The State’s main witness against 12 men accused of murdering businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman has completed his testimony in the high-profile trial.
After spending the past month the witness Keon Gloster was questioned on a series of sworn statements in which he allegedly implicated the accused men in the crime, state prosecutors opted to hand him over to defence attorneys for cross-examination yesterday.
Defence attorneys only had a few questions for Gloster as he has recanted on his evidence by repeatedly denying providing the statements to police.
The questions which lasted less than five minutes dealt with Gloster’s mental health and educational background.
In response, Gloster admitted he was a patient at the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital on more than one occasion and he attended a school for slow learners.
Naipaul-Coolman was abducted from her home at Lange Park, Chaguanas, on December 19, 2006.
She was allegedly held captive at a house in Upper La Puerta, Diego Martin, before she was eventually killed.
In the sworn statements linked to Gloster, he allegedly told police he was present at the time of the murder and saw when the accused men dismembered the former Xtra Foods chief executive and disposed of her body.
Because Gloster has claimed he was coerced by police into signing the statements, prosecutors have brought the police officers who interviewed him to have him deemed as a hostile witness.
After Gloster was finished yesterday, prosecutor Joy Balkaran informed presiding Judge Malcolm Holdip that eight more witnesses are left to testify, including lead investigator, retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Nadhir Khan.
The trial resumes in the Port-of-Spain Second Criminal Court this morning.