Sherleytine murder trial continues today with voir dire |31 January 2023

The trial in the murder of 21-year-old Sherleytine Ernesta is continuing with a voir dire today, for presiding Judge Rony Govinden to decide on the admissibility of a police statement by the first accused.

A voir dire, which is conducted in the absence of the jury panel, is essentially a trial within a trial, so a judge can decide whether evidence which has been objected to is admissible or not.

It was yesterday afternoon when Counsel Clifford Andre, who is representing first accused Lussel Labiche, raised objections to a police statement which the prosecution was hoping to rely on. Attorney Andre argued that his client was placed under undue pressure to produce a fifth statement, that he was not informed of his Constitutional rights, and further, that his right to counsel had not been respected.

As such, the burden of proof lies on the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the statement given by Labiche on May 27, 2022 was done so voluntarily, and that it is therefore admissible as evidence.

The 12-page statement in question was recorded by a sergeant with the crime priority unit of the Seychelles police force, the third witness produced by the prosecution yesterday.

According to the officer, she had also assisted with the investigation by recording a statement from the second accused, Ashten Elisabeth, in which she allegedly admitted to burning certain evidence, including a blood-stained tarpaulin, a brown straw bag belonging to Sherleytine, and clothing donned by Labiche and herself after the incident.

Elisabeth, who stands accused of conspiracy to commit murder and aiding and abetting, was arrested following the discovery of Sherleytine's remains in a bush of ferns at Bougainville on May 4.

Sherleytine was reported as missing at the Anse Royale police station on May 3 by her mother, after she failed to return home on May 2.

As per the contents of the statement read out before court yesterday, Elisabeth allegedly denied that she and Labiche had organised to kill Sherleytine. Elisabeth allegedly stated voluntarily that she was on May 2 contacted by Labiche at around 11.30am, to meet him at Marie's take-away at Anse Royale. She got hold of her usual illegal taxi and they set off for the spot and she sat at the back.

Allegedly she was wearing a white t-shirt, dark brown shorts, and black slippers and had with her a phone and purse.

The statement went on to read that Labiche drove past in his metallic coloured Sirion car shortly after, and it was not clear if he was alone as his car was tinted in the back. Upon calling him again, Labiche instructed her to follow him towards Takamaka and she instructed the illegal taxi driver to do so. Having been instructed by the first accused to disembark the vehicle a bit further away from his own, Elisabeth instructed the driver to stop the car after turning into a secondary road, and she paid him R125 for the trip.

Still, according to the statement read out by the sergeant, the second accused alleged that upon seeing Labiche’s car in a siding, she made numerous calls in a bid to locate him, some of which went unanswered. It was claimed that she walked along a route and after he instructed her to walk back as she had gone too far, she came by an old palm tree and could, from where she was standing, see someone, causing her to stop, sit and hide, as she had doubts whether it was Labiche, and if he was indeed alone after hearing a female’s voice utter “there are other people here”. 

“When I was hiding, I heard Lussel ask “Won't you leave me alone?” And I heard Sherleytine say “No. I have been through too much with you and I love you,” the officer read from the statement.

Reading on, the sergeant stated that the second accused continued on to say that she then heard the sound resembling something falling and heard Sherleytine scream out the first accused’s name, at which point he made his way towards where she was hiding and signaled for her to follow him. She saw a white takeaway box with chips scattered from it and Sherleytine’s body on the ground with grey coloured duct tape over her mouth, a cut under her neck and red substance on her black dress.

As per the statement, the body was lying on a blue and orange tarpaulin, and Sherleytine was struggling to breathe. It was at that point that Labiche allegedly grabbed Sherleytine by her hand and the tarpaulin and dragged it to some bushes, proceeding to then grab her by her hair extensions to drag her further into the bushes of ferns. He allegedly covered the body with some leaves, came back to where her body had fallen where he picked up the tarpaulin and his phone as well as Sherleytine’s phone ‒ a grey Iphone 13 Pro Max.

Once back in the car, according to the account in the statement, Labiche allegedly drove Elisabeth home, where she burned the tarpaulin, brown straw bag belonging to Sherleytine, the clothes she was wearing, as well as a blue long-sleeved t-shirt which he was allegedly wearing at the time of the incident behind her house, as he had instructed. She gave him a white shirt belonging to her brother-in-law, the statement claims.

On the way back to her house, Labiche had also allegedly handed to her Sherleytine’s phone, and instructed that he would text the phone, and that she should text back to give the impression that Sherleytine is still alive. Labiche had also instructed Elisabeth to, if questioned by the police, tell them she sighted two other men with him, and that they cut contact with each other after that, it was stated.

The other two police officers who testified before court yesterday were both of corporal rank, attached to the criminal investigation division (CID). Each detailed their involvement with the investigation and were cross-examined by the defence.

The first corporal, who executed a search to Elisabeth’s house on May 5, told court that a number of items were seized from Elisabeth’s room, namely a laptop and four mobile phones, including an Iphone, TLC mobile phone, Huawei mobile phone and Nokia phone. The search warrant was executed in the hopes of finding the Iphone 13 Pro Max belonging to Sherleytine, however, it was not found.

Another statement recorded by the officer on the same evening was also admitted as prosecution exhibits. In this statement, Elisabeth allegedly stated that she also sighted a knife with a white handle covered in blood at the scene of the crime, and that Labiche threw it into the bushes.

Meanwhile, the second corporal told court that she, on May 10, executed a warrant at the home of Labiche at Takamaka, where a blue bag containing tools was seized from under a shed, and inside the room a black pair of trousers, two black caps and black belt.

The prosecution is expected to produce more witnesses in the case, after the voir dire, in the presence of the jury.

Laura Pillay