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Justice Reid to continue summation in McGill case

By BARBARA GAYLE, Staff Reporter

MR. JUSTICE BASIL Reid will continue his summation to the jury today when the trial of Janet Douglas, 34, fashion designer, of 37 Ziadie Avenue, Ziadie Gardens St. Andrew continues in the Home Circuit Court.

Douglas has been on trial since May 11 for the murder of 32-year-old Isolyn Gibson-McGill, of Corn Piece District, Hayes, Clarendon.

The Crown represented by Paula Llewellyn, Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions and Chester Crooks, Crown Counsel, is alleging that Douglas, who was involved in an intimate relationship with Detective Corporal Glen McGill, befriended his wife and murdered her.

The body with 19 stab wounds was found on the Hilyfield Road, off Bustamante Highway, Clarendon on the night of November 24, 2000. The Crown is alleging that the motive for the murder was jealousy and obsession.

No remorse

Yesterday Miss Llewellyn in addressing the jury asked them not to be fooled by Douglas' Mona Lisa look . She described Douglas as a Jezebel and said she had a cold and devious mind. Miss Llewellyn said that Douglas showed no regret, no remorse and almost no emotion because what she set out to do was well done and that was to murder Mrs. McGill.

She said the only thing Glen McGill was guilty of was "stupidity and too much ego" because like a lot of men, he got into the situation and thought he had it under control. She said Mr. McGill did not see the workings of the accused's mind and "just like the venus fly trap, they were flies actually in her mouth and she was ready to shut her jaws around Isolyn because Isolyn had become a competitor." She said the accused was of the view that because Mrs. McGill did not look like her (a beautiful browning) and did not help Mr. McGill in the way she (Douglas) did , she had to be eliminated.

Medical evidence

According to Miss Llewellyn, the defence wanted to use Mr. McGill as a red herring in the case when it was suggested that he was the one who killed his wife. "But why would he have killed his wife? He could not want a better wife because she strikes me as a woman who rocks no boat," Miss Llewellyn said.

Miss Llewellyn said that the defence wanted the jury to say that because Mr. McGill lied about his marital status to Douglas he could not be believed. "Cast the first stone" was the response of some of the jurors when Miss Llewellyn said "but who is without sin." Miss Llewellyn asked the jury to find that it could only have been Douglas who murdered Mrs. McGill. She also intimated that from the forensic and medical evidence, Douglas had help in committing the murder. She asked the jury not to say that Isloyn paid the ultimate price for being gullible because no"sankey nuh sing so". She told the jury that Douglas' beauty and the amount of money she had could not absolve her of her responsibility. She asked the jury to find that all the evidence and all the lies Douglas told pointed to a calculated plan by her to murder Mrs.. McGill.