The jury was given a glimpse of the drug underworld yesterday in the trial of the three men accused of the murder of American Stanley Lee.

The court heard testimony from one of Lee's Bermudian friends - who was on hand as the alleged dealers discovered that the cocaine they intended to deal in Bermuda was rotten.

Truck driver Nathan Darrell struck up an instant friendship with American Stanley Lee in July, 2001 and repeatedly called defendant Robert Blair Tucker after the Lagoon Park murder victim disappeared.

A self described "bredren" of Mr. Lee, Mr. Darrell told a Supreme Court jury of their instant friendship and his dismay at not being able to contact him after July 28, 2001.

Mr. Darrell told the ten-woman, two-man jury he was introduced to "Sha" - one of the aliases of mysterious American Stanley Lee - by defendant Tucker earlier that month.

Three men, Tucker, James (Spooks) Dill and Terranz (Monster) Smith deny killing the burly ex-con on July 28, 2001 after it was discovered cocaine he had facilitated in importing was of low quality.

Mr. Darrell will continue on the stand today with Smith's lawyer Ed Bailey continuing his cross-examination, followed by Dill's lawyer Liz Christopher and Larry Scott, representing Tucker.

In testimony hampered by a lack of specific times of events, Mr. Darrell was firm about what was said during conversations with the American and his Bermudian cohorts.

He brought laughter to the courtroom when he explained his lack of a watch to an incredulous Mr. Bailey, by saying: "I have a clock in my car. I have a clock on my cell phone. I have a clock in my house and I have clocks at work!"

Arrested like the defendants on August 10 "on suspicion of murder of Shawn Russells" after defendant Smith showed Police the body on August 9, Mr. Darrell was held for six days and gave eight statements, totalling more than 50 pages - with some under caution as a suspect and others as a witness.

"Blair called me and told me there was a guy that he wanted me to meet," Mr. Darrell, now a supervisor with Works and Engineering, said.

After meeting Mr. Lee first at a party at Horseshoe Beach, in the weeks following, he said he would finish work and go to the Windsong Guest Apartments.

Describing Mr. Lee as "a tall, brown skinned, gentleman, with a close or bald" haircut who stood about "six 'something' and of a strong build", he said they developed a "good relationship. We were like 'bredren' (street slang for brethren or brothers).

Painting a tale of instant trust between himself and the American, Mr. Darrell said it was he who drove Mr. Lee to the airport some time during July, 2001 to pick up an unknown courier.

Under questioning by Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Kulandra Ratneser, Mr. Darrell said the courier handed the American a package of white powder which he "assumed" was cocaine. He drove them to My Lord's Bay, Hamilton Parish to meet with Tucker.

Mr. Darrell, Mr. Lee, Tucker and Dill gathered at Mr. Darrell's home later to "cook" the cocaine to make its derivative, crack.

Mr. Darrell explained: "You put the drugs in a container with water and add baking powder and cook it. It's supposed to go hard like rock."

"Did that happen?" Mr. Ratneser asked.

"Nope," Mr. Darrell replied. Later he added: "Sha made some calls to some people and he was telling them about the drugs. He was telling them the drugs wouldn't get hard."

The conspirators waited for further hardening but this did not occur. Given "three quarters" - or three quarter ounce lots - of the drug as a gift, "to make some money" by Mr. Lee. Mr. Darrell said while he did not sample the drug, his customers complained.

"I told him that people were complaining that the drugs were of poor quality. Tucker arrived later and he said he was having the same complaints about the drug also," he said.

Mr. Darrell met Tucker shortly after 10 a.m. on July 28 in Pembroke Park as he was headed towards the Windsong Guest Apartments. He said Tucker, leaving the neighbourhood, told him: "Sha was treating him like a child and he was getting vexed. After that he left and carried on his way."

Mr. Lee made new travel and accommodations arrangements at Mr. Darrell's prompting because he would miss his flight. The American was supposed to spend the extra night (July 28) in Bermuda at Mr. Darrell's home.

After splitting up at Tucker's home, Mr. Darrell said he later got a phone call from Tucker who said that Windsong owner Roslyn Anderson had "given my vehicle registration to Police and they were going to be looking for my car", adding: "This was maybe somewhere between 1 p.m. and 2.30 p.m."

He called Mrs. Anderson and explained he took Mr. Lee's luggage to his home so there would not be any additional charges. He also spoke to a Police officer who was already at Windsong investigating the unpaid bill.

Some time later he was on his way to Hamilton when he met Tucker, Dill and Mr. Lee near Marley Beaches, on the South Shore in Warwick, where he reminded Tucker about the room fees. He added: "I told Sha to call me after they finished what they were doing with Spook."

That was the last time he saw Mr. Lee, wearing "a blue T-shirt, blue pants and sneakers".

Mr. Darrell continued: "Later that evening Mr. Tucker called me and he told me that Sha had met up with some American girls and he would call me later. He told me that he had given the money for the room to Sha."

Still holding Mr. Lee's luggage, Mr. Darrell spoke to Tucker the following day, and inquired further about Mr. Lee's whereabouts. He inquired further on Monday, July 30 and on the next day went to Tucker's home.

While waiting for Tucker, Mr. Darrell met Smith who he claims asked him if he had any of Mr. Lee's luggage.

"Monster asked me 'did I have any of Sha's luggage'. He said I should get rid of it. I told him that I'm not just going to go throwing away someone's property when I haven't heard from them."

After leaving Tucker's Astwood Close home, he would later speak to him by phone on July 31.

Mr. Darrell said: "He told me that he had talked to Police and they didn't have him and he had talked to the airlines and they said he hadn't left by air. He also said he could have left by boat and he could have drowned by swimming or something."

Mr. Bailey, apparently trying to discredit Mr. Darrell on the minutia of his activities that day, repeatedly pressed him on what time he arrived in Hamilton to pick his girlfriend up from work and what time he left.

The witness was also grilled on how long it took him to travel between his Southampton home and Hamilton and back.

Mr. Darrell's three-hour stint on the stand showed when he appeared irritated by a question from Mr. Bailey on what time he left a home on Parson's Road in a futile search for his girlfriend.

He said: "I live alone. I can't recall when I went home or what I did before that. I can't recall what I did four years ago."

Later, he said: "I was in custody for six days and I made a lot of statements. I made a statement every day and on some days I made two. They were pretty much the same. They may vary with times and dates a little."