Day two of murder trial of Grand Fond man accused of killing his father

On day two of the murder trial of Dorian Dailey accused of killing his father Maurice Murray Dailey, the prosecution called three of its 10 witnesses to the stand.

The trial which commenced on May 15, 2023, is being tried by a nine-member jury consisting of eight women and one man and the presiding Judge is Justice Thomas Astaphan.

Dorian is accused of killing Maurice between January 9, 2017, and February 21, 2017.

The 62-year-old man is said to have sustained multiple injuries to his head and neck allegedly inflicted upon him by his then 23-year-old son. Following the alleged incident on January 9, 2017, Maurice was admitted to the then Princess Margaret Hospital until his death on February 21, 2017.

On Monday, the court heard from the first prosecution witness Barthelomy George. On day two, the Director of Prosecution (DPP) Sherma Dalrymple who is leading the State’s case called Mandel Moise as their second witness.
In his evidence to the court, Moise revealed that he is the nephew of the deceased man and a cousin to the accused.
On Monday, January 9, 2017, he stated he was home in bed when at about 3:00 a.m., he heard a groaning sound coming from the back of his house.

“I did not take it serious, and I went back to sleep,” he disclosed.

At about 4:30 a.m, he said he heard the groaning sound a bit more intense and closer to his home hence he decided to “check it out.”

“I grabbed my flashlight and cutlass and headed in the direction of the sound. I waited for about five minutes, then I heard the sound coming from an abandoned building, so I headed to that direction,” Moise testified.

There he said he saw his uncle on his knees and after calling out to him, Maurice stated to him that he “wanted to sleep.”

According to the Prosecution witness, the grass in the area was trampled on and he saw what appeared to be blood on a leaf.
Moise further told the court, upon inspection of his uncle he saw a “chop” on his face and head. According to him, following his observation for about five minutes, “I got scared and went to my neighbour house to tell him what I saw.”

On his way back he saw another individual who he told the court was named Peter, who accompanied him to the abandoned building where his uncle was.

“Me and Peter went to fetch the nurse at her residence and three of us went back to the scene and I assisted the nurse while she attended to my uncle. The ambulance arrived about one hour later, and I went with my uncle to the
Laplaine Health Centre on the ambulance.”

On arrival there, Moise said, he rendered further assistance to the nurse and doctor in their efforts to stabilise his uncle. He later accompanied his uncle via ambulance to the then Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH).

Once there, he left his uncle Maurice in the care of the doctors and a few days later, went back to see him and donated blood to him. According to him, he last saw the deceased man on the day of his funeral.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Darius Jones who is assisted by Peter Alleyne, Moise testified that the abandoned house was about 10 feet away from his home.

The third prosecution witness, Anton Joseph, told the court of his involvement in transporting Maurice via the ambulance from the Laplaine Health Centre to the PMH on Monday, January 9, 2017.

“I was at the Laplaine ambulance station with on-duty officer Solomon St. Ville when the phone rang in the early hours of the morning,” the fire officer stated.

“It was nurse James the district nurse of Grand fond. We had a conversation and St. Ville left.”

Upon his colleague’s return, they received another phone call but this time from Dr. Bekele who was stationed at the Laplaine Health Centre. Following their conversation, he went to the said Health Centre with the ambulance.

“I saw Morris Dailey lying on the bed at the Laplaine Health Centre. He was bleeding from his head, neck, and other places. I assisted in dressing his wounds and then transported him to the Alford ward of the Princess Margaret
Hospital.”

According to Joseph, after that day, he never saw or heard from Maurice again. The final witness of day two, Evans Dailey told the court he was the older brother of the accused man Dorian Dailey and the son of the deceased Maurice Murray Dailey.

The Grand Fond man stated on the morning of Monday, January 9, 2017, he was asleep at his residence in Salisbury when he received a phone call from his sister.

After the conversation, he along with another brother of his rode his motorbike to Grand Fond.

On arrival Evans stated, he met his grandmother who brought him to a “little track” where he noticed what appeared to be blood.

He further testified that he followed the trail of blood and saw a dickies short pants, and a coat with what also appeared to be blood on it.

The witness stated he was able to identify the short pants and coat as belonging to his brother Dorian Dailey.

Whilst at the location, Evans said two police officers came and secured the scene with caution tape and he left and went to the PMH where he saw his father laying in a pool of blood.

“His two hands had bandages and he had a cut under his neck and his head was bandaged,” he recollected.
On February 23, 2017, Evans stated he visited his father at the ICU and according to him, “his whole body was swollen.” Later on March 9, 2017, Evans said he went to the morgue at PMH where he identified the body of his father.

Under cross-examination, he revealed that he arrived in Grand Fond about 6:45 a.m., and when questioned by the defence attorney about his relationship with his brother, he stated “we tight. We were very close, and we are still good
from 2017 to now.”

Following the testimony of the three witnesses the matter was adjourned to May 17, 2023, and the prosecution informed the court that their next witness will be Inspector of Police Fixton Henderson who they deem an expert
in crime scene photography.