Murder accused Blair Tucker told Police alleged victim Stanley Lee had stolen cocaine from his supplier in the US and it was his understanding the ex-con had been killed in response.

And co-defendant Terranz Sidney (Monster) Smith described to Police how he crouched on his hands and knees and searched Lagoon Park to find the American's decaying body two days after July 28, 2001.

Smith also told Lee that Bermudians are "used to the best and nothing but the best" and would not accept substandard crack cocaine but he still joined him in dealing here.

A new twist in the complex case was revealed when jurors learned that Mr. Lee, Smith and Tucker had all served time at the US Bureau of Prisons facility at Fort Dix, New Jersey. It is not known if the men were there at the same time.

Tucker detailed deep ties - forged while at Fort Dix on a firearms charge in 1994 - to a Neiko Satina and his father who in early July, 2001 promised as much as 500 kilograms of cocaine to be delivered by boat to him worth more than $12 million on the streets here.

He also told Police Neiko Satina told him that a woman named "Celia" or "Angel" flew into the Island in late July and suggested that Mr. Lee was dead.

Tucker is on trial with Smith and James Alan (Spook) Dill for the stabbing murder of Mr. Lee on July 28, 2001 in Lagoon Park, Ireland Island South.

The Crown alleges that Tucker killed Mr. Lee after relations soured when it was discovered drugs they had imported were of low quality and the burly American wanted both the drug and any money made from it returned to the US.

Det. Sgt. Jerry Laws read Smith's and Tucker's statements before the ten woman, two man jury.

In his statement, Tucker told of caring for Neiko Satina when he was beaten up in Fort Dix in 1994 and of a visit to Bermuda by the father, "Mr. Satina", in which he said he was "grateful" to him and wanted to repay him

"He said that they had been looking at Bermuda but never had anyone to do business with. He asked me if I wanted to do business with him on a continuous level and if I had any people here suitable to do business with. People who never had been in trouble," Tucker explained.

Tucker told Police that after his first "consignment" he was hooked, saying: "In one month I had about $75,000. I was like, well, yeah!"

He was told the "well was endless" for them to get "cane" or cocaine, for which a kilogram would cost just $2,500 to $3,000 in Colombia. Once sold in Bermuda Tucker could gain $35,000 he told Police.

In May, 2001 he said he was visited in Bermuda by a "Jim Ward" who represented a "Doug Brooks" - known to Tucker as "Fats" - in Baltimore, who was part of the Satina network.

Fats wanted to "do business" in Bermuda - meaning supply drugs and needed contacts and on July 6 he was contacted by a "representative of Baltimore" who would turn out to be Mr. Lee.

Their first contacts deteriorated with Mr. Lee haggling with him about money, and Tucker telling him: "Brother, I don't deal drugs. I move them - people have to get paid."

Tucker explained in his statement: "I called Satina. I said 'who is this guy Sean Russells'. He said he doesn't know him but let me check it out. He didn't get back to me until the 18th."

He got a phone call from the senior Satina, telling him that "Fats" and "Russells" had stolen cocaine and that he was to distance himself from Mr. Lee.

"Neiko called me like on August 1 and said 'he's ghost'," which Tucker later explained to Police he understood to mean Mr. Lee was dead.

He told Police at the time that Neiko Satina was in "Margarita, Venezuela" and "I don't contact Neiko - he contacts me. You really can't call down there" due to the unreliable phone system.

Tucker also told Police: "Yes, I have five people here to move things. Right now, I'm not prepared to reveal who they are. That doesn't have anything to do with this."

On Thursday, August 9, he heard about a body being found, he said, and then "I talked to one of my people at Narcotics and they told me not to say anything".

Concerning cocaine Mr. Lee had in Bermuda, Tucker said he told him "nobody would buy something like that" in the Island, telling Police it was because he "knows cocaine" and that it took too long to "come back" or turn into crack.

Tucker admitted telling Mr. Lee that someone else, "Skinny/Marvin" had the drugs and money, but in reality he had it stashed in Astwood Park.

He said he saw Mr. Lee on July 28 and was told the man had met two American women and never saw him again.

When asked if he looked for Mr. Lee, Tucker said he called "Fats" in Baltimore and never got an answer but did not look for him in Bermuda.

"Why would I?" he asked Det. Sgt. Laws.

Smith said he "just happened to breeze into" Mr. Lee on Horseshoe Bay three weeks before his arrest, where he struck up a conversation - that quickly turned to cocaine importation.

"One thing led to another", he said, and a significant talking point was a "huge" and "gruesome" scar on the man's chest which Smith was told was from a car accident, and the coincidence the two men had served time in "Dixie" or Fort Dix Federal Prison.

Mr. Lee complained that he had given half of a kilo of cocaine to "someone" who was "going around saying that it wasn't any good".

Tempted by an offer, Smith told Police that he told Mr. Lee: "Bermudians are used to the best and nothing but the best. So the same drugs would not work here."

Mr. Lee boasted of his capability in drug trafficking and was eager to get involved in Bermuda by "establishing his own chain of resources" here, Smith said, and as a "person always looking for a better deal" he first had his father test the drug, then tried to sell a small amount.

"It was the same story everyday," Smith told Police. "I told him it was the same problem. I told him that he is bulls****ing but he was adamant that it was good in the States. He was upbeat that everything was alright and that he appreciated my help and he wouldn't leave my generosity in vain."

On July 27, after being promised better quality drugs would arrive via courier on the following day, Smith moved in to Windsong Guest Apartments, where Mr. Lee was staying, in anticipation of delivery.

The next day he was contacted by Mr. Lee he said, who promised that "everything was in motion" and he would be meeting with his contacts near Lefroy House, but he did not hear from the American in the following days and fretted about his whereabouts.

Smith told Police on Tuesday, July 30 he searched near Lefroy House and eventually found a pathway into Lagoon Park.

He said he was looking for an "area accessible for a bike" and followed footprints and trampled bushes. He would find a sneaker, which he recognised as being like Mr. Lee's and a blood stained shirt.

"A little bit later, I noticed a foul scent," he said, and pressed on until he saw Mr. Lee "lying on his back" with "multiple puncture wounds in the upper torso". He stayed there for a short time, "staring in disbelief" before leaving.

"He definitely was not breathing. I thought he might jump up at me," he said, adding that he thought it was a dream. "He was definitely dead by observing him."

Smith returned to the scene two days later, August 1, when most of the Island's attention was turned to St. George's for the first day of Cup Match. Mr. Lee's cycle was gone, he said, and noted the American's stomach was bloated and he had deteriorated further.

Smith told Police Mr. Lee was an "alright guy" who spoke lovingly of his children and wife and was "discreet in his business dealings".

He explained that often when he went to see Mr. Lee at Windsong, he was not allowed in when he had other guests and would be told to "check back" which was "alright, as long as I could get my piece of the pie".