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Samuel James found guilty of stabbing wife

- Sentencing hearing set for March 28
March 14th, 2012 | Tags: High Court Samuel James testify wife lying
Samuel James leaving the High Court this afternoon, March 14, 2012 following the guilty verdict of wounding with intent. Photo: VINO
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – This afternoon, Wesnesday March 14, 2012 in the High Court, Samuel James was found guilty of wounding with intent but not guilty of attempted murder.

James, who was charged with the two counts - attempted murder and wounding with intent - was found guilty of the latter by a jury with an 8-1 verdict.

He remains on remand until a sentencing hearing which is slated for March 28, 2012.

The defendant was brought before the court after he was alleged to have stabbed his wife several times about the body on April 11, 2011 following an incident at a Jenny’s Hill apartment that Mrs. Loretta James was living in at the time of the incident. The two were living separately at the time.

James will remain on remand until his sentencing hearing.

On March 6, 2012, Loretta James, the Virtual Complainant and the star witness in the Crown’s case took the stand, and revealed that at the time of the incident she was separated from her husband following a marriage that was “going down”, and a recent dispute.

She claimed Mr. James had asked her to leave their Huntum’s Ghut home which she left on December 26, 2010 from which time she was living at her sister’s apartment on Jenny Hill. It was also revealed that Mr. James was to stay away from the complainant while the issue of their children was being dealt with at the Social Development Department. The couple had four children from the union.

In her testimony, Mrs. James recalled that on the morning of April 11, 2011 she was in Road Town and asked Mr. Glenford Smith, whom she told the court was her boyfriend of one month, to drop her and her three kids home.

She said she was at home preparing something for everyone to eat and Mr. Smith was eating and watching television on a couch in the bedroom while the kids were in and out of the house playing and watching television as well. She claimed a phone call came in on her 10-year-old son’s phone and when she saw it was his father, she told him to answer it.

Mrs. James then testified that her sister, whose apartment she was living in, then called her on her cell phone.

“I realised I wasn’t seeing … (son), so I continued talking on the phone with her and was walking out on the porch so I was standing on the porch facing the driveway, still conversing with her when I saw Mr. James and … coming down the driveway,” she told the court.

She was questioned by the Crown if there was any arrangements with Mr. James to which she replied, “he was to stay away from me … he wasn’t supposed to come down there.”

The mother of four told the court she was shocked to see her husband and recalled putting their youngest child, a four year old daughter, inside the apartment and closing the front door.

“I was still standing on the porch and he came in the porch. He came towards me, that’s when he grab me by the hand, lift me up and throw me down on the ground on my back.” She said at that time the phone dropped out of her hands as she was speaking to her sister up to that point.

Mrs. James told the court she “got up fast and that is when I saw him pull the knife out from his back pocket”.

“When he took out the knife on the porch I grabbed the blade … And he pulled it out of my hand. I was defending myself. I remember pulling … (son) in front of me,” she said, stating that at that point she was in the door way.

“I pull … (son) in front of me and I fell down in front the door way and Mr. James was trying to stab me there and … (son) was preventing him. Every direction his father was throwing the knife … (son) was using his hands, where ever the knife go to prevent it,” she told the court and demonstrated how their son was blocking the directions his father was pointing the knife.

Asked by the Crown why she pulled her son in front of her, the VC replied, “Well I didn’t think his father will hurt him. He was doing that and saying ‘daddy no, daddy no’.”

“He (Mr. James) then took … (son) and put him out of the way. So I got up and try to run inside the house, we were in the middle of the living room. We were there wrestling because he was trying to hold the knife at my throat, he was going for my throat. So I was using my hands to hide my throat,” Mrs. James further claimed in her testimony.

She said at that point she fell down, face down and Mr. James was at the back of her and she was still using her hands to protect her throat.

“He was leaning on top of me, my legs, then he proceeded to stab me and I was putting back my hands backward to defend myself … He stabbed me on the shoulder I felt the first stab … it felt like a hard punch, my right shoulder, well he keep on stabbing, the last stab he give was the right side of my mouth. The knife went through the mouth and I lost a tooth. It pushed out a tooth. I heard it flew out of my mouth and heard it on the tile of the floor,” she told the court.

Mrs. James claimed that her husband then went out the door and she looked up to see him leave.

She further stated that she didn’t think he was stabbing her at first, “I thought he was just hitting me in the neck. When I see the blood flowing I realised I was injured.”

“I feel frightened, I think I was going to die,” she described how she felt at the time when questioned by the Crown.

While the entire ordeal was going on, Mrs. James claimed, Mr. Smith who was in the bedroom eating and watching television, did not come out until she was lying and bleeding on the floor.

She also told the court she was not aware if Mr. James had known about Mr. Smith and told the court when questioned that at no time during the day was she involved in any intimate relationship with Mr. Smith.

Asked whether she had screamed during the ordeal, Mrs. James said she recalled doing so when she was in the porch but inside the house, “I was just trying to protect myself at that time and didn’t sound any alarm inside the house”.

She also recalled that after Mr. James left her 10-year-old son was crying and jumping up and down saying “Oh my God, Oh my God”.

She also recalled EMT attending to her and taking her to Peebles Hospital.

Speaking of her injuries, she said they are not affecting her now but for about four months she couldn’t raise her right arm where she had received stab wounds and the other injuries to her neck were still paining for about a month or so after the incident.

During the trial as well, investigating officer Wendell Ballantyne and Mr. Glenford Smith took the stands. Mr. Smith in his testimony told the court that he and Mrs. James were acquaintances and that he heard the kids screaming and came out the bedroom and saw her on the ground lying in blood and called the Police. The landlady of the apartment that Mrs. James was living in at the time of the incident had also taken the stands and had testified to seeing Mr. James leaving the apartment on the day of the incident with a knife wrapped in a white towel.

James maintains innocence

Meanwhile, Mr. James had claimed his innocence throughout the trial and even stated that his wife was promiscuous and alleged that on one occasion she came home with her underwear in her pants pocket.

He took the stands on March 13, 2012 and told the court that on December 26, 2010 when his wife had claimed he had told her to leave their Huntum’s Ghut apartment that she had left off her own with the youngest child. He recalled he didn’t know where she had gone as he had taken their two sons for a drive and ended up having the two boys after she left.

He also testified that he was advised by neighbours to go to Social Development Department (SDD) which he did the following week and the two had an arrangement that his wife Loretta will come by the Huntums Ghut home to help out with the children until he returned from work. James was employed at Oil Nut Bay at the time.

The Antiguan national stated that he had the two boys until the weekend before the incident as he had gone to SDD for another meeting when he claimed he was asked to help pay half of the bills at his wife’s sister apartment where she was staying. He said he refused and made contact with his attorney who told him to leave the children with their mother.

On the day of the incident, April 11, 2011, James said he was calling the children on their cellular phones which he had bought for them but wasn’t getting them. He further asserted that he then called Mrs. Dawson at SDD who in turn called Mrs. James. He testified he then took a phone charger on behest of Ms. Dawson, which was Loretta James’ residence.

The defendant recounted that was the second time he was going to the Jenny’s Hill residence for the day as he had passed by earlier to see his children but no one was there.

He said he observed a Suzuki jeep parked in the yard but proceeded to open the door of the apartment which was closed but not locked, and observed a guy sitting on a chair and his wife sitting on top of him.

“The guy was sitting on the chair his pants and boxer were down to the ground, she sat on top him, she had a black skirt and had it pulled up holding with her two hands,” James remembered. He further testified that his wife saw him and when she tried to get up the man held unto her as he didn’t see him, that is, James.

“She tried to get up off of him but he didn’t see me so he hold her tighter. She did it again and turn sideway off of him and then he realized something and saw me and let her go.”

James further stated that he asked his wife “why she is doing that with my children them home” and that at that point the man got up and said to Mrs. James that she doesn’t need to explain anything to James as he, the man, was in control.

The accused man allegedly told the man to stay out of it as she was still his wife.

At that point, James said the man said “stay out, stay out” and made an attempt to get a knife from the table but it fell on the ground. “He was not able to get the knife, I jumped on him too and the two of us were wrestling on the ground too for a while,” James further testified that during the fight two of his fingers on his left hand got into the man’s mouth and he was bitten.

He added that the he hit the man to his right jaw and that during the ordeal his wife Loretta had looked frightened and was running in and out of the kitchen saying, “you all stop, you all stop”.

He further said during the fight he ended up getting the knife and got up and showed the man that he bit his finger. James claimed the man then told him that, “… is not bite I want to bite you I want to f… (Expletives) out your face”.

James then testified that the man then got another knife from the kitchen and swung it at his face, and as fended off the attack the weapon cut inside the middle of his right hand.

“After he swipe at me I got angry and I fire back at him …Loretta was to the side of the table and she jumped between me and him. After I try to get to him, he hold Loretta (by her braids), while he throwing at me and I am throwing at him,” the accused man told the court, explaining by the word throw he meant a flinging motion. He also claimed that during the ordeal between him and the man, his wife was between the two of them.

During the ordeal, James recounted, lasted for some two and a half minutes, he said he heard Mrs. James screamed out. “… I hear Loretta scream out you see ah you cut me and I stopped and he pushed Loretta to me and Loretta fell on the ground.”

James said the man then went into one bedroom where his three children were and was trying to close the door but he James was trying to open it. He testified he called the two oldest children, who were boys, and with the door opened a bit, they were able to squeeze through.

The defendant further testified that his youngest child, his daughter, was still in the room and the man allegedly lifted her up and he James asked him to give him his daughter. He further alleged that the man told him if he came any further he will slit the child’s throat.

He also claimed when he left the apartment his wife was sitting on the ground holding her mouth and she was bleeding.

Mr. James further testified that he dropped the knife he had on the ground and ran out of the house and drove to the East End Police Station.

There he met an auxiliary Police officer at the front desk and told her there was an argument and his wife got cut and was bleeding a lot.

According to him, while he was there went to the home and he stayed at the station. He denied the testimony given by his wife, in which she claimed that he met her in the porch and body slammed her.

“I never stabbed my wife and I will never do that,” he told the court.

He also claimed that though he and his wife were living separately they still had a good relationship and they used to go out together and even to the beach. “… so we were good enough.”

Asked if he had a girlfriend prior to the incident and still have one. James acknowledged that he had a girlfriend and he still has the same person now.

During cross examination by Crown Counsel Leslie Ann Faulkner, she asked James about instructions that he was given to stay away from his wife.

He replied that he was told “not to trouble her” and “no one order me to stay away from the children and from her”.

The Crown then presented a restraining order to the court which James identified his signature but still maintained he didn’t know he had to stay away from her as he had instructions from his attorney that he can see his children.

He also claimed that several times his wife called him to the apartment.

The Crown also contended that James did make a report to the East End Police Station but according to her, the officers there said it was made 10 minutes after someone had already called to report the incident.

The report made to the Police Station, according to the Crown, is that he told them he was taking something for his kids when he met his wife having sex with a man, the man pushed his wife in the way and she got stabbed.

However, James pointed out that was not how he put it to the officers and that “they are putting a pattern together”. He added that he cannot say how his wife got stabbed but it could have been him.

14 Responses to “Samuel James found guilty of stabbing wife ”

  • QICK SAND (14/03/2012, 08:56) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    well saw more wife beating...
    • GREAT (14/03/2012, 12:28) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      I think the man telling the truth its more logical ...and whether he looks bad or not he saying exactly what happened....I think her's was more superficial...how can you be stabbed and not even scream out alerting your kids?
  • bvi (14/03/2012, 11:36) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    His side of the story do not make any sense at all.
    • what (14/03/2012, 16:17) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      Yea like the wife grabbing the knife by the blade n ain't getting cut..mmm
      • Guest (15/03/2012, 07:39) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
        She did get cut you imbecile the doctor confirmed all her wounds were defensive and she had a huge cut in the palm of her hand starting between her thumb trigger finger through her hand..
  • police (14/03/2012, 11:43) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Just send he back to antigua from wasting we tax $$$$$
  • WELLSA (14/03/2012, 17:20) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Yes i said he was guilty, BUT the crown needs to charge Smith he was lying as a witness.................i must say this to smith the man might be going to jail, but you are lucky he didnt finish beating up your backside that day .................lol
  • x factor (14/03/2012, 17:21) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    now we got to go feed he 3 square meals when he rass should be deported back to Antigua..what ah ting!
  • sister to sister (14/03/2012, 23:14) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    this whole thing bowl down to he say/she say but me believe the sister story. Samuel boss your story has too many ifs, ands & buts!!!!!"
  • bad boy (15/03/2012, 02:18) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    look how he walking out of court like he do not care....
  • Like (15/03/2012, 06:50) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    i see no reason for the Landlord to lie and say she saw him running with a knife, nor the child, i believe he didnt go there to kill his wife, else that would have happened, maybe he went there to give her some kind of warning o_0
  • drop call (15/03/2012, 23:36) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    so how was his first night in Jail???? hope he did not drop the soap


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