3 freed of 2009 murder near Never Dirty basketball court

- File photo

Three men charged with murder were acquitted after a High Court judge found the State’s key witness unreliable and the prosecution’s case unsafe.

Michael Stephens, also known as Michael Carter, Neil Bowen, and Ferrence Perry, were on trial before Justice Trevor Jones in a judge-only trial for the murder of Glennon Holder of Never Dirty, Morvant. Holder was killed on the morning of December 26, 2009, along Laventille Extension Road near the Never Dirty basketball court.

The state alleged that around 5 am, shortly after leaving a party on Chaconia Avenue, Coconut Drive, Morvant, Holder was walking along a track near the basketball court when he was accosted, shot and killed.

The prosecution called 24 witnesses, 20 of whom were tendered by formal admission by agreement between the state and the defence. The state’s case ultimately rested on a single purported eyewitness, Oren Danglade.

In three video-recorded interviews with police on December 31, 2009, and January 7 and 10, 2010, Danglade claimed he was seated on a concrete platform outside his home overlooking the basketball court when he observed Holder walking along the track. He told police he saw a man known to him as Michael approached Holder from behind and shot him in the back. According to his statement, Holder ran between two concrete structures, where a struggle ensued, and Michael shot him in the head.

Danglade further claimed that about two minutes later, a black Hyundai Matrix stopped on Laventille Extension Road, and two men — whom he identified as Neil Bowen and Ferrence Perry — exited the vehicle. He told police Bowen acted as a lookout while Perry fired another shot at Holder, after which both men fled.

However, Danglade’s account changed over time. At the preliminary inquiry in 2011, he was declared a hostile witness and testified that while he saw the murder, he did not identify or recognise any of the attackers. He claimed he only named the accused after being threatened by police officers at the Morvant Police Station, including an officer he identified as Premdass.

By the time the trial began on November 17, 2025, Danglade recanted even further, telling the court he did not witness the murder at all. He claimed he was threatened by a known Morvant gangster and by police to falsely implicate the accused, stating he only felt safe to tell the truth because the alleged gangster was now deceased. The state again successfully applied to have him declared hostile.

Under cross-examination, Danglade maintained he was asleep at the time of the killing and was intoxicated after attending a party the night before. He admitted swearing a statutory declaration stating he did not witness the murder and that he was awakened later that morning by Anderson Nicholas, who informed him of Holder’s death.

Nicholas, a state witness at the preliminary inquiry, had testified that he discovered Holder’s body while returning home from an early morning jog and went to alert Danglade. Nicholas died before the trial, and while the prosecution chose not to rely on his evidence, Perry’s defence successfully applied to have his depositions read as part of Perry’s case.

The state closed its case on January 5. None of the accused gave evidence, though Stephens and Perry called alibi witnesses.

In delivering his ruling on January 26, Justice Jones rejected Danglade’s trial testimony but also found his earlier statements to police unreliable. While aspects of his police account — including shots to the back and head — appeared consistent with the post-mortem report, the judge noted serious contradictions. The post-mortem indicated death occurred within about one minute, yet Danglade claimed to have observed events over roughly 25 minutes. His estimates of distances were also found to be grossly inaccurate when compared with measurements taken by police draughtsman Trevor Peters.

Justice Jones was further critical of the police investigation, noting the unexplained five-day delay before Danglade gave his first statement and the failure to take a further statement from him despite having Anderson Nicholas’s account since 2010.

Finding Danglade’s evidence unreliable and unsupported by the overall medical and forensic evidence, Justice Jones ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and acquitted all three men.

Stephens was represented by Randall Raphael, Shirvana Jaimungal and Karen Hall; Bowen by Owen Hinds Jr and Jihan Mohammed; and Perry by Chase Pegus, and Danyal Mohammed. The State was represented by Solange Devenish, Josiah Soo Hon, and Tammy Cato.