Special prosecutor not yet on island, but judge refuses to adjourn Greenaway murder trial, which will start on Tuesday

Attempts by the Crown to have the Bruce “Jungle” Greenway murder trial adjourned until the arrival of a special prosecutor were thwarted on Monday, March 20.

The prosecution made arguments before Justice Colin Williams, seeking to have the murder trial put back until the special prosecutor – Valston Graham –can arrive here, reportedly from the British Virgin Islands, to take up the matter.

However, Justice Williams ruled that he would not grant an adjournment and the trial – scheduled to start on Monday – would begin on Tuesday, March 21.

Accordingly, a jury was empanelled to hear the case and, at the end, render its decision as to the guilt or innocence of the three accused: police officer Jason Modeste and Shakiel Thomas, Armal Warner and Aliyah Martin, three soldiers with the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force.

It was noted that the special prosecutor was not yet in Antigua and Barbuda because he had received information that the case would have been adjourned because a defence lawyer was unavailable.   

Reportedly, one of the defendants’ lawyers, Andrew O’Kola, is off island.

A source says the prosecutor is making attempts to arrive in Antigua on Monday evening, so that he can make his opening remarks to the jury and then call his first witness.  However, if he does not arrive in time, a Crown counsel from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will have to get the case rolling.

Greenaway, of Falmouth, was allegedly murdered and his decomposing body was found on Easter Monday, April 13, 2020.

Modeste, Thomas, Warner and Martin are accused of committing the act while the country was in a partial lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was last seen alive on Thursday, April 9, 2020, in their custody, after they picked him up for allegedly breaking curfew.

Greenaway’s body was discovered floating on the shoreline of Indian Creek. It allegedly bore the marks of a severe beating, and a post-mortem later determined he had died as a result of strangulation.