A Kingston haulage contractor, said to be the boyfriend of Nordia Mitchell, who died at her Oaklands apartment in Kingston in 2008, yesterday testified that the woman had been staying at his home for over a week and had only returned to her apartment to collect some clothes when she was killed on July of that year.

The testimony contradicts that of businessman Steven Causewell, who is on trial in the Home Circuit Court in the downtown Kingston for the murder of the 28-year-old cosmetologist. Causewell had said in his statement that Mitchell was his girlfriend and that they had been together for about eight years up to the time of her death.

Causewell also said that, on the night of Mitchell’s murder, she had called him several times and had invited him over to her apartment to discuss their relationship.

But Kevin McCormack testified yesterday that he and Mitchell had an intimate relationship after he met her months earlier at a nightclub in Kingston.

He also said in his evidence-in-chief that, shortly before Mitchell’s death, she started staying at his home after two alleged incidents involving Causewell, which left her upset and frustrated and in one instance in tears.

McCormack recalled that on July 6, 2008, he and Mitchell and his friend were travelling to Portmore, St Catherine when Causewell allegedly called Mitchell about seven or eight times resulting in her getting upset and frustrated.

The haulage contractor said he, too, was upset and frustrated and, after a brief conversation with Causewell — who had allegedly identified himself — turned off his cellphone.

McCormack told the court that he knew and socialised with Causewell prior to meeting Mitchell. He told the court that he was a friend of Causewell’s brother and cousin.

McCormack further testified that, on the evening of July 7, when he took Mitchell home, he allegedly saw Causewell waiting for her outside.

He said Mitchell and Causewell went into her apartment, but he left after waiting on Mitchell for about 15 to 20 minutes and after receiving a phone call from someone who had been waiting on him. However, McCormack said, later that night, when he saw Mitchell at his home, she was crying.

From that night on he said that Mitchell stayed at his home until July 15, when he took her to her apartment and left her there to get some more clothes and to make preparations for her daughter who was returning from the country.

McCormack said that he did not foresee any danger as he had been told that Causewell was off the island.

McCormack said the plan then was for Mitchell to call him to come for her when she was ready. However, when he next saw her she was lying dead in the emergency room at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

McCormack will today continue to face cross-examination by Causewell’s attorney, Queen’s Counsel Jacqueline Samuels Brown.

The court heard that Mitchell died from a blunt blow to her head, but Causewell is maintaining that he found her dead at the back of her apartment after she went outside following an argument.