–says their eyes ‘made four’ on night of murder

SAMANTHA Sabatt, the British-based star witness in the January 31, 2014 Agricola murder trial on Thursday morning testified via Skype that the accused, Abiola Jacobs, was at the 16-17 Agricola Public Road crime scene on the night in question.

Testifying before Justice James Bovell-Drakes and a 12-member jury in the Georgetown High Court, Sabatt, who was a house guest of the deceased, said that on the night of January 31, 2014, she was awake and in her bedroom when she heard things being moved around the house, followed by heavy footsteps and the switching off of the lights.

She said she then heard muted voices, and on realising that something was not quite right, she remained quiet. And the next thing she knew, there was this loud banging on her bedroom door and a male voice demanding, “Open the door!”

Sabatt said she did not open the bedroom door as instructed, but looked through the lattice instead, and there, standing just about six feet away, was the accused. And they just stared at each other, without saying a word for about five seconds.

The witness said that at that point, the accused walked off and the lights suddenly came back on. Then someone came to her bedroom window, and tried to prise it open to get into the room.

Sabatt said the moment she saw the shadowy figure, she knew that her life was in danger and that it was time to get out. And that’s when she decided to jump through a bedroom window and onto the verandah below, sustaining in the process a broken cheek bone and wrist among other injuries.

At the time of the incident, the witness recalled, she and the deceased were the only ones at home. She said the only reason she was able to recognise the accused was because the street lights were streaming into the house, which gave a clear view.

Sabatt said that when she saw the accused at the house that night, she seemed very angry, and this terrified her.

She said she had only seen the accused about three times before, and that was when the young woman had gone to pay her ex-mother-in-law a visit. And on all three or so occasions, their meeting was cordial.

The witness told the court that back in February 2014, when she gave the police a statement; there was a confrontation between her and the accused.
She said that after she identified the accused as the person she saw at the Taylor’s house on the night of the murder, the accused said to her: “Sweet-girl, you didn’t see anything.”

Sabatt described the deceased, Donna Taylor as a very friendly woman who treated her with respect. She also attested to being aware of the special relationship the deceased had with her son, Bertram Taylor, Jr.

Meanwhile, under cross-examination, defence attorney, Adrian Thompson suggested to the witness that she fabricated lies to tell the court, since she did not see the accused at the house on the night in question.

He put it to her that she may have indeed seen a shadow, but there was no way of telling whether or not it was his client, and that she was not being truthful in her testimony. Sabatt then responded that she has no reason to lie.

She even admitted being involved once with Bertram Jr., but said she’d never had a confrontation with the deceased.

At this point, the State closed its case, and the accused led her defence by opting to remain in the prisoner’s box where she gave a blow-by-blow account of what she did from the time she received a phone call and journeyed from her home to the Taylor’s, and up to when she was arrested.

Both the State and the defence made closing submissions on Thursday. The judge will make his summation on Monday, after which the matter will be handed over to the jury for deliberations, followed by a verdict.

The state is being led by Mandel Moore in association with Lisa Cave, while the defence attorney is Adrian Thompson.