THE re-trial of Krishna, alias John (one name), and his son, Romel Krishna, who have been indicted jointly for the murder of rice and cattle farmer Shawn Fraser, began before Justice James Bovell-Drakes with the testimonies of two witnesses.

They have pleaded not guilty to the indictment of murder, under the Common Law.
In her opening address, State Prosecutor Ms. Renita Singh, said  Shawn Fraser, aged 36 of Hogstye Village, and his brother, Audwyn Bindah, called ‘Audwyn Fraser’ of 11 Adventure Farm, Corentyne, are cattle and rice farmers.
On July 27, 2011, they left Shawn’s house on a tractor to go to the Hogstye backlands to spray rice.
On their way there, they saw three men, namely Krishna called “John” and “Bobo” attempting to release the water from the rice field into the trench. Then, as Audwyn and Shawn were leaving to go to spray the rice, Audwyn noticed that the three men had parked their tractor and were under a tree in front of the reef.
The brothers subsequently finished spraying their field at around 16:00 hours,and were on their way out when they saw the three men on top of a reef, each armed with a shotgun. The men then suddenly opened fire, hitting the brothers.
Shawn was overheard asking the men, “Wuh meh brother do y’all mek you shoot he?” It was at this point that Romel Krishna pointed a shotgun to Shawn’s stomach, before firing a gunshot, which sent Shawn stumbling onto his face.
Krishna, called “John”, then pointed his gun and fired a shot at Shawn’s head.
Audwyn, who had been shot earlier, quickly got up from the ground, dropped the items he was carrying, and ran south to a farm at Jamoon Bush, a quarter of a mile away. There he shouted for his brother, Ray, a farmer, who was at the time attending to his farmlands.
Ray, responding to the shouts, saw that his brother’s skin was bloodied and that the two accused and “Bobo”,  each armed with guns, were pursuing  his sibling. Gunshots were fired, and Audwyn fell to the ground. There were bloodied holes in his back and chest cavity.
Subsequently, the matter was reported at Whim Police Station. Shawn Fraser was pronounced dead at the Port Mourant Hospital, while Audwyn was taken to the New Amsterdam hospital.
A post -mortem report prepared by Dr. Nehaul Singh stated that the cause of Shawn Fraser’s death was perforation to the lung due to penetrating wounds to the chest, compounded by a fractured skull.
Sister of the deceased, Kim Providence, recounted that she was at her siblings’ house at noon, when he (the deceased) and Audwyn, another brother, left on a tractor to go to the Hogstye backlands on July 27, 2011.
However, around 17:00 hours, she received a telephone call, resulting in her contacting another sibling named Troy, and together they drove to Sultan Dam.
During the journey, she saw two persons with whom she spoke, as they were exiting the dam. Thereafter, she saw the accused Romel, who enquired about one Jermaine.
It was at this point that defence counsel for Krishna, Mr.  Mursulene Bacchus, objected to further utterances from the witness, as the statement that followed may have a prejudicial effect.
Subsequently, legal submissions were made and upheld in the absence of the jury
Another sibling, Raquel Fraser, recounted to the mixed jury that she identified the body of her brother to Detective Andrew Ward.
Questioned by lawyer for Romerl Krishna, Ms. Kim Kyte-John, the witness said she grew up with the accused men, and together they raised cows, horses and donkeys.
Other witnesses to have testified were Assistant Superintendent Gary Mac Allister; Detective Corporal Andrew Warde; Police Corporal Harold Noble, and brother of the deceased Jermaine Fraser.
The trial is continuing.