LEODA Bradshaw and her three co-accused, who have been in custody for over two years after being implicated in the murders of parliamentarian Phillip Paulwell’s 10-month-old daughter Sarayah Paulwell and her mother Toshyna Patterson, should by January 26 next year know when they will stand trial.

Bradshaw, a former United States Navy culinary specialist, has been charged with two counts of conspiracy to murder, two counts of conspiracy to kidnapping, two counts of kidnapping, and two counts of capital murder alongside her cousin Roland Balfour, alleged triggerman David Smith, and Bjorn Black. Balfour will be tried on two counts each of accessory before the fact to kidnapping and accessory before the fact to murder, while Black will be tried on charges of two counts each of murder, kidnapping, conspiracy to murder, and conspiracy to kidnapping. He is also facing additional firearms charges. Smith is to be tried on charges of two counts each of capital murder, conspiracy to murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy to kidnapping.

On Wednesday, Supreme Court Judge Justice Vinnette Graham-Allen, who has been conducting the case management hearings for the matter, said the indictment (formal charging document outlining the crimes charged) has been completed by the prosecution and served on the defence team representing the four. She said come January 26, the matter will be the first to be dealt with.

In the meantime, a proposed trial date of September 28, 2026 to November 23, 2026 has been tentatively set, and will be settled come January 26, Graham-Allen indicated.

“I don’t know about the mode of trial; have that discussion whether judge alone or judge and jury, let us reserve that date,” Graham-Allen said in addressing the prosecution and the defence.

“Mr Investigator, please tell the witnesses what is going on so they can block out these dates,” she said in ordering the accused remanded until January 26, 2026.

“When you come back we will set a trial date, you have heard us talk about possible dates,” she told the four who appeared via Zoom from the facilities where they are being held.

Prosecutors who had outlined the allegations on October 13, 2023 during a mention hearing at the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston, said one day after learning of the existence of the child, Bradshaw, who was domiciled in the United States, hopped on a plane destined for Jamaica on September 6, 2023, “with the sole purpose of killing Toshyna Patterson and the young child” fathered by the man she considered her ‘spouse’.

“She learnt of the existence of young Paulwell on Wednesday the 5th of September 2023. Having learnt of the existence of this child she contacted Patterson on
Facebook and informed her that she was the wife of Mr Paulwell, and further that she learnt of the existence of the young offspring of Mr Paulwell. Miss Bradshaw advised Miss Patterson that a DNA [test] should be done to determine the paternity of the child. After this brief exchange the [now-deceased] blocked the accused from her account that very day,” a senior prosecutor told the court at the time.

The Crown said the fact that the 27-year-old businesswoman had “blocked” Bradshaw from her social media account did not stop her from travelling here and conspiring with her cousin and co-accused Roland Balford to contract men to kidnap and murder the two.

Incidentally, Patterson and her daughter were reported missing on September 9, 2023. Bradshaw was taken into police custody on October 5, 2023 and then Deputy Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey confirmed that she was a prime suspect in the abduction.

Prosecutors say the mother and daughter were taken to Warieka Hills in St Andrew where they were shot and killed and their bodies burned.

Two other men implicated in the murders have since been convicted, after they accepted a plea deal from prosecutors. They are Richard Brown, otherwise called Richie, and 29-year-old Roshane Miller.

Brown, of a Kingston address, was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to murder, two counts of conspiracy to kidnapping, and two counts of kidnapping, and is now serving a minimum of 20 years in prison before being eligible for parole. Miller, an air-conditioning technician, was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to murder, two counts conspiracy to kidnapping, and misprision of felony, and is serving seven years and 10 months in prison.