Ex-soldier tells of role in 2005 kidnapping which led to murder

The State’s main’s witness against eight men charged with the kidnapping and murder of real estate agent Gerald Gopaul in July 2005, began his testimony at the trial on Monday.

Ex-soldier Jason Percival, who was part of the kidnapping, began giving his evidence before the eight accused, the 18 jurors – 12 on the main panel and six alternates – and Justice Norton Jack in the Port of Spain High Court.

Charged with Gopaul’s murder, which took place on a date unknown between July 7 and 20, 2005, are Kenneth Pierre, Paul Bodoo, Ricardo Stephenson, Clifford Sorias, Marvin Critchlow, Kendall Joseph, Sherwyn Crystom, and Kendell Davis.

Gopaul, 52, was abducted from the Diamond Recreation Club, Diamond Village, and his body found 11 days after at Trantrail Road, St Augustine, wrapped in green plastic.

In his testimony, Percival recounted the part of the planning of the kidnapping he was present for. He called the names of those involved, some by their full names and others by the names he knew them as. While he called the names of the eight at various times in his testimony, he also called the names of others who are not before the court.

He testified to the events leading up to Gopaul’s abduction at a bar at Papourie Road, Diamond Village, and of the conversations he overheard and was a part of. He was in one of the cars used in the kidnapping and was there when Gopaul was “dragged” out of the bar and put in the back of a rented silver Nissan B14, which had false number plates.

Percival said after the kidnapping, everyone drove out of Diamond Village back to Bourg Mulatress in Santa Cruz, where Gopaul was going to be kept until the ransom was paid.

He said he was present when some ransom calls were made and when one of the men called to say “the child dead.” This call came some five days after Gopaul was kidnapped and he and another man went to drop off a Nokia cellphone at a street sign in Diamond Village for the real estate agent’s son to collect.

He said he was present when the call came that the “child dead” and would not move even if they “chook it.”

Later that night, he and the others returned to Bourg Mulatress where plans were made to get the dead man out of the bush.

Percival said he told one of the other men he wanted to go see where they were going to dump the body so that he could tell his superior officer where he could find it.

He said they went up to the forested area in Bourg Mulatress and brought down what looked like a body wrapped in plastic. It was put in the trunk of the car and they went to Caroni where the body was “tossed” out on Trantrail Road in the bush.

The next day, Percival said he was finally able to reach his superior officer Cpl Phillip and gave him directions to where they threw the body.

Almost six months later, Percival said he surrendered to police “because he did not want to be living a life on the run and wanted to take responsibility for his actions.”

Prosecuting the men are state attorneys Anju Bhola and Giselle Ferguson-Heller while Pamela Elder, SC, Evans Welch, Wayne Sturge, Mario Merritt, Frank Peterson, Richard Clarke-Wills, and Stephen Wilson are among the team of defence attorneys for the eight men.