Judge Patterson will hand over case to jury
A Demerara Assize jury in the Coverden murder trial will tomorrow decide whether or not accused Jennifer  Young, called Jennifer Loncke, was the person who had brutally chopped her lover Edward Williams, resulting in his death.
Defence counsel, Mr. Nigel Hughes, in referring to the several chops about the body and the manner in which the corpse was found beneath a heap of tyres,  said it destroys any suggestion that the woman could have single- handedly committed such a crime by herself.
But leading prosecutor Mrs. Teshana James-Lake,  who prosecuted in association with Miss Diana Kaulesar, urged the jury in her final address to find that the woman had been caught red handed washing away from her yard  what appeared to be blood and broken glass.
Government Pathologist Dr.  Nehaul Singh, who performed the post-mortem and had recounted the several chops on the body that left some fingers missing and parts of the body partly severed, had also concluded that death was due to shock and haemorrhage caused by multiple injuries inflicted with a heavy, sharp instrument, such as a cutlass or a chopper.
And in answer to a question by the jury, the doctor said that the accused could have inflicted the injuries by herself, or with the aid of others.
The accused, who pleaded not guilty, told the judge and jury, in an unsworn statement from the dock, that she was at her home on the day in question when someone scaled her fence and proceeded to break up glasses. She said that she was innocent of the crime, and did not know how Williams met his death.
A  witness for the prosecution testified that, on the day in question, she had seen the accused and  enquired from her what had happened, to which the accused had replied, “It is self- defence.”
The defence is alleging that the witness was told that a man had scaled her fence, which the witness might have mistaken for the words “It is self-defence”.
When the trial resumes tomorrow, Friday,   Justice Patterson will sum up the evidence to the jury, after which he would hand over the case to them for their consideration and verdict.
Folder Graphics Woman chopped husband. DLC 1248
Jennifer Loncke being escorted to court yesterday.