CONFUSION and joy heralded the Septic Tank murder trial verdicts on Friday night, July 3rd, as spectators expressed their feelings of joy and sadness at the convictions of Ralph Tyndal, also called ‘Nick’, and Anthony De Paul Hope, also called ‘Papa’, for the 2007 murder of 45-year-old caretaker Colleen Forrester of Lot 55 William Street, Campbellville, Georgetown, whose body had been wrapped in several coloured sheets and placed in a septic tank in the same yard where she had lived.Some of the spectators who appeared to be relatives or friends of the deceased welcomed the verdicts, while others, who had anticipated not guilty verdicts, hurled harsh remarks at the jury as they congregated outside the court and continued to express their dislike of the verdict.

Following a marathon summing up to the jury by Madame Justice Roxane George, who began her summing up at 10:00 hrs that day, with a stoppage for lunch and two other stoppages, the jury was sent to deliberate at 17:00 hrs (5 pm).
Shortly after 19:30 hrs (7:30 pm), the jury declared its readiness with a verdict, but in delivering this verdict, the foreman announced that they did not reach an agreement in relation to the number one accused, Tyndal, but had reached a unanimous verdict in respect to the number two accused, Hope.

Justice George enquired from the foreman whether they would need further time to try and reach an agreement one way or the other, and a member of the jury stood up and answered in the affirmative.

Having given a verdict in respect of the number 2 accused, who was found guilty of murder, the jury was sent back to the jury room to further deliberate in respect to Tyndal. Shortly before 21:00 hrs (9 pm) that night, the jury returned with a unanimous verdict of guilty of murder in relation to Ralph Tyndal, called ‘Nick’.

The judge thanked the jury for its services and the prisoners were remanded until Tuesday at 13:30 hrs, when pleas in mitigation would be heard and sentences would be imposed on the convicted murderers.

The prosecution had told the jury, “Ours is a case of betrayal, of lies and of cold-blooded murder. Unknown to her brother Ulric Lucas, Colleen Forrester allowed ‘Papa’ to stay at his house. For Forrester, this was a typical case of ‘yuh sorry for magga dog and he turned round and bite yuh hand.”
Her own nephew, whom she provided a place to stay when he had nowhere to go, turned around and killed her. She probably knew about his company, and that is why she didn’t want him bringing friends to stay, because it was Hope and his school days’ friend that murdered her.”

Recalling that the number 3 accused had been freed, Leading Prosecutrix Ms. Diana Kaulesar had, in her final address to the jury, said: “You will recall (that) Kevin O’Neil was indicted for murder along with these two accused. He isn’t in that dock today because it was found that we did not have enough evidence for it to go before you. However, our evidence against these two accused is capable of proving murder.

“In this case, the State is saying that Anthony Hope and Ralph Tyndal together murdered Colleen Forrester.”

Other lawyers who participated in the prosecution were Ms. Stacy Goodings and Ms Shawnett Austin.

The defence lawyers were Messrs Madan Kissoon for Ralph Tyndal, and Melvin Duke for Anthony De Paul Hope.

By George Barclay