Antigua man convicted for murdering senior citizen

A man in Antigua, who was charged with the murder of a senior citizen has been convicted in the nation’s first ever judge only trial for murder. The process took over an hour, building suspense among observers and the accused.

When the judge eventually arrived at a decision, it was seen as the correct one, as public opinion was firmly against the accused.

The final decision states that Jeffery Daniel, 29, is guilty of murdering Emanuel Robinson Roberts, aged 63, on the 21^st of May, 2021.

Upon investigating the matter, it was revealed that Daniel was formerly the boyfriend of the stepdaughter of the victim. Five days prior to the incident, he trespassed onto Emanuel Roberts’s property in New Fields.

Daniel was warned multiple times to not return but did not heed these warnings and reappeared to meet the stepdaughter of the deceased.

Roberts was informed of the intrusion by his stepdaughter and decided to confront Daniel with a cutlass. In the back and forth that followed, Daniel gained the upper hand and managed to disarm Roberts before using the cutlass on him.

In the process he ended up cutting Roberts, leaving him with a deep laceration and multiple broken ribs. Due to the injuries he sustained and the subsequent blood loss, Roberts unfortunately lost his life.

The accused made the case that he had merely wrestled with the victim, disarmed him and landed a few punches after throwing the cutlass in the bushes. Through this claim, his lawyers, Wendel Alexander and Wayne Marsh attempted to argue for self defense and accidental harm.

Despite these claims, the judge stated that due to the grave charges and the nature of the victim’s injuries, a defense based on provocation would not stand in court.

Due to these factors, Justice Tunde Bakre ruled that there was no doubt that Daniel was responsible for the death of the victim.

As of now, the convicted murderer will wait for his sentence hearing, which is scheduled for the 16^th of January, 2024.