PHILIPSBURG – Is Akil Amaru L. guilty of stabbing Gary Zorilla to death on July 20 of last year? The answer to that question will become clearer during the trial on April 18. Until that time, the 20-year old defendant will remain behind bars.
On July 20 of last year, two groups of youngsters who had had problems with each other before encountered each other at the gas station on Bush Road. A fight broke out and after bystanders called the police the youngsters went over the hill to Cole Bay. Near the entrance of Diamond Estate, the fight continued and during this encounter someone stabbed 23-year old Gary Zorilla to death. Two other sustained injuries.
The public prosecutor said that an investigation of the evidence by the Dutch Forensic Institute (NFI) is not complete yet and that witnesses still have to be heard.
The prosecutor said that there are still serious objections against the defendant, first of all because DNA-traces matching the defendant’s profile have been found under the victim’s nails. He also noted that the defendant was sentenced for an act of violence in 2014.
There are three other suspects in this case. Attorney Geert Hatzmann represents the interests of the victim’s family.
Attorney Sjamira Roseburg asked the court to terminate or suspend her client’s pretrial detention. She said that a knife found after the fight does not contain her client’s DNA; to which the prosecutor later responded that the knife is not necessarily the weapon used to kill Zorilla.
Roseburg also complained about the postponement of the trial: “My client had hoped that he could prove his innocence today.
The prosecutor objected to the termination or suspension of L.’s detention. “There is a difference between serious objections and evidence,” he said, adding that according to the NFI-report the defendant can be linked to the victim. Manslaughter carries a long prison sentence; next to that there is serious ill-treatment.”
The judge withdrew from the court room to take another good look at the evidence in the case, but when he returned he told the defendant that there are still serious objections against his release.
“There are incriminating statements from witnesses and your DNA has been found on Zorilla’s body,” he said. The circumstances in the Pointe Blanche prison are not good but that is insufficient reason to suspend your detention.”
Attorney Roseburg protested the judge’s decision, but the magistrate declined further discussion.
