‘I kill one and Andre kill one’

The St Mary farmer who had admitted to killing one of the two United States missionaries murdered in St Mary in 2016 has rejected the suggestion that he changed his story about killing the two missionaries because he wanted a lesser sentence.

The convicted killer, Dwight Henry, 33, was, in January, sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to the murders of Harold Nichols and Randy Hentzel under a plea deal. The men were found dead in Wentworth district between April 30 and May 1.

Henry, who was also ordered to serve 28 years in prison before parole, is now the prosecution’s main witness in the murder trial against his cousin, Andre Thomas, who is accused of killing one of the missionaries.

The confessed killer, during his testimony on Tuesday, told the court that he shot one of the men in the back of the head and that Thomas shot the other and also chopped him in the head.

Nichols was found with one gunshot wound to the chest and six chop wounds to the head while Hentzel was found with one gunshot wound to the head.

But during cross-examination on Tuesday by Thomas’ lead attorney, Leroy Equiano, it was disclosed that Henry had told the police in a caution statement and in a question-and-answer session that he had shot both men and that he killed them because he hated white people. He claimed that Thomas only chopped one of the men in the head.

On Wednesday, during further cross-examination, Henry admitted that there was a difference between sentences of 50 years and 28 years as one was a lesser penalty.

“Is this difference why you gave a different statement in January, ‘bout you want to talk the truth?” the lawyer asked.

Henry, in reply, said he did so because “I feel sad and ashamed and I don’t want to waste the court’s time. That is why I talk the truth say a me and Andre Thomas did it.”

The convicted killer also insisted that he was being truthful when he said that they both had committed the murder and that he was not lying to protect himself.

“I kill one and Andre kill one. I never force him to do it. Him do it all of him own free will,” Henry said.

Equiano, since Tuesday, has been grilling Henry about a caution statement he gave to the police and about the question-and-answer session in which he reportedly admitted to killing both men.

But Henry told the court repeatedly that he did not recall making those comments and held firmly to the position that he and his cousin both had killed the missionaries.

When asked about the statement, Henry said he could not remember most of the exchange as it was from 2016.

He, however, denied the suggestion that he murdered the men because of his supposed hatred for white people and that his grandfather had told l him about “bad things” that white people use to do to black folks.

Henry, however, accepted that he gave a statement in January 2023 in which he stated that he had ordered one of the men to lie down on the ground after his cousin stopped them with a gun and tied the man’s hands behind him.

Told to kill man

He further claimed in that statement that he shot and killed that man after his cousin gave him the gun and told him to kill the man.

This, he contended, was after they had chased the other man and Thomas had shot him in the chest and chopped him in the head after he fell into a pool of water.

In that statement, Henry also indicated that the gun belonged to Thomas.

But in Henry’s earlier caution statement, he claimed he was the one who had pointed the gun at the men on the bike and stopped them and that he was the one who had shot the first man after tying him up and also shot the other victim after first firing at him when he ran.

He also told the police that he obtained the gun from a friend.

During the trial yesterday, Henry denied Equiano’s suggestion that he was lying to protect himself.

“No I am not lying. I feel sad about the murder, and I don’t want to waste the court’s time, so I ask for a plea bargain and tell dem the truth about what happened,” he replied.

Equiano then asked why he had not told the truth earlier when he had his first lawyer.

“Yes, I told her the truth that I commit the crime, but I don’t know why my family change her,” he answered.

The lawyer then suggested that it was the court that assigned him a different lawyer after his lawyer parted ways with him because of his dishonesty.

Henry, in reply, said that he was not aware of any fallout as both he and the lawyer had always spoken nicely to each other.

Henry will continue on the stand when the trial is resumed on Monday.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com