Convicted murderer Ade Blackman told a jury on Friday that Jason Ricardo Layne agreed to pay him $20 000 to kill his brother and planned where and when the killing would take place.
Blackman, who turned State’s witness, detailed for three hours how he plotted with three other men, including the accused Layne, to kill Anthony Layne on June 4, 2020.
He was giving evidence as Jason Layne’s trial continued before a 12-member jury.
The dock in the No. 3 Supreme Court stood empty, as Blackman, who previously confessed to killing the deceased, took the witness stand on behalf of the State as part of a plea bargain agreement.
Oshea Greenidge and Shawn Crookendale have also pleaded guilty to murder.
In his account, Blackman said Greenidge came to his River Land house one day and spoke about a friend who was having disputes with his brother and wanted him, identified as Anthony Layne, killed.
“He asked me how much I would take and I said $30 000. He tell me he don’t know if de man can handle that. He feel he could handle $20 000. He also told me that Anthony Layne was responsible for my brother’s murder,” Blackman said, adding that this meeting was held at the beginning of 2020.
“The next time we talk, Oshea came and took me to a cart lane in St Patrick’s. Jason Layne came in a white truck and got out and talk to me. He ask if Oshea talk to me about the murder to get he brother kill. He ask me how soon I could do it. I told him as soon as he pays me. We came to an agreement that he would pay me $20 000. Jason Layne ask me if I want all or half…I told him I would take half now and half when de work get do,” Blackman testified, later adding that this was the first time he had met the accused.
Acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Krystal Delaney, who leads the prosecution team of acting Senior State Counsel Anastacia McMeo-Boyce and State Counsel Kwame Ramsay, asked whether the accused had ever explained his reason for wanting his brother killed.
“A day he come by me and told me that he want he brother kill because [Anthony] does go by he mudda and disrespect she all the time. He does got people of ill-repute bout he mudda place, sell weed behind he mudda house and make three attempts to burn down she shop and de water off and he would not move out from out of the house.”
Blackman told the court that he met Layne on several occasions when they discussed the killing. The accused told him that Anthony, also known as Bubba, was paranoid: “He don’t want that I go for he and miss he. He want the job done.”
The prosecution witness recalled that, after he encountered trouble getting a vehicle because he was unable to ride or drive, Oshea arranged for Shawn Crookendale to drive.
“Dem say dey want it deal with soon because Jason feel that Bubba gine kill he and he mudda soon,” Blackman testified.
He then said he, Greenidge and Crookendale went to Leadvale and pointed out the various areas, including where he would be dropped off, where the deceased would park and the bushy area in Walronds where he would be picked up afterwards. Blackman stated that he had previously been taken to these areas with Greenidge and Layne.
The plan, he detailed, was for the accused to call Greenidge when Anthony left home. Greenidge would then pick him (Blackman) up and take him to Walronds, where he would transfer to the car driven by Crookendale after changing the car’s plates. Crookendale would then take him close to where the murder was to occur, pick him up afterwards and return him to Walronds, where Greenidge would be waiting to take him home.
During his testimony, Blackman said Jason Layne was the one who decided where and when his brother would be killed.
“He told me that at night Bubba does have gun men out there watching and protecting him and police does be patrolling so daytime would be the best time when his guard is dropped,” the witness recalled, adding that the accused gave him a burner phone.
On June 4, 2020, after receiving a call from Oshea, Blackman said he left home in shorts, a vest and slippers, with a bag containing a long-sleeved grey shirt, a reflective jacket, long trousers and a Glock .357 containing nine rounds of ammunition. He told the court he found the firearm in the cellar of his late brother’s home.
He got into the car with Greenidge and put on the clothes. They received a call from Layne, who told them to hurry up and get to the location, he testified. They met up with Crookendale; Blackman put on the plates, got into the car and was dropped off in Leadvale at the back of a development.
He said: “I walked the road with a white shirt over my head Taliban-style. While I was there I acted like I was cutting grass. Anthony Layne drove down and reversed and parked near a container and rolled down the window looking at me suspicious. I waved at him. He did not wave back at me and rolled back up his car window. When he did this, I ran to the car and fired through the car window.”
Blackman stated that he ran back to the vehicle with Crookendale, was handed another gun and was taken back to the bushy area in Walronds, where he discarded the clothes, plates and firearm he had used. He called Greenidge back “a couple times” before someone answered the phone, and he told them “everything done”. He asked them what the hold-up was in getting picked up.
As he waited, Blackman said he spotted masked men running towards him, and they began firing. He attempted to flee but was struck in the right buttock and fell. He said the men were police officers.
Following medical care at the hospital, he was transported to Oistins Police Station, where he ultimately confessed and guided officers to the location where he had concealed the gun and clothing.
He admitted that, in giving evidence on behalf of the State as part of a plea bargain, he received two years off his sentence.
“Have you lied to us because you are getting a discount?” Delaney asked
“What I am saying is the truth. I want to get everything off my chest,” Blackman told the court.
Layne is represented by lawyers Lesley Cargill-Straker and Kristin Vanderpool.
The trial, which continues on Monday, is presided over by Justice Carlisle Greaves.
(JB)
