Blake murder trial opens in Supreme Court

It was the most spectacular crime story of the year 2000…and today a suspect finally went on trial. Ann-Marie Williams reports from the Supreme Court.

Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting

The highly publicised case in which millionaire heiress Therese Blake Ayuso was allegedly shot to death by Ornel Welcome, opened this morning in Supreme Court number three with two of the eighteen prosecution witnesses taking the stand.

The first was twenty-four year old Shana Meyers of Belize City. She told the prosecution that on October twelfth while walking on Baymen Avenue on her way to work, she heard screams coming from around the corner. She said she also saw a white two-door sports car with the engine and headlights on. Meyers told the court she was so close she saw the glass rolled down, the lack of license plates and a pair of gloves in the car.

She went on to say, “I saw a young man coming towards the car. I was about twenty feet away when I saw a fair skinned man, about 5’7″, low hair cut, narrow face and of slim built, who drove off in the getaway car towards B.T.L. Park, going north.”

Michelle Matthews, the second witness, told the court much the same thing. However, she added that she heard screams coming from a white van parked in front of Blake’s residence on Newtown Barracks.

The prosecution asked how she knew it was coming from the van. She said, “The noise got louder as I was coming towards the van and it drove off in a zigzag fashion in and out of the drain and unto Princess Margaret Drive.”

She recalled however that an ID parade was held on October thirtieth, 2000 but she was not able to “positively” identify Welcome. She said he bore some resemblance to the man she saw drove off, but that he had bald head and sparse eyebrows at the time of the parade.

Tomorrow defence attorney Simeon Sampson will cross-examine prosecution witness Michelle Matthews. Ann-Marie Williams for News 5.