Step-relative shocks court saying not sorry woman died
The man charged for the murder, three years ago of his 22-year-old common-law-wife, Sasha Edwards, of Ocho Rios, is to face trial in the Circuit Court. After more than three years in the resident magistrate court, Kevin Peterkin, charged for the Wednesday, June 22, 2011 stabbing death of 22-year-old Sasha Edwards, massage therapist of Top Milford Road in Ocho Rios, St Ann will face the the next sitting of the St Ann’s Bay Circuit Court. When he appeared before RM Calys Wiltshire in the St Ann’s Bay RM court on Thursday, June 26, 2014, Peterkin, who is represented by Oswest Senior Smith, said he had nothing to say and stated that he will reserve his defense. When Peterkin appeared in court on Wednesday, June 18, the statements of one witness and two policemen were tendered into evidence. Peterkin is before the court for the death of Sasha Edwards, who was stabbed in the chest and on her left arm allegedly by Peterkin after it was said that the two had a dispute. Peterkin, who was a JUTA tour operator, was Edwards’ common-law husband at the time.
In court on Wednesday, June 18, Eugunue McCarthy, Edwards’ step grandmother, when crossed examined by Peterkin’s lawyer, Oswest Senior Smith testified that she knew Sasha well and she was aware that she was in a relationship with Peterkin. When asked if she was upset that Sasha had died she replied saying: “No, I am not upset that Sasha has died.” When Senior Smith expressed shock at her response she then replied saying: “I am not really upset.”When asked by Senior Smith about Edwards’ jealousy she responded saying: “I don’t know if she was jealous because I don’t live up here… I live in St Catherine.” She also indicated that she didn’t know if any of Edwards’ cousins were in a relationship with Peterkin. She stated that she knew the cousins in question but did not know them by name. On the issue of the knives that she reportedly saw at the murder scene, she told the court that she saw two knives but she never knew their length. “I saw two knives on the floor beside Sasha… I don’t know the length of the knives because I never measured them,” she told an insisting Senior Smith.Statement from the scene of crime officer who processed the crime scene was also presented in court. The statement from investigating officer Roushey Brown, who has since resigned indicated that two knives were inside the house; a board handle one and a black handle one. He said when he examined the body of the deceased woman he saw a wound below her neck and a wound to the left hand.
He also indicated that when he went back to the police station he took parcels of bloody clothing from Peterkin. Detective Inspector of Police, Simeon Hamilton, who was in charge of Ocho Rios CIB at the time of the incident told the court that when he went to the crime scene he noticed a large concentration of blood close to a chest of drawers and he noticed two knives on the floor. He said the black handle one measuring about five inches long was in the pool of blood, and the brown handle one was about eight inches long and also had blood on it. Inspector Hamilton said that when Peterkin removed his item of clothing to give to Constable Brown, he saw no sign of injuries on the body of the accused and neither did the accused complained of pain or any injuries. He mentioned that in the question and answer session conducted in the presence of Oswest Senior Smith, Peterkin answered only the first three of the 52 questions asked. He said that after the Q&A session Peterkin was arrested and charged for the murder of Edwards. In the four-hour long session on Wednesday, Peterkin appeared relaxed and at ease. His eyes darted around the quiet, almost empty courtroom momentarily but then remained fixed on RM Calys Wiltshire. When the matter was called up in court in 2011, it was said that Edwards was intensely jealous of a relationship that existed between Peterkin and her cousin. The female cousin was said to have resided near to where Edwards and Peterkin also lived. Senior Smith indicated that the root of the altercation that developed on the Wednesday morning was that Peterkin had spent the night with Edwards’ cousin. From a witness statement, Senior Smith indicated that Edwards had a knife in her possession which she allegedly said she was going to use to kill Peterkin. Senior Smith said that Edwards was normally the aggressor and would start fights. Peterkin is booked to return to court on Monday, October 13, 2014. His bail was restored and extended under the same conditions.
