THE anticipated new trial for convicted murderer, Barbados-born businessman Omar ‘Best’ Collymore, failed to get off the ground Wednesday after the prosecution requested more time to put its house in order.

Collymore, who is currently serving a double life sentence for masterminding the January 2018 murder of his wife, Simone Campbell-Collymore, and her cab driver Winston Walters, is to answer charges of conspiring to murder another woman with whom he was in a relationship.

He was indicted afresh in November 2025, alongside co-accused Carey Jonas, Dwayne Pink, Michael Adams and Shaquille Edwards, for illegal possession of firearm, shooting with intent, and conspiracy to murder the woman who has not been named.

Three of the four — Pink, Adams and Edwards — are currently serving life sentences alongside Collymore for their involvement in the murders of Campbell-Collymore and Walters. Jonas is the only accused being indicted for the first time. He was not involved in the 2018 murders.

Wednesday’s request by the prosecution was met with protest from the defence team. In what marks the third time a trial date has been rolled out for Collymore and his co-accused, the new trial was slated to begin on Monday this week but was rolled to Wednesday for hearing by Supreme Court Judge, Justice Chester Stamp, in the Home Circuit Division of the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston.

However, when the matter was called up, the prosecution, in requesting more time, explained that one of its main witnesses, who is incidentally the original investigating officer, was unavailable due to health reasons necessitating certain procedural adjustments.

“To be candid Mi’Lord, that officer is needed to put up the Crown’s case; that is to say, we’re relying on question and answer documents and caution statements and witness statements of the accused persons in the dock. For all but one accused person, it is the investigating officer that did the recordings. So the Crown is asking for some time to put its house in order, and by putting it in order, it may have to make a 31(D) application in respect of that officer,” the proscecution outlined to Justice Stamp.

A Section 31 (D) application, covered under the Evidence Act, in effect allows the introduction of statements as evidence in court when the witness cannot testify live — usually due to death, illness, being abroad, or being unable to be found after reasonable efforts.

“Since we left here on Monday we have had a newly assigned officer assigned to recording statements of other persons present at the time when these documents were recorded; however, not all documents are in hand yet. So there is a disclosure issue and there may be notices to adduce,” the lead prosecutor said, adding that the Crown would be prepared to go forward by the end of the current court term.

But while indicating that they would be making written objections, defence attorneys argued that the prosecution should not be allowed further time, given that it took three years for the matter to be placed on a trial list while the men languished in custody.

The lead prosecutor however pointed out that the Crown had chosen to proceed as it has, in order to prevent any prejudice to the accused.

“What has been left hanging is that while there are five persons in the dock, three of them are serving life sentences. The Crown was being ministers of justice as usual because, what would have been put off is a murder case in respect of one person, and conspiracy to murder, and they would have taken place over different times. So the Crown did not want to prejudice any of the four of the five accused in the dock that is why it was done in that manner. The trial of the original four was concluded in 2023, so for all intents and purposes this severed matter became a singular matter, standing on its own in 2023. There have been three trial dates, two of those trial dates occurred during this week,” the lead prosecutor told the court.

While noting that the accused had been held “much too long without trial”, Justice Stamp, in stating that he was not minded to dismiss the case at this stage, ordered the prosecution to complete its file on or before the September 18 case management date at which time the defence will also make its applications. He further ordered the Crown to serve all additional statements on the defence four days before the September 18 date.

The five men were in the meantime ordered remanded and are to be brought back before the court on that date, at which point Justice Stamp will indicate the way forward.

Meanwhile, at least two of the defendants, who were visibly disgruntled by the delay, grumbled discontentedly. And a bespectacled Collymore, hair shaved at the sides, the middle dread-locked, who was clad in a form-fitting white T-shirt and blue jeans, clutched several sheets of paper which he had wound into a scroll in his hands with a detached look on his face.

Collymore, who is currently serving two life sentences for the murders of his wife and her cab driver, was also sentenced to one year and six months for conspiracy and ordered to serve 46 years and six months before becoming eligible for parole. Adams and Pink are also serving life sentences for those 2018 murders. Adams will become eligible for parole after 42 years and six months, while Pink must serve at least 32 years and six months before he gains eligibility. Both men also received sentences of two years and six months, and one year and six months, respectively, for conspiracy to murder. All the sentences were concurrent. Their co-accused Shaquille Edwards, who was found guilty for conspiracy to murder, but who was not on the scene, had been sentenced to one year in prison.

In the highly publicised and shocking incident, Campbell-Collymore and Walters were ambushed on January 2, 2018 and shot dead by gunmen on motorbikes outside the Forest Ridge apartment complex in Red Hills, St Andrew, where she lived with her then husband and children. Campbell-Collymore was shot 19 times, and Walters five times. The Crown at the close of their case established that Collymore ordered the hit to claim his wife’s multimillion-dollar life insurance policies from which their two children were entitled to 15 per cent each while Collymore was entitled to 70 per cent of the benefits. He was also listed as trustee for the children and their portion. Those policies were taken out by the couple three months before Campbell-Collymore’s murder.

Collymore was captured by cops at the Norman Manley International Airport while attempting to flee the island a day before his wife’s funeral.