DR Claudette Clarke, the widow of accountant Keith Clarke, on Thursday said that she was not surprised to learn that blood belonging to someone else was found inside their master bedroom in May 2010 when her husband was fatally shot by members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).

According to Dr Clarke, after her husband was shot dead, she and her daughter were escorted from the house and basically banned for at least two months, only allowed entry to retrieve items including books so her daughter could study for exams.

“We were escorted out of the house, so I wouldn’t be surprised but I know that no one was there before the soldiers came,” said Dr Clarke on Thursday during cross-examination in the murder trail of her husband.

Dr Clarke was facing cross-examination from attorney-at-law Linton Gordon, who is representing Private Arnold Henry, one of three soldiers on trial in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston, in relation to the shooting death of Clarke on May 27, 2010.

Gordon asked Dr Clarke if she was able to assure the seven-member jury, and the court, that no one else was with her family in the master bedroom on the night her husband was fatally shot.

“Only myself, my daughter, and my husband Keith Clarke were in the house at the time, not just in the room,” Dr Clarke stated.

She was then shown a document for her to peruse and later questioned if she planned to maintain her stance after looking at the papers.

Gordon then pointed out that the blood of someone else, other than a member of the family, was found inside the bedroom.

That prompted an objection from prosecutor Latoya Bernard, who took issue with the document that was shown to the witness.

The prosecutor’s objection triggered a response from King’s Counsel Valerie Neita-Robertson, who is representing Lance Corporal Greg Tingling, another of the soldiers accused in the matter. The third soldier on trial is Lance Corporal Odel Buckley.

“All we are doing is suggesting our case and we are entitled to do so,” Neita-Robertson said to trial judge Dale Palmer, who permitted Gordon to proceed with the cross-examination.

Linton then sought to test the strength of the evidence given by Dr Clarke about where she was at the time her husband was shot.

In her testimony, Dr Clarke had said that on the night her husband was fatally shot, sometime after 8:00 pm she arrived home, along with her daughter, and went into the master bedroom.

She told the court that sometime after, her husband arrived home and asked if she had prepared dinner. According to Dr Clarke, she told him that she hadn’t because she was tired.

She said that her husband seemed disappointed so she went downstairs to the kitchen and prepared him a sandwich, which, she said, he ate. She said she went back into bed and then her husband joined her afterwards.

According to Dr Clarke, that the drama started as JDF members broke open the bedroom door and as soon as she identified herself to them, they asked about gunmen hiding inside the house.

She said she told them that there were no gunmen there and pointed them to her husband who, she said, was dismounting the closet unarmed and with his back turned, but he was still peppered with bullets by the soldiers.

On Thursday, Gordon put Dr Clarke’s evidence to the test as he showed her photographs and posed questions to challenge what she said occurred in the room.

“The soldiers did not break down the door. The door was still there but they cut an opening in the door,” Dr Clarke said in response to Gordon’s question of whether the bedroom door was destroyed.

“Do you agree that the light was not on when the door was being cut opened?” Linton asked Dr Clarke, who responded, “There was no electric light but light was coming through the window and I saw lights on firearms of the security forces when they came in the room.”

Linton suggested to Dr Clarke that the room was completely dark and she said, “No Sir, I don’t agree with you.”

In response, Linton asked Dr Clarke if she had made a statement saying that while hiding in the bathroom she was approached by soldiers in uniform.

Firing back Dr Clarke said, “Just as they were cutting off the door, we came out of the bathroom and we faced the soldiers entering the room, sir.”

Linton suggested to Dr Clarke that she was being evasive as he reminded her that she had filed an affidavit in the civil court in which she stated that while hiding in the bathroom she was approached by soldiers.

In a quick response Dr Clarke told the court that she had said those words “because it was just a matter of seconds. We were coming out of the bathroom when they were coming in”.

With a courtroom attentively listening to the questions and answers the trial was adjourned until Monday.