Superintendent Cornwall 'Bigga' Ford was the third witness called for the defence at the trial of 25-year-old waiter Sheldon Pusey who is charged with the murder of 64-year-old Ambassador Peter King.

The trial was adjourned yesterday for continuation on March 2 in the Home Circuit Court. The adjournment was granted to facilitate some of the jurors who had business arrangements for next week.

On being examined yesterday by defence lawyer Berry Bryan, Supt Ford said that on March 20, he was at a management team meeting with other senior police officers when he received a telephone call. He said as a result, he went to the residence of Peter King.

Question: Have you ever been to that premises before?

Answer: Yes, sir.

Question: Official or unofficial business.

Answer: On duty (which meant it was on official business).

Bryan: That is all I will ask, I will move on.

Supt Ford said he spoke to persons at the premises on March 20, 2006, but he had never taken a statement from anyone there.

Prosecutors Caroline Hay and Dahlia Findlay said they had no cross-examination for Supt Ford.

Bryan had sought to put in a medical record yesterday through Inspector Vera Thomas but prosecutor Caroline Hay objected. She was called as a witness for the defence and she gave detailed evidence as to how identification parades were conducted at the Half-Way Tree Police Station.

Calling more witnesses

Senior Puisne Judge Marva McIntosh told Berry that the document could not be tendered through that witness.

Berry then indicated that he was going to call two more witnesses. The judge told him that he could call 40 witnesses "because we are here to put relevant evidence before the jury so they can come to a verdict. So you can call 50 or 80 witnesses".

Fatally stabbed

King was fatally stabbed and chopped at his house at 11A Waterloo Road, St Andrew, between March 19 and 20, 2006.

Pusey was arrested and charged in March 2007 and he said in his defence last week that King was forcing him to be intimate with him and he stabbed him.

The trial began on January 19 and the judge in granting a one-week adjournment yesterday, apologised to the 12-member jury that the trial was proceeding in instalments.