The lead attorney for murder accused Andre Ruddock jolted a key witness during cross-examination on Tuesday after he failed to explain the purpose of a room at Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries in Albion, St James, that was shown to him in photographs in the Home Circuit Court.

The witness was recalled to the stand to point out scenes in the photographs in the high-profile trial, and was seriously tested by defence attorney Anthony Williams, who was unrelenting in his questions.

Ruddock is on trial for murder in relation to the October 17, 2021 human sacrifice type killing of 39-year-old Taneka Gardner, whose throat was slashed, allegedly by the accused, who was said to be acting on instructions from his now deceased pastor Kevin Smith.

However, the attorney has insisted that the woman was killed by the pastor and that Ruddock was intimidated, threatened, and forced to say that he was the one responsible for cutting the woman’s throat.

The attorney accused the witness of covering up for the pastor.

During examination-in-chief by lead prosecutor Latoya Bernard, the witness was asked to explain what the room was used for.

However, he could not give a proper explanation.

Therefore, during during cross-examination, Williams tackled him heavily on the topic.

“When that image came up, the prosecutor asked you if you can remember what that is. Remember?” Williams asked.

“Yes I do,” the witness said.

“I observed you looking at the image for some time and you indicated to the prosecutor that you do not recall what that image is. Correct?” Williams asked.

The witness agreed that he in fact indicated that he did not recognise the area at the time.

Williams subsequently invited him to look at the image again.

The witness then said it was an area that was located beside a space that was used for storage.

“It is the area to the back beside where the storage would be. It has chairs and an altar,” he explained.

Williams then asked the witness to identify a grey object in a photo, which he confirmed to be a chair.

“Would you classify it as an executive type chair?” Williams asked.

The witness told the lawyer that he did not know what an executive chair was.

“Let me break it down. Would you classify it as a chair fitting for the pastor?” Williams asked, to which the witness explained that pastor Smith did not sit in those types of chairs.

“He had a custom-made chair,” the witness said.

Williams, then asked the witness what the room where the chair was located in was used for.

“It wasn’t used for anything specific. He just fixed up the area otherwise from the storage to the side,” the witness replied.

The attorney then asked: “In 2021, did you see persons in that room and before?”

“I don’t remember exactly when the room was fixed up, Sir, so I can’t tell you that I saw people in there doing anything, but I can recall seeing Mr Ruddock and [two other people] on that day. They were at the door of the room, Sir,” the witness replied.

That prompted the attorney to ask the witness if he was in fact an adjutant to the pastor.

The witness answered in the affirmative.

The lawyer then asked: “As an adjutant to the pastor, you did say that part of your duties was to comb his hair, brush his hair, and get him ready?”

The witness denied telling the court previously that he combed or brushed the pastor’s hair.

“I didn’t say comb or brush his hair, Sir. I did say sheer his head. Trim him,” the witness said.

“How long you had been an adjutant to pastor Smith?” Williams asked.

“If my mind serves me correctly, it would be from 2015 to 2021, six years,” the witness responded.

Williams then asked the witness that if, for six years he shaved the pastor’s head and was so close to him, how come the room, which appeared to be a meeting room, was unknown to him.

“As I stated to you, we moved to this location somewhere around 2019. This building was not built and completed until somewhere around 2020. It was not fully completed at that point in time after COVID-19. This room that you are looking at right there, Sir, that room I don’t want to assume, but if my mind serves me correctly it would have been done sometime late 2020 into 2021. There was no specific reason for that room,” the witness said.

The attorney proceeded to ask the witness what else he did apart from shave the pastor’s head.

“I helped him to get ready. I helped him to get dressed. I would help him put on his shoes. I would take his Bible and his bag and I would bring it to the pulpit or the altar and I would place it there,” the witness responded.

Williams, who seemed to be having a field day, the said: “The prosecutor asked you to look at that picture and you said you can’t recall, but suddenly you recall what that room was. What made you remember, within the space of a short time, what that room was?”

The witness replied: “Sir, by looking at the entrance to the storage area, I then realised what the area was. If I can go a little bit further, the reason why I did not remember in the moment what the area was is because there was a lot of shift around and changes done prior to an event that was held on the Saturday [October 16, 2021].”

Williams asked him if he would agree “that as someone who was very close to the pastor, in terms of getting him ready, putting on his shoes, taking his Bible and bag to the pulpit and shaving his hair, that you, in the capacity as an adjutant, you knew the various sections of the church, including that one?”

The witness replied: “Sir, as I stated previously, there were a lot of changes done to areas and there are areas that look identical in the sanctuary. Based on the set up, I couldn’t  tell you where exactly it is.”

The trial continues today, when the main investigator is expected to testify from a remote location.