AS the 2015 murder trial of Meguel Barker called “Allan” or “Miguel Anthony” gains momentum in the Georgetown High Court before Justice Navindra Singh and a 12-member jury, the star witness for the prosecution testified via Skype from Suriname on Tuesday.

It is alleged that at about 15:00hrs on April 30, 2015, the accused sneaked into the house in which the deceased Donessa Barker was staying and fatally knifed her before escaping via an open bedroom window.

The couple, who had been married for about a year, had constant domestic spats and the deceased had gone to stay at the home of a friend, Shaniza Clarke, at Lot 21 Inner Bagotville, West Bank Demerara, where she was reportedly killed.

Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh testified on Monday stating that he performed the post-mortem on the body of the deceased, when he gave the cause of death as shock and haemorrhage due to stab wounds to the chest.

The witness Shaniza Clarke in her evidence-in-chief, said she met the deceased Donessa Barker during Easter in 2015 and they went to Joe Vieira’s Park on Easter Monday.

She told the court that the deceased had been living at her home for a month prior to the incident, while the accused moved in three weeks after and the couple were staying in the back room of the one-storey wooden house.

Clarke added that the yard was unfenced and one could get into the house via the back door and there was a verandah at the front of the house.

The witness related that on April 29, 2015, a day before the incident, her fiancé Quincy told her “something” and she went to visit her friend Kelly along with the deceased and they returned home at about 11pm.

She stated that upon their arrival at the house the deceased wanted to take a shower, but she decided against it since they were alone at the house and it was late.

That very night Clarke told the court that she heard what sounded like footsteps in the bushes near the house and the lights to their house went out; when she peeped through the bedroom window she saw the accused.

She noted that he was standing in the yard at about 10 feet from the window and he was smoking a cigarette. She called out to the neighbours for help and at that point, the deceased came out of her room with two sheets.
It was then Clarke said that the accused told them: “All men deserve a fair chance” and she observed he was holding a knife; she then told persons to take the accused to the police station.

Clarke said the accused dropped the knife and walked away and she picked it up and held it behind her back.

On April 30, 2015, the witness told the court that during the morning hours she heard what sounded like footsteps in the bushes and she went to the La Grange Police Station to make a report of what had transpired the night before. She also took the knife to the police station where a report was filed.

Clarke said on the day in question, the deceased was sleeping in the back room when her step-sister Javona Frank came to visit them and woke up the deceased. The three of them then went to the verandah.

She related that they were talking when the deceased asked Javona Frank what kind of music she had in her cell phone and with that, she went to retrieve her cell phone which was on the bed in the back room.

Clarke told the court that within a few minutes she heard the deceased saying: “Oh God Shaniza come now” and she picked up a cutlass which was under her bed and went into the bedroom of the deceased.

There she saw the accused stooping by the bedroom window and he turned around and looked at her. She then saw the deceased covered in blood standing by the door.

Clarke said the accused was wearing a white jersey and a black pants and the deceased went to the front door where she fell. Clarke said she told the deceased to stay there after shaking her and she went to get help.

She recalled that the deceased was panting for breath and blood was pouring out from her neck and hand wounds.

The witness related that she alerted neighbours and a young man named “Jason” assisted her after which the police came and took away the body.

Clarke during her testimony identified the accused who was sitting in the courtroom and she described the relationship of the accused and deceased as not ‘good’.

She added that on April 28, 2015, the accused and the deceased had problems and he had threatened to kill her.

Meanwhile, under cross-examination by defence attorney Maxwell McKay, the witness denied that she was lying and said she was telling the truth about the day in question.