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Accused man 'seemed himself' the day after Kumi Harford murder, jury hears

Antonio Myers of Rambling Lane, Pembroke, denies the gun murder of Kumi Harford.

The long-term girlfriend of murder-accused Antonio Myers told police he “got mad quickly” but she never saw him with a gun, Supreme Court heard.In her witness statement, Candrea Wolffe said she had “never known” her boyfriend-of-eight years to either have a gun or talk about having had one.Miss Wolffe said Mr Myers had “seemed himself” when she talked to him about Kumi Harford being murdered on St Monica’s Road on December 5, 2009. She had specifically asked why his name was being linked to the murder and he said he “didn’t know”.However, Miss Wolffe did tell police that Mr Myers lost his temper easily and she believed this was because he “held a grudge” as his father, who lives in Jamaica, had not been involved in his life.The couple, who have since split up, have a three-year-old daughter together.Prosecutors allege Antonio Myers, 25, an alleged member of the Middletown gang, shot Mr Harford, 30, a rival 42nd gang member, then tried to burn his clothes to destroy the evidence.Several police statements from Miss Wolffe were read out in Supreme Court yesterday. The jury heard Miss Wolffe did not want to give evidence directly as she “didn’t want the repercussions that may follow.”Miss Wolffe told police she recalled her cousin calling her to tell her Mr Harford had been murdered. She said Mr Myers “was not at my house, I didn’t expect him to be, I didn’t even give him a thought.” The statement read that Miss Wolffe’s only thought was that it was “just another gang shooting.”Then when she went to Mr Myers’s mom’s house to wash her clothes as usual later that morning, she bumped into Mr Myers and he looked like he had “just gotten out of bed.” She reported he “seemed himself” and was on his way out to Middletown.Miss Wolffe said to her boyfriend that she had heard Mr Harford had been shot and he replied: “Yeah, I heard that too.”She went on to say that she started to hear her boyfriend’s name “circulating as the person who killed Kumi Harford.” She put Mr Myers on the spot, asking him ‘why they are calling your name?’ and Mr Myers replied: “I don’t know myself.” She said she had asked him face-to-face and there was no unusual reaction so she “left it at that.”In December, 2009 Miss Wolffe had been due to go to Jamaica with Mr Myers and his family as his mom Debbie Maynard was getting married, but Miss Wolffe told police: “The plans were cancelled.”However, Miss Wolffe later learned that Mr Myers was still going on the charter flight to Jamaica. Mr Myers is said to have phoned saying he was about to get on the flight and would see his daughter when he got back. Miss Wolffe said she was concerned that he would miss his daughter’s birthday as he wasn’t due to return until January 8, 2010.After Mr Myer’s return to the Island Miss Wolffe said she began to wonder why he hadn’t stopped by. It was then that she received a phone call from Mr Myers’s sister saying he had been arrested on suspicion of murdering Mr Harford.Miss Wolffe said she acted as a surety and signed for Mr Myers when he was released from police custody, however she soon ended the relationship as she knew he was seeing Rogerina Lightbourne of St. David’s.The court earlier heard how Mr Myers was arrested in the arrivals hall at LF Wade International Airport and told a police officer: “I shouldn’t have come back, I knew you guys were looking for me.” At the time he was with Miss Lightbourne who was said to be “vocal and somewhat aggressive.”Miss Wolffe said: “Once he was released he never came to my house. I took his daughter to see him at his mother’s. He said he’d come but he never came.”Miss Wolffe also told police she didn’t think Mr Myers had any nicknames, but she was aware some people called him Tonio and she’d also heard people call him Stone.She told police: “He never had a job during our relationship and mostly hangs out in Bottom Lane, Middletown, Pembroke...He mostly hung down Middletown but I can’t say with exactly who.”Miss Wolffe said during most of their relationship Mr Myers had lived on the couch of his mother’s house in Rambling Lane, Pembroke. She said Mr Myers had briefly lived with her at her family’s home in Spanish Point when their daughter was a baby but: “He never paid rent or nothing.”The court also heard how the autopsy carried out at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital showed Mr Harford had been shot multiple times in the left hand side of his head, chest, right shoulder and right hand.A witness statement from Dennis Mcguire, who is a firearms and ammunition expert, concluded that Mr Harford had been shot by two different guns. It had been his job to examine about the .40 calibre cartridge cases and a single 9mm cartridge found at the scene.Mr Mcguire also discovered that the .40 calibre firearm used to murder Mr Harford was the same weapon used in the Kenwandee “Wheels” Robinson murder on May 22, 2009.Mr Myers of Rambling Lane, Pembroke, denies murdering Mr Harford and possessing a firearm.The trial continues.