The first cop to get wind of the presence of a body in the western parishes took the stand yesterday as the prosecution?s case in the Lagoon Park murder trial wound down.

Det. Sgt. James Hoyte, the officer questioning suspect Terranz (Monster) Smith on an un-related break-in on August 8, 2001 told the ten woman, two man jury he made no threats or promises to Smith and said officers rejected any suggestion of a deal in return for the location of the body.

Det. Sgt. Hoyte continues on the stand today with perfunctory evidence about the initial contact with Smith. The Western CID officer said Smith had been arrested on Sound View Road, Sandys at 1 p.m. that day and by 2 p.m. offered to show him the body.

Smith, Robert Blair Tucker and James Alan (Spook) Dill deny killing American ex-con Stanley Lee on July 28, 2001 over allegedly low quality cocaine he had imported.

Mr. Lee?s ?skeletonised? body was shown to Police on August 9 after an abortive attempt before sundown on August 8. He had arrived in Bermuda on July 6 and was known to Bermudians as ?Sean Russells? or ?Sha?.

?I reminded the defendant that he was being held on suspicion of housebreaking and cautioned him,? Det. Sgt. Hoyte said under questioning by Crown counsel Juan Wolffe. ?He said I have information that could make all this look like s**t.

?No, I didn?t know what he meant. In fact I asked him what he meant. He said ?I could lead you to a dead body but I want all this s*** dropped?.?

The sergeant called in the officer in charge, Det. Insp. Beverly Pitt and Smith repeated the offer. ?After a short conversation, she asked him if we (Police) are liable to get a conviction and he said ?you?ll never be able to solve it?.

?He kept talking about the dead body but never revealed any pertinent details where the dead body was, where it was located or how it was discovered. He wanted us to sign a written note that he would not be prosecuted for showing us the dead body.?

Det. Sgt. Hoyte said they explained to Smith they had no authority to offer immunity, and when asked by Mr. Wolffe who did have authority, he said: ?Yourselves, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.?

The detectives ?steered? the conversation back to the unrelated break-in but at the end, ?as soon as we finished, the defendant turned the conversation back (to the dead body).

?He said he feared the outcome of showing us the dead body would be fearful to him,? Det. Sgt. Hoyte explained. He went on to detail plans to get Smith into his own car ? parked at his home further south on Somerset Island. Earlier in the trial Det. Insp. Pitt explained Smith did not want to be seen being driven about the West End in a Police car.

Det. Sgt. Hoyte said he was ?delayed? by intervening traffic on Mangrove Bay Road, and lost track of Smith, who would later tell him he had changed his mind and the attempt was aborted. A second attempt was made the following morning.

Det. Sgt. Hoyte and then P.c. Jason Smith conducted an interview with Smith on August 14 in which he said his first statement in custody was a lie and that all subsequent statements were the truth because he realised Tucker had implicated him.

Smith continued: ?After Sha poked Blair in the chest the Wednesday leading up to Sha?s death he told me that Sha came to Bermuda and was treading on his turf. At no point before the murder did Blair say that he was going to kill him.?

After talking with Tucker about the body ? including the suggestion that a woman named ?Angel? had killed the American ? Smith went to see the body on August 30, apparently drawn by curiosity.

?I needed to see the body to believe that Sha was dead,? Smith told Police. ?Yes, he asked me to move the bike after I brought it up.?

Using a piece of paper and the palm of his hand, Smith moved the Oleander rental cycle because someone might see it and link him to Mr. Lee, adding: ?I wasn?t looking for no murder to come on me like that.?

Smith added: ?As a matter of fact, I ran (out of Lagoon Park). I felt something was on my back.?