‘A who mi murder?’

A former detective testified on Wednesday that when he informed Andre Ruddock that he would be charged for murder, he inquired of the cop who the victim of that murder was, and when told he would be charged for conspiracy to murder, he demanded a lawyer. This happened three days after he had already confessed during a caution statement at the Freeport Police Station in Montego Bay, St James, on October 18, 2021. The confession was recorded on a video in which Ruddock appeared calm while telling detectives that he was guilty of killing a woman at a church. After he gave that caution statement, detectives then proceeded to conduct a question-and-answer session to get more information out of him about the incident. The question-and-answer session was also video-recorded and Ruddock was in fact heard confessing. He then signed to written versions of the said statement as well as the answers he gave to the detectives. Ruddock is on trial in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston in relation to the October 17, 2021 human sacrifice-type killing of 39-year-old Taneka Gardner at Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries in Albion, St James. He is accused of cutting the woman’s throat on instructions from his now deceased pastor, Dr Kevin Smith. On Wednesday, the witness, who was the lead detective in the matter, told the court that Ruddock was transported from Montego Bay to Kingston on October 21, 2021 and was housed at the headquarters of the Major Investigations Division. “I approached him whilst in custody and informed him of the charge of murder and conspiracy to murder. I cautioned him for the offence of murder and when cautioned he then said, ‘A who mi murder?’ I then charged him with murder. I cautioned him for conspiracy to murder and he said, ‘Call mi lawyer, please.’” During the caution statement and question-and-answer session in Montego Bay, no attorney was present. However, in that interview room were two justices of the peace along with two detectives and Ruddock. The accused was not heard requesting an attorney at any point during those sessions. Prosecutor Latoya Bernard asked the witness on Wednesday if prior to Ruddock being taken to Kingston to be charged, if the accused had complained to him about being beaten, threatened, or harmed in any way by a detective constable. The witness said no. “He did not have any injuries on him. He did not make any complaints about being assaulted by him or any other officers,” the witness said. The trial resumes on Friday, when the last witness for the prosecution, a pathologist, will begin testifying.