Widow acknowledges Keith Clarke had firearm with him on night he was killed
Published:Tuesday | May 21, 2024 | 12:10 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
Dr Claudette Clarke, the widow of chartered accountant Keith Clarke, yesterday recalled seeing her husband with his licensed firearm on the night he was shot and killed by three members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) in his bedroom on May 26, 2010.
The educator testified that she had seen her husband with the weapon when he told her, “I am not going to allow criminals to come inside the house and kill us off”.
The 65-year-old retired senior education officer, who has been giving evidence in the murder trial of Corporal Odel Buckley, Lance Corporal Greg Tinglin and Private Arnold Henry made the admission while identifying close to 50 photographs taken at the house following a raid by the JDF, on the night her husband was killed.
Dr Clarke previously testified that her husband was prepared to defend his family from “criminals” who they believed had invaded their premises.
She had also told the seven-member jury in the Home Circuit Court that her husband was shot while climbing down backwards from the top of the closet in their bedroom.
However, she had testified that she did not see him with anything in his hand when he was shot; neither was he doing or saying anything.
Yesterday, while looking at one of the photographs showing the closet, she told the prosecutor that, among the items that were stored there was a container in which her husband secured his licensed firearm.
She was then asked whether she had seen him with a weapon that night and at what point, and she indicated that she had seen him with the gun when he told her about not allowing criminals to “kill us off”.
During previous testimony, she recalled her husband saying those words just before he climbed on top of the closet.
The photographs shown depicted damage seemingly caused by bullets to different sections of the three-level house, such as the walls, windows, section of the roof and doors. The witness said several times that there was no damage to her house before the raid.
In one of the photographs taken in the master bedroom, a red substance was also seen on the floor in front of the closet. According to Dr Clarke, that was the area where her husband fell after he was shot while climbing down from the closet.
Also seen in the photographs were several bottles of Red Strip beer in the living room and in the basement. However, Dr Clarke said she could not say who placed them there.
Dr Clarke, who was observed holding back tears, said it was difficult to look at the pictures and was seen taking in deep breaths and clutching her chest at one point.
She also testified that it took approximately a year after her husband’s killing to resettle in their matrimonial home.
The 63-year-old chartered accountant was shot 21 times during a military raid at his home and, following the fatal shooting, the three soldiers were charged with murder.
The trial will continue today with Dr Clarke being cross-examined by King’s Counsel Valerie Neita-Robertson.