A woman has described discovering the bloodied body of Matthew Clarke after his "distraught" girlfriend pleaded with her for help.

Margaret Richmond, who runs Grannie's Kitchen in North Shore Road, Pembroke, said she arrived at Mr. Clarke's home to find his head gashed open.

"There was a lot of blood," she said.

Mrs. Richmond was among the prosecution witnesses who gave evidence yesterday in the trial of three men accused of the 31-year-old songwriter's murder.

Vernon Simons, Kyle Sousa and Shannon Tucker all deny killing Mr. Clarke at his home in North Shore Road, on the afternoon of April 9 last year.

Mr. Clarke was found dead in bed by his girlfriend and the mother of his two children, Charlitta Spencer, shortly after 3 p.m. He had suffered 26 stab wounds and nine blows to his head from a metal bar.

Yesterday a Police statement by the late Matthew Mills which was read to the court, described how the 41-year-old became "suspicious" of Simons, Sousa and Tucker on the afternoon of April 9 when he visited the home where Simons lived.

"The atmosphere was tense when Shannon entered the room and asked for his key (to his truck).

"I felt out of place, as if I was in the middle of something that had gone wrong," he said.

Opening the Prosecution's case on Thursday, Rory Field, Director of Public Prosecutions, told the jury that at least two of the accused had inflicted the fatal injuries. He claimed Mr. Clarke was murdered in his bed, unable to defend himself.

Mr. Field said Tucker's blue truck was seen in the driveway before the murder and that the trio travelled to the house together.

Simons, 23, of North Street, Pembroke, worked for Tucker, who is 32, and lives in Middle Road, Southampton. Mr. Clarke also worked in construction for Tucker prior to his death.

However the court heard Sousa, 18, of Adams Lane, Warwick, may not have known the victim.

The jury was told yesterday that on finding her boyfriend's body, Ms Spencer ran over to Grannie's Kitchen to call for help.

Mrs. Richmond said she noticed Tucker's blue truck in the driveway when she took a lunch break between 1.15 p.m. and 2 p.m. She recognised the vehicle as her husband, the restaurant owner, had had to repeatedly ask Tucker to stop parking it in Grannie's car park. She said Tucker used to pick up Mr. Clarke every morning but would block the car park entrance.

Mrs. Richmond told the court: "I thought 'that's strange his truck is there'. He (Mr. Clarke) hadn't been working for him for a while because he was working for East Meets West (the Clarke family business) in Southampton."

She said she was on the telephone later when Ms Spencer came running in.

"She was screaming that something had happened to Matthew, saying, 'Call 911, grannie come and help me'. She was very distraught, just screaming, just really distraught."

When they got to the house, Mrs. Richmond said Ms Spencer kept saying "Matthew wake up, wake up".

"She said 'grannie see if he has a pulse'. I was afraid to touch him because I could see he had been beaten but I did feel his ankle. But he was cold.

"His head was gashed open and there was blood on his neck."

She said as they waited for the ambulance she asked a customer to take Mr. Clarke's young daughter, who was outside in Ms Spencer's car, to the restaurant.

"I didn't want her to be sitting in the car when the ambulance arrived," she said.

Yesterday teacher Robin Simmons told the jury she noticed a man standing by the wall next to Mr. Clarke's house as she drove home from work along Clarke's Lane at 2.30 p.m.

The man "was talking to someone over the wall, making hand motions," she said.

However, asked by defence lawyer Charles Richardson whether this was Sousa, Ms Simmons said: "I don't remember."

The court then heard from Mr. Clarke's brother Michael. He said he called his brother's cell phone at 1.14 p.m. that day and spoke to "somebody I thought was my brother".

"The person that answered was very incoherent, like he had just woken up from sleep," he said.

Former Police detective, Algernon McConnie, then took the witness stand. Mr. McConnie, a taxi driver, said he was taking a lunch break in the car park of Admiralty House, Spanish Point, at around 1.30 p.m. on April 9 when he noticed three men and a "blue open-backed truck".

Asked why he noticed them, Mr. McConnie said: "It's being an ex-policeman I guess. I pay more attention to people around me."

He said one of the men was talking on a cell phone and "walking to and fro".

The Prosecution claim later that day Simons and Sousa disposed of a bag containing the metal bar into a pond near Simons' home. They also allegedly showered and disposed of their clothes.

The court yesterday heard evidence from Ronald Smith, a friend of Simons, who was accommodating him at his home in North Street at the time of Mr. Clarke's death.

He said on the morning of April 9, Tucker came to pick up Simons in his truck. Between 3.30 p.m. and 3.40 p.m. they returned and Tucker asked if he would give him a lift to Hamilton Police Station.

Mr. Smith returned to find Simons and Sousa at the house.

Senior Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney said: "At 3.15 p.m. you saw Vernon (Simons) and Kyle (Sousa) in Vernon's room. You noticed a towel had been used in the bathroom. Vernon appeared to have gotten a shower also, because he was putting on fresh clothing and said he was going to his girlfriend's house."

Mr. Mahoney said Tucker turned up at the house later, asking for his truck key.

That evening detectives impounded Mr. Smith's own car to examine it for evidence.

The jury at Supreme Court also heard from Hermonia Wolffe, a North Street resident who found a bunch of keys in a bush in her garden.

Mr. Clarke's mother Sharmila Gonsalves identified the keys to the jury as belonging to her. They included those to her gold-coloured Jeep which her son used to drive.

Detective Constable Robert Webster then took the witness stand. Det. Con. Webster said he interviewed Mr. Mills, a friend of Mr. Smith's, on April 11.

In a witness statement read to the court Mr. Mills said he was at Mr. Smith's home at 3.15 p.m. on April 9 when he noticed Simons "sweating across his forehead".

Simons told him "he had just had a bath".

"Ronald (Smith) asked Kyle (Sousa) if he had had a bath too and he said 'yes'," said Mr. Mills.

He said Simons then came into the room with a green trash bag which he said contained Sousa's laundry. Later, he said: "Vernon returned and said to Kyle words to the effect of 'Kyle come here, we have to get rid of this bag outside'."

Going for a cigarette, he noticed a white bucket and white and red bag near Tucker's truck.

"The bag had a tall object in it, and the top of the bag had a grip protruding from it," said Mr. Mills.

"Vernon picked the bag up and he and Kyle walked down the hill with the bag."

He said: "All these actions by Vernon and Kyle, I started to get suspicious of their behaviour, and I saw Vernon swing the green bag into the back of the truck."

Later, when Tucker began wiping his nose on his T-shirt, Mr. Mills said: "I could just sense something was not right."

The case continues.