victim was "mercilessly and literally kicked to death''.

Crown Counsel Mr. Khamisi Tokunbo told the eight-men four-women Supreme Court jury that the evidence in the trial will show that Vincello `Johnny Peppers' Richardson 57, was "so violently kicked about the face and head that two of his teeth were knocked out of his mouth and found at the scene of the murder''.

He added: "I expect that the evidence will show that his dead body was dragged face down, with the result that he suffered abrasions to both knees and damage to the knee area of his trousers, and then simply thrown overboard into the sea.'' Mr. Tokunbo also told the jury that "throughout this trial they will hear that the money stolen from Richardson was subsequently spent on paying someone else for assisting in disposing of the body, transportation, drugs and alcohol''.

Anthony Eugene Flood denies killing Richardson on December 17 and stealing $3,400 from him.

Jenny Spalding, a bartender at the Caribbean Lounge where Richardson frequented, said that on December 16 she saw Vincello `Johnny Peppers' Richardson sitting at the bar talking to the defendant Anthony Flood.

And former bartender at the lounge, Gerard Fernandez, said that the night before Richardson was found dead he came into the bar and had a few drinks.

"He did what he normally did, ordered a few drinks and didn't bother anyone.

I did not see anyone trouble with him.'' Gregory L. Nesbitt, a bartender of the Sports Arena Bar in St. George's said he knew Richardson pretty well.

"I had served him for years. On December 16 he paid for his drinks from a big wad of money.'' Nesbitt added: "He always carried a lot of money around in his pocket in singles or two dollar bills. I told him that he shouldn't carry all that money around because he could get ripped off.'' Owner of the coffee shop across from Richardson's apartment Helen Minors, said she had known him for 30 years.

"In the early morning of December 17 I heard, who I thought was Richardson, outside my door receiving blows.

"I had just closed the coffee shop on the night of December 16. And at about 3.30 a.m. I heard `Johnny Pepper' come in because I heard his keys,'' Minors said.

She added: "He then opened the gate and I heard a noise, then I thought he had tripped. When I was on my way to the door to tell him to come in I heard another noise and I knew someone else was out there.

"I heard `Johnny Peppers' call my name twice, and he sounded like he was suffocating like he had a cold.

"Then I heard two more blows and it sounded like something heavy. I realised that the phone in the shop was not working so I couldn't call anyone.'' Minors also said that after she heard the fourth blow she went to the door again to see if she could see anyone outside and she noticed a pool of blood, but the rain came and washed it away.

"I then heard someone at the coffee shop door. Someone was turning the latch and at first I thought it might be the Police but then I thought it was the other person outside,'' Minors said.

She added: "I stayed in the back so no one would know I was there. Then I heard `Johnny Peppers' keys and I knew someone else had them. I heard someone walking up the steps to his apartment and I knew it was not `Johnny Peppers' because the walk was natural -- it was not the walk of a person who had been beaten trying to get up the steps.'' Minors also said that she realised that the person was in his house.

"They were there for a while. I waited for everything to go dead and then I dozed off.

"Just before 8 a.m. I went to work at the St. George's Club and I was told that a body was discovered in the St. George's Harbour.

"When I found out who it was I didn't believe it because the light in `Johnny Peppers' apartment was still on. I later called the Police and told them what happened.'' When being questioned by Flood's lawyer Mr. Tim Marshall, Ming said she never saw `Johnny Peppers' while she was inside of the coffee shop the morning he died.

"And I did not see the person who opened the gate. I just heard sounds.'' Leroy Outerbridge told the court that after opening up his brother's shop in St. George's at 7 a.m. he took a walk down by the harbour to see the boats.

"I saw something floating in the water by the Caribbean Lounge but I did not know what it was. I walked back towards the shop and I stopped to speak to two other men -- the object floated closer and we saw it again,'' Outerbridge said.

"When I took a closer look at the object I noticed that it was a body. One of my mates said he would call the Police. I didn't get a good look at who it was because the back of his head was facing me, but I could see that his face was swollen and he had a cut to the nose.'' General Practitioner Dr. Andrew West said that `Johnny Peppers' was a patient of his in 1989 and he was called by Police to attend the waterfront in St.

George's on December 17.

"There was a body of a man in the back of a Police van just before 9 a.m. on December 17,'' Dr. West said.

He added: "The body was of a middle-aged light-skinned black man with facial injuries and he was dead.

"He had no pulse and his pupils were fixed and dilated. I pronounced him dead at 9.01 a.m.'' King Edward VII Memorial Hospital Pathologist Dr. John Winwick conducted an autopsy of Richardson and said that he suffered bruising and lacerations on his face and head.

"Teeth had also been knocked out of his mouth, and he had two fractures to the jaw.

"He also had scrapes on his knees with dust and bits of concrete in them which would be consistent with being dragged on his knees down a pavement,'' Dr. Winwick said.

He added that Richardson had bruising to the brain and had been hit by more than one instrument.

"He died before he was immersed in the water,'' Dr. Winwick said.

He also said that a bloody footprint found at the murder scene matched a fan-shaped bruise found on the side of Richardson's head.

Dr. Winwick concluded that Richardson's death was caused by bruising to the head and multiple bruising and lacerations.

During cross-examination by Mr. Marshall, Dr. Winwick added that some of the bruising, some of which was on his wrists, could have been by accident or an altercation.

However, he added, there was no evidence of a lethal weapon being used. P.c.

David J. King told the court that he saw Richardson floating in a semi-upright position in St. George's Harbour leaning forward with his nose and mouth submerged.

"His arms faced outwards and his feet appeared to be caught in an underwater rail,'' P.c. King said.

He added: "I climbed over the wall at the eastern end of the Caribbean Lounge dock but I could not reach him. P.c. Sean Calhoun and I commandeered a Boston Whaler boat and pulled Richardson out of the water.

"Richardson was wearing black pants, the knees in both legs were ripped and he had a nylon grey top on with a long sleeved off-white shirt on underneath.'' The case continues this morning before the Puisne Judge, the Hon. Mrs. Justice Wade.