Witness says accused killer collected knife, chopper and shovel day of killing

A woman has testified that on the day six members of two families were found hacked to death in St Thomas, the man accused of the killing went to his home and collected a machete, a knife, a chopper, and a shovel.

She was giving evidence in the murder trial of Michael McLean, who is accused of killing Patrice Martin-McCool, 30; her children Lloyd McCool, three; Jihad McCool, six; and Sean Chin, nine, as well as aunt Terry-Ann Mohammed, and her son, nine-year-old Jesse O'Gilvie in Duhaney Pen, on February 25, 2006.

Prosecutors revealed that the decomposed body of Jihad McCool was found a week later in a shallow grave in St Mary while the others all had their throats slashed.

The woman testified that on February 25, 2006, she was at McLean's home caring for his infant child when he "came home in a hurry".

"Did he say anything to you when he rushed in?" asked lead prosecutor Paula Llewellyn.

"Yes. He asked for a pitch fork and I told him I did not think any was there," the woman replied.

According to her testimony, McLean went into a back room and began searching before enquiring if she knew where the machete was. "I told him it was in the back of his car," she said.

The witness said that she watched as he went into the kitchen and took "a board-handle knife" from a drawer as well as a chopper.

"Apart from the knife and the chopper, did he take anything else?" Llewellyn asked.

"A shovel," the woman replied, all the time trying to avoid looking at the accused.

She testified that McLean placed the items in his car and left and that she did not see him again until a week later when he was in the custody of the police.