Man charged with 74-y-o’s fiery death back in court January

WESTERN BUREAU:

Nichala Facey, the St James man who is charged with the murder of 74-year-old Evelyn Blair, who died a day after she was doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire, is to reappear in the St James Parish Court on January 17, 2020, for a committal hearing.

When he appeared in the St James Parish Court before Judge Sandria Wong-Small yesterday, the calm-looking Facey was given the new date for the hearing, which will determine whether the case against him will be transferred to the St James Circuit Court for trial or stay in the Parish Court.

During the brief hearing, it was disclosed that the prosecution’s case file was ready for the matter to be tried, as the investigating officer was in possession of several outstanding documents, including the forensic certificate and the postmortem report.

It is alleged that approximately 3 a.m. on April 25, Blair was in her one-bedroom house at Lima district in St James when Facey reportedly broke in and tried to rape her. However, Blair managed to chase him off with a machete.

Later that morning, approximately 6:30, Facey approached Blair along the roadway and doused her with a flammable liquid before setting her ablaze. Blair sustained burns over 98 per cent of her body and was rushed to Cornwall Regional Hospital, where she died two days later.

Facey subsequently turned himself over to the police on June 4. He was fingered in an identification parade on June 8 and charged the following day.