Man accused of beheading wife freed

Richard Duhaney, the St Catherine man accused of killing his wife, Velma Duhaney, was freed last week.

He was found not guilty in the St Catherine Circuit Court on December 18 following a two-week trial heard by Justice Sharon George. The matter had been before the courts for 14 years.

Velma Duhaney was beheaded and her body dumped in Waugh Hill, Sligoville, St Catherine.

The accused was represented by attorney-at-law Valerie Neita-Robertson, while Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Jeremy Taylor prosecuted the case.

The prosecutor quoted several verses from the Bible as he tried to appeal to the six-member jury, comprising three men and three women, last week.

“It is not for the Crown to prove why Mr Duhaney killed his wife or where he killed her, it is for you to consider if the circumstances outlined show that he brutally killed her, transported her body to Waugh Hill, Sligoville, St Catherine, and dump it like garbage,” Taylor said.

The prosecutor told the court that the main witness (a neighbour) said that he heard a struggle at about 3 a.m. on March 19,2006.

“He said that he heard the baby crying ‘Mommy, Mommy, Mommy’ for two minutes and then bodoom-doom [a loud noise]. I want you to see him as a witness of truth,” Taylor argued.

Meanwhile, the jury heard evidence that Duhaney lied to the police about driving a Toyota LiteAce that was found with Velma Duhaney’s blood.