ALFRED – The focus of the murder trial for an Old Orchard Beach woman and her brother shifted Monday to the trail of blood and items left behind by the people who killed Winston George at his home two years ago.
Police found a pool of blood and spattered blood in the main hallway of the house at 56 Smithwheel Road, and blood on each step of the carpeted stairway leading to the finished basement. That suggests George was assaulted, then dragged downstairs, where his body was found by investigators.
Also found in the basement were two knives that are believed to have been taken from the family’s kitchen. George was cut repeatedly on his head before he was strangled with a rope and suffocated with a plastic bag. A third knife, possibly from the same butcher block as the other two, was found in the master bedroom.
Darlene George and her brother Jeffrey Williams are on trial in the murder of Winston George, who was 44 when he died on June 20, 2008. Darlene and Winston George had been married since 2002.
The murder trial entered its second week Monday, and is expected to conclude later this week in York County Superior Court.
A third defendant, Rennie Cassimy, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. Cassimy, who says he was Darlene George’s lover for more than decade, testified against her and Williams last week.
Cassimy said George wanted her husband dead because he, too, was 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 on the night of June 19, 2008, and Williams killed George when he came home from work after midnight.
Police found the body about 5:45 a.m. 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.
Attorneys for George and Williams have suggested that Cassimy crafted a story implicating their clients so he could get a plea deal from prosecutors and a recommended prison sentence of eight years.
On Monday afternoon, Joel Vincent, the attorney for Williams, questioned why investigators tested only one of the three kitchen knives — the one that initially tested positive for the presence of blood — for skin cells or other traces of DNA.
An employee of the state crime lab is expected to testify today about the results of the testing that was done on the single knife.
Vincent said the results from DNA testing on all three knives could have been used to include or exclude suspects.
“You would think that you would DNA-test every knife at the scene,” Vincent said after court concluded for the day. “I’m just perplexed as to why they wouldn’t do it.”
Staff Writer Trevor Maxwell can be contacted at 791-6451 or at: tmaxwell@pressherald.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.