Maracas Bay man acquitted of 2009 murder of own granny

A MARACAS Bay man has been acquitted of the 2009 murder of his 94-year-old grandmother.

On October 7, after deliberating for under an hour, a 12-member jury found Lester “Sea Blast” Diaz, of Fishing Village, Maracas, not guilty of the murder of Martina Roxborough.

He was on trial before Justice Sherene Murray-Bailey at the Hall of Justice, Port of Spain.

It was alleged Roxborough was strangled to death sometime between July 11 and 14, 2009. One of her daughters found her body in a room at her Maracas Bay home.

At first, it was believed she had died of natural causes, but an autopsy the next day concluded she had been strangled.

It was alleged Diaz went to her home, but she chased him away, leading to his strangling her. However, his defence, advanced by his attorney Orin Kerr, was one of alibi.

Although he did not testify, Diaz called his sister as a witness and the scientific officer at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, as a witness to give evidence on DNA samples allegedly found on the victim.