2009 Albouystown murder…Court hears accused provided alibi to detectives

Jun 15, 2017 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

Police witness Dharampaul Etwaroo told the court yesterday that murder accused, Steve Allicock had given an alibi after he was arrested for the 2009 killing of Albouystown resident, Wendell Tappin.
Detective Etwaroo testified in the trial for which Allicock is facing Justice Navindra Singh and a mixed 12 member-jury at the Georgetown High Court.
Allicock was charged with the murder which occurred on December 31 2009.
Initial reports are that Tappin left his home on New Year’s Eve to collect a phone that he had given to someone to charge in Hill Street, Albouystown, when he was confronted by two men – one of them held him down while the other chopped him.
Allicock, also a resident of Albouystown, was one of the persons implicated in the killing of Tappin. He remained on the run for five and a half years before he was captured. His father, Leonard, and his uncle Randolph, were also charged with the murder.
Randolph Allicock never appeared before a judge, but after a lengthy high court trial conducted by Justice Diana Insanally, Leonard Allicock was acquitted of murder.
Following the commencement of the trial, Officer Etwaroo was called to the stand by State Prosecutor Tuanna Hardy. Etwaroo was among some four police witnesses to testify yesterday.
During his testimony, the officer told the court that in May 2015, he was contacted by the accused, Steve Allicock, at the Golden Grove Police Station, and he put the allegation of murder to him.
The officer said that this was after the father of the deceased had pointed out the accused as the person who had stabbed and killed his son on December 31, 2009. In response to murder allegations put to him, the policeman told the court that Allicock related that he had an alibi.
“He said ‘officer I was not in this country at the time. I was in Suriname.’”
As a result, Detective Etwaroo said a confrontation was held between the accused and the father of the deceased. During the confrontation, the officer recounted that Allicock repeated his statement.
Steve Allicock replied “you never see me uncle, I was never around. I went to Suriname backtrack.”
Questioned by the Prosecutor, the officer told the court that he could not say why it took investigators so long before Allicock was charged for the murder.
Under cross-examination by Defence Attorney Maxwell Mc Kay, the Policeman told the court that he made no checks to substantiate the alibi provided by the accused.
Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Osmond Semple told the court that he was on duty Brickdam Police Station on December 31, 2009, when he acted on information and investigated a murder which occurred at Hill Street, Albouystown.
While at the scene of the crime, the witness said that he observed a truck and what appeared to spots of blood at the side of the road.
He recalled that Crime Scene Investigating rank, Detective Desmond Johnny was also present at the scene; he took photographic exposures of the area.
During the investigation, the Sergeant noted that he met with a group of men from the Allicock family at Ruimveldt Police Station; they had been arrested in relation to the crime. The policeman noted that after the allegation was put to the men, and they did not respond.

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