Peter Vogel Murder Trial: Prosecutor calls killing worst kind of act as she closes

Livern Barrett, Senior Gleaner Writer

Prosecutor Maxine Jackson today described the killing of university lecturer Dr Peter Vogel as a "vicious act of covetousness" and urged the seven-member jury to hold his former helper and her boyfriend responsible.

Jackson was giving her closing argument in the murder trial of Yanika Scott and Kelvin Downer in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston.

Vogel was found dead in the study of his home, located in College Commons, St Andrew on July 18, 2007 with his hands tied behind his back, his feet bound at the ankles and a piece of cloth tied around his mouth.

IN PHOTO: Vogel

Jackson invoked the scriptures and the ten commandments as she recounted the decision taken by the Vogel family to hire Scott.

"This is a situation where this man, out of the goodness of his heart, provided employment for these people, not only for themselves, but their young daughter," Jackson said.

"So in a sense she was hungry, she was a stranger and he took them in ... this is the worst kind of act," she underscored.

Added the prosecutor: "the deceased and his family were following one of the 10 commandments ... to love your neighbour as yourself."

Making reference to the unsworn statement given yesterday by Scott, Jackson urged jurors not to compare the case with the biblical story of Samson and Delilah.

"It's a case of the two of them acting together. She may have had the mind of Delilah, but she drew him into this," she argued.