Jury returns a late evening verdict in the six-year-old murder case

A jury found Andrew Harclyde Pollard guilty of the murder of Guyanese national Onicka Gulliver today.

Just after 7 p.m., the foreman and members returned the unanimous guilty verdict to the No. 2 Supreme Court before Justice Randall Worrell. Pollard was remanded until sentencing six weeks from today’s date. A pre-sentencing and psychiatric report will be ordered in the interim.

Pollard, who resided at Mahaica Gap, Green Hill, St Michael, was on trial for the murder of Gulliver which occurred between March 11 and 14, 2014. The 23-year-old Guyanese woman, according to the evidence, was strangled. Her partially nude and decomposing body was found in a bushy area at Vaucluse, St Thomas.

The prosecution’s case maintained that Pollard killed Gulliver after he picked her up from home in a car and after the two argued during that car ride.

Pollard’s statement which he denied making, indicated that he went by Gulliver’s residence and as he drove, they had an argument about an abortion she had. At one point Gulliver angrily got out of the car and started walking away but after Pollard nudged her she got back into the car. Further on, the statement indicated thatGulliver became aggressive and started beating Pollard after which he hit her in the throat and she slumped against the door and was not breathing. He removed her from the car and left her in the bush. Pollard claimed he was defending himself.

Pollard, however, maintained throughout the trial that he was beaten by six or seven officers during which he was stripped naked, wrapped in plastic, waterboarded and shocked in the genitals. He maintained that he did not make the alleged confession statement.

Medical witnesses Dr Colin Alert, Dr Andrew Murray and Dr Ross Herbert also testified during the trial with Dr Herbert saying there was no evidence of intra-abdominal injuries, no skin changes, no evidence of chest abnormalities, no testicular swelling or bruising and no broken tooth. Speech and hearing therapist Ben Stabler said Pollard was malingering about having hearing loss.

A number of Gulliver’s family members testified that they saw Onicka leave with Pollard on the last day she was seen alive. Pollard said he never saw Gulliver that night.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale led the prosecution’s case while lawyer Sydney Pinder represented the defence.