ALFRED – During nearly six hours of cross-examination Friday, Rennie Cassimy insisted that it was Darlene George of Old Orchard Beach who planned the murder of her husband two years ago, and that it was her brother, Jeffrey Williams, who killed Winston George.

Cassimy said he helped plan the murder and traveled with Williams from New York to Maine, but his role was only to assist if Williams needed help in his attack on Winston George.

“I never partake in anything. I will go to my grave with that,” Cassimy testified on the fifth day of the murder trial of George and Williams in York County Superior Court.

But defense lawyers peppered Cassimy with questions about his role in the crime, and how his testimony has been inconsistent at times with earlier statements he gave to investigators.

For example, Cassimy appeared to struggle to remember when Williams was allegedly brought into the conspiracy by George.

Paul Aranson is the attorney who represents George, and Joel Vincent is representing Williams. Through their lines of questioning, Aranson and Vincent suggested that Cassimy crafted a story to put the blame on their clients, to protect himself and secure a plea deal.

George, Williams and Cassimy all initially faced murder charges related to the death of Winston George in Old Orchard Beach on June 20, 2008.

But the murder charge against Cassimy was dropped in January when he agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

Prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of eight years, and Cassimy then would face deportation to his native Trinidad and Tobago. In exchange, Cassimy agreed to testify against Williams and George, who Cassimy claims was his lover from about 1995 until the time of the killing.

If convicted of murder, George and Williams will face 25 years to life in prison.

During earlier testimony, Cassimy said George wanted her husband dead because he was also having an affair, and she wanted sole control of five properties they owned in Maine, New York and Winston George’s native country, Trinidad and Tobago.

Cassimy said he and Williams staged a home invasion at 56 Smithwheel Road on the night of June 19, 2008, and Williams killed Winston George when he came home from work sometime after midnight.

Police found the body about 5:45 a.m. on June 20, 2008, after receiving a 911 call from Darlene George. In that call, and in subsequent interviews with investigators, she said three men wearing latex gloves and nylon stockings over their heads ambushed her family in their house. Winston George was strangled with a rope and suffocated with a plastic bag.

Cassimy testified that he and Darlene George loved each other and saw each other several times a month, but he said neither of them wanted to divorce their spouses so they could be together.

Cassimy said that he has 10 children from five women, and that he considers himself “a gigolo.”

A few times during his testimony, Cassimy said that he didn’t think he had done anything wrong. He said that as he heard Winston George pleading to see his family in the moments before he died, Cassimy felt badly for him.

“That’s very sympathetic and very late,” Vincent said.

The prosecution is expected to continue presenting its case Monday.

Staff Writer Trevor Maxwell can be contacted at 791-6451 or at:

tmaxwell@pressherald.com

 

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