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Murder victim been ‘seeing married woman’

A man stabbed to death more than 13 years ago told a friend that he had been seeing a married woman, a jury heard yesterday.

The Supreme Court murder trial heard that Michael Pierre told police that the victim, Marcus Gibbings, 32, had told him about the relationship and that the woman’s husband knew about the affair.

Katrina Burgess, Mr Gibbings’s ex-girlfriend, and her half-brother Cleveland Rogers are charged with the premeditated murder of Mr Gibbings.

Charles Richardson, for Ms Burgess, highlighted a 2007 statement Mr Pierre gave to police where he said that Mr Gibbings had told him that he had been seeing a married woman.

He added that Mr Pierre had told police that Mr Gibbings had told him that the woman’s husband was aware of the relationship.

The body of Mr Gibbings was found inside an apartment on Derwent Lane, in Devonshire, on October 26, 2006.

The prosecution said that Mr Gibbings, originally from Trinidad, was lured to an apartment he had shared with Ms Burgess and was stabbed to death by Mr Rogers.

Both deny the charge.

Mr Pierre told jurors that he and Mr Gibbings had been “very close friends”.

He said Mr Gibbings and Ms Burgess were in a relationship in 2006 and that the pair had lived together for about two years.

But Mr Pierre told Carrington Mahoney, for the Crown, that the relationship “wasn’t good”.

Mr Pierre said that he and his wife returned to Bermuda after a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, the day before Mr Gibbings died.

He added that he had lent his car to Mr Gibbings while he was away so he could use it to move out of the apartment he had shared with Ms Burgess. Mr Pierre said that Mr Gibbings had come to his home that day to drop off the car and returned later to fix a computer problem.

He added that Mr Gibbings had received a call from Ms Burgess while there.

Mr Pierre told jurors when the call had come in, he paused the video game he was playing. Mr Pierre said: “The room was in total silence.”

He added that he heard parts of the conversation between Mr Gibbings and Ms Burgess.

Mr Pierre said: “She asked, ‘Are you still coming over?’

“He said, ‘yes’.”

He added that Mr Gibbings “looked kind of out of it” afterwards.

Mr Pierre said: “He told me that he’s supposed to meet her at the house tonight.”

But Mr Richardson highlighted that in a statement last June, Mr Pierre had told police that Ms Burgess had said: “Am I still meeting you?”

He said: “In evidence this morning you said my client was supposed to have said to Mr Gibbings, ‘Are you still coming over?’

“I’ve just shown you a passage in your statement where you appeared to have told police that what she said was, ‘Am I still meeting you?’

“I’m going to suggest to you that those are different. What were her exact words?”

Mr Pierre admitted he could not remember the precise wording.

He added: “I know he was supposed to meet her.”

Mr Richardson suggested to Mr Pierre that Mr Gibbings had not told him where the meeting was to happen.

Mr Pierre said he could not remember.

The trial continues.

It is /The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding criminal court cases. This is to prevent any statements being published that may jeopardise the outcome of that case.