that point, Wilbert told the court he went in search of his brother but did not locate him, then returned to the boat and got his phone from under the pillow and called his boss, who told him something. He stated that he went with the friend he was drinking with earlier that night in his car to the store in Bartica, but when he called out no one answered and he returned to the hospital.

Ishmael Chester, brother of Wilbert, told the court in his evidence-in-chief that he left on a boat to go Bartica from Parika and they reached there on February 16, 2008 with himself and three others including his sibling. He narrated a similar story as his brother, but said he stayed on the boat when his brother went to the shop and was watching cricket on a portable TV when he heard gunshots and they closed the door and stayed on the boat.

Crying and trembling
Ishmael, who survived the massacre, said then a tall man came on the boat and ordered them off and placed them to lie face down on the stelling. Then about half an hour after a guy came up and said to me: “You get up and run” and he did and jumped off the stelling and ran, but left five men on the stelling. The witness added that he didn’t know the two other men, who were also lying on the stelling, but he was trembling and crying before he was told to get up and run after which he heard gunshots. Ishmael told the court he ran to Boodhoo’s General Store in Bartica and he spoke to the manager, then stayed there until the next day.