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Jury views video evidence in fatal stabbing case

Jurors watched CCTV footage of the moments leading up to the fatal stabbing of Joshua Rowse as the trial of Davin Dill continued in the Supreme Court.

Video recordings from the Rubis gas station in Warwick showed Mr Rowse and others arriving on motorcycles at the petrol station on the evening of June 14, 2020.

Mr Rowse parked his vehicle in front of the service station’s shop and stood by the door.

At about the same time, the recordings show another motorcycle with a single rider pull into the gas station and then immediately drive away.

Minutes later, a black Hyundai car drove up to the service station and two men emerged, one from the passenger seat and one from the back seat on the driver’s side, and rushed towards Mr Rowse.

Mr Rowse was seen to flee, running west alongside South Road, with the two men in pursuit and the black car travelling behind them.

Seconds later, Mr Rowse is seen staggering back towards the gas station, holding his lower abdomen.

Mr Dill, 27, has denied murdering Mr Rowse, 22, and possessing a bladed article, specifically a knife, in a public place on June 14, 2020.

In a written statement read earlier in the trial, Detective Constable Mark Raposo indicated that the time shown on the CCTV footage from the petrol station was 22 minutes behind the time on his phone.

Sergeant Courtney Simmons, of the Bermuda Police Service, told the court that the times shown on the CCTV was 25 minutes behind, stating that by her estimate Mr Rowse and his friends arrived at the gas station at 7.07pm.

The car with the two attackers pulled into the petrol station at 7.13pm.

The jury was also shown footage recorded at the petrol station the previous morning, June 13, in which Mr Dill was seen driving a black Hyundai with his left arm in a sling.

Prosecutors also showed the court a series of Ring camera recordings from a house on Billy Goat Hill on the day of the fatal stabbing.

The first clip showed a bike riding down the hill while the second showed a bike travelling up the hill, followed by a car and a bike travelling down.

The final video showed a black car matching the description of the vehicle used by the attackers travelling down the hill, with motion seen at the gas station — visible in the background of the recording — soon afterwards.

The jury was also shown Ring camera footage recorded at Mr Rowse’s family home, which was recorded at 8pm on May 29, 2020, slightly more than two weeks before the stabbing.

In the footage, two men appear to approach Mr Rowse’s family, aggressively demanding to know where the “White boy” was, before leaving.

Ms Simmons said she was able to recognise both men in the footage, even though one wore a full-face helmet throughout the interaction.

However, in cross-examination by Charles Richardson, she accepted that during a previous trial she had incorrectly said that she saw the defendant in the background of the video, insisting that it was Mr Dill even after being informed that he was in the hospital at the time.

Prosecutors have conceded that Mr Dill was not at the home on the day in question.

Mr Richardson also questioned Ms Simmons about the timing of the video evidence, noting that the footage of the car travelling down Billy Goat Hill had a listed time of 7.17pm — four minutes after the attackers were seen arriving at the petrol station by her estimation.

In her evidence in chief, Ms Simmons said that because the Ring camera was stored on the cloud, the time was likely accurate.

Asked if she had checked whether the time was accurate, she said: “I believe I did ask but I probably didn’t check it.”

She added that she could not see the licence plate of the car on Billy Goat Hill and could not confirm the brand name of the vehicle.

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