A 12-member jury was on Monday morning empanelled before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Demerara High Court for the January 29, 2015, murder of fisherman, Envil Pollard.

In her opening statement, State Prosecutor Lisa Cave told the court that on the day in question, an unarmed security guard asked the deceased to remove from the area. He did not.

Thereafter, another security guard who was armed with a gun, discharged his loaded firearm at Pollard, hitting him and resulting in his death.

The state’s case is that the accused, Marlon Callendar, shot and killed the deceased at Pritipaul Singh Investment Wharf at Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara. The state is expected to call nine witnesses to take the stand. Some of them testified on Monday.

The first witness, Desmond Sancho, told the court that he had been a fisherman for more than 10 years and knew the deceased who was a colleague who used to pay the armed guards at the wharf to allow him to fish.

During cross-examination, defence attorney Everton Lammy-Singh asked the witness if he knew the wharf was a private area in which fishing was illegal and he replied in the affirmative.

Police witness, Detective Corporal Carlson Rockliffe testified that he was the crime scene photographer in 2015, attached to CID Headquarters, when a request was made for his presence at an alleged crime scene.

Upon his arrival at the Pritipaul Singh wharf at Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara, he met and spoke to a colleague who told him ‘something’ and showed him ‘something’ as well.

He observed a male of African descent lying motionless in a wooden boat near the wharf which was moored in the Demerara River. Rockliffe took several photographic exposures of the body and boat.

Rockliffe added that he was assisted by persons present to lift the body from the boat and place it on the wharf where he observed several suspected bullet holes and what appeared to be blood oozing from same.

He took several photos and upon completion of his task, he returned to CID HQ where he extracted the memory card from the police-issued digital camera and printed 16 photographs which he initialed after affixing the date and police stamp.

Rockliffe said he retained the photos in a cupboard for which only he had the key. They were not tampered with in any way.

The State then made an application which was granted by the trial judge for the Police witness to be shown the 16 photos which were then marked, tendered and admitted as evidence.

Rockliffe then explained what each of the 16 photos depicted after an application by the State was granted as well.

Wife of the deceased, Ashmoon Khan, testified that her husband was a fisherman for 25 years and sold fish at Stabroek Market.

She stated that her husband used to fish six days a week in his small wooden boat equipped with an engine he acquired about five years prior to his demise.

Khan said on the day in question, she and her husband left home together from their Crane Housing Scheme, West Coast Demerara home and journeyed to the city where she disembarked the bus and went to buy fish at Meadowbank wharf while her husband went to fish.

She related that it was about one and half hour later that she received a call that her husband was shot and she started to scream and went to the police and later went to Kaieteur News where she wanted someone to publish the story.

Khan stated that she returned to the police station and then went to the crime scene where she saw the bullet-riddled body of her husband lying motionless in his boat.

She told the court she started to shake him but he was not responding and was assisted up to the wharf by persons present after his body was pulled from the boat and placed on the wharf.

The fish vendor added that she saw holes in her husband’s neck and right leg and there were other holes in his chest. She noted that blood was also oozing from his mouth and nose and he was not moving.

Khan told the court she was present for her husband’s post mortem where she identified the body and for his burial at Best Village Cemetery.

Chief Security Officer attached to Pritipaul Singh Investment Inc. Lionel Bullen took the stand where he testified that he was familiar with the deceased with whom he had several confrontations with before his death.

He told the court that on the first occasion he observed three of their employees taking fish from the company’s truck and throwing it in the basket of the deceased in his boat at the wharf sometime in 2014.

Bullen added that on the day in question he was called to the wharf since he was out of the premises at about 10:00hrs.

When he went to the wharf he saw the body of the deceased lying motionless in his boat with a knife and a red fish basket in it.

He then asked his staff, the accused what transpired and he was told that the duo had a confrontation and claimed that the accused attacked him with a knife and he fired a shot at him and another out of fear when the deceased was still coming at him.

Bullen said the accused was standing on the company’s trawler at the time then he went onto the wharf.

He added that the accused was issued a shotgun of which he had three rounds on the day in question.

Bullen stated that the company have a boundary in which no fishing is permitted and all fishermen are aware of that since three large signs are on the wharf and for any fishing business to take place only the owner could grant such activity.

He told the court that it was illegal and unusual for the deceased to be fishing there because they would chase off the fishermen including the deceased and several reports were made.

Bullen related that on the day in question he was more concerned about securing the cash they had coming in because they had nine trawlers there.

Under cross examination by defence attorney, Everton Lammy-Singh the witness was asked whether he issued a firearm to the accused on the day in question and he replied in the affirmative.

The witness when questioned by the lawyer said that since he saw three of their employees throwing fish from the company’s truck into the boat of the deceased there was always ‘busing and cussing’.

Bullen said on another occasion he was on the northern side of the wharf when he saw the deceased come out from under the wharf with several paint tins in the said boat as he drove by.

He added that the accused was trained and authorised by the then commissioner of police to use a firearm on the job.

The trial continues at 09:00hrs where several witnesses are expected to testify.