KINGSTON, Jamaica - Constable Rushon Hamilton said on Wednesday that he could not have killed Jhaneel Goulbourne because he is a father himself.

"How could I do something like this? I too am a father and I too have a daughter. This is absolutely not true," Hamilton said in a statement from the prisoner's dock that lasted about 40 minutes.

As Hamilton gave his unsworn statement, he repeatedly told jurors that he is innocent and said that there was a conspiracy against him, noting that all the witnesses in the case are connected in one way or another.

"I would not and could not do something like this," he said.

As he gave his statement Goulbourne's sisters sat crying as they stared at Hamilton.

Hamilton spoke loudly and looked directly at the jurors during his presentation as he questioned what was the prosecution's “independent evidence” against him.

Regarding his alleged jailhouse confession, Hamilton said: "What kind of idiot would I be, if I had done something like this, as a sensible person to be confessing to persons that are locked up, having been warned by my lawyers then."

Other character witnesses are expected to testify on Hamilton's behalf this afternoon.

Hamilton is on trial for the murder of 14-year-old Goulbourne, who was abducted outside her Harbour View home on October 24, 2008. He was accused of having an affair with the schoolgirl.

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