Crookendale guilty plea in Anthony Layne murder; brother's trial continues in Supreme Court

Shawn Orlando Crookendale pleaded guilty Wednesday to the 2020 murder of Anthony Layne, becoming the third accused to confess. The trial of a fourth defendant, the victim's brother, proceeds.

Third accused confesses in Anthony Layne murder case as co-defendant stands trial

Shawn Orlando Crookendale on Wednesday entered a guilty plea to the murder of Anthony Layne in Barbados' No. 3 Supreme Court, Barbados Today reports, making him the third of four accused men to confess to the killing. The trial of the remaining defendant — the victim's own brother — continued the same day.

Crookendale's attorneys, Sade Harris and co-counsel Elan Greenidge, requested their client be re-arraigned moments before proceedings resumed. Acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Krystal Delaney accepted the plea. Justice Carlisle Greaves remanded Crookendale — a Skeetes Road, St Michael resident — in custody, ordered a pre-sentence report and a time-served record, and scheduled sentencing for December 4.

Two St Philip residents had previously confessed to the same murder: Oshea Kai Greenidge of Ruby and Ade Omotunde Blackman of River Land. All three admissions relate to the killing of Anthony Layne on June 4, 2020.

Brother of victim faces jury of twelve

With Crookendale's matter resolved, the trial of the fourth accused, Jason Ricardo Layne of Leadvale, Christ Church — the deceased's brother — resumed before a jury of ten women and two men. The prosecution team of Delaney, acting Senior State Counsel Anastacia McMeo-Boyce and State Counsel Kwame Ramsay read several statements into the record.

Among those was a statement from Dr Ross Herbert of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, who described arriving at Leadvale, Christ Church, where he was escorted to a parked motor vehicle. He found the motionless, bloodstained body of an adult male slumped on the driver's side. "On close examination there were no breath sounds, no heart sounds and no pulse," his statement read. "Death was pronounced by me at 12:55 hours that same day."

Stolen licence plates at the centre of the investigation

The jury also heard from two civilian witnesses whose vehicles featured in the investigation. The first, a man who had owned a Suzuki Baleno, told police the car had been sold off in parts following an accident, but that he had kept the registration number and stored the plates in his shed. On June 6, 2020, officers came to his home and informed him the plates had been used in connection with the murder inquiry. The witness confirmed he had never authorised anyone to use the registration number or have duplicate plates made bearing it.

The second witness, a woman in her 70s, told police she owned a Nissan that had broken down after a church service on March 4, 2020. Her mechanic, known as "Ricky", arranged for the vehicle to be moved to his workshop, where it remained due to COVID-related delays in obtaining a fuel pressure filter part. When officers visited her home on June 6, 2020, they said they had a registration sticker from her vehicle and were conducting an investigation. She accompanied them to the workshop and, on inspecting the rear licence plate, found the registration sticker — due to expire in 2020 — was missing. "I last saw the registration sticker on my car when I left the car at the church," her statement read.

The trial is set to continue on Thursday.

Source: Barbados Today