Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Kulandra Ratneser wrapped up his case against three Lagoon Park murder accused calling them ‘The Facilitator', ‘The Chess Champion' and ‘The Criminal Mind'.

With Crown counsel Cindy Clarke using a slick Microsoft PowerPoint presentation projected onto a large screen in Supreme Court One, Mr. Ratneser painted a dark picture of collusion by Robert Blair Tucker, James (Spook) Dill and Terranz (Monster) Smith before, during and after the murder of American Stanley Lee in the late afternoon of July 28, 2001.

Using little details about the accused from the case, Mr. Ratneser called Tucker ‘The Facilitator', Dill ‘the Chess Champion' and Smith ‘the Criminal Mind' with the words in foot high letters on the screen.

Speaking about his star witness Nathan Darrell, Mr. Ratneser said Mr. Darrell “spoke the truth that's why he is a free man. He didn't have to hide anything”.

“What did Nathan Darrell say? He was the only man who spoke the truth in this case. Nathan Darrell was arrested too. He was put in a Police cell too. He made something like six statements and he did not lie,” Mr. Ratneser concluded.

“Tucker was a facilitator, skilled in the importation of controlled substances. But Mr. Tucker's fabrications have no support at all in this case.”

Mr. Ratneser defended the Bermuda Police Service which has come under scrutiny with Tucker's assertions in his statements and on the stand that he had police officers in his pocket.

“If in fact it is true that there are bent policemen on the force. But there are some exemplary officers on this case,” he concluded.

Rounding on Dill, Mr. Ratneser said “give me a break!” at any suggestion that he was a harmless addict only looking for a score, adding: “He knew exactly what was going on. He was playing chess with us.”

Calling a butcher's block of knives taken from Tucker's home “corroboration” of the evidence, Mr. Ratneser reminded jurors that Dill said he took a knife from the block that day and that a broken knife blade was found in the park by Police.

“Funnily enough, it fits in perfectly,” Mr. Ratneser said as he pushed the knife into an empty slot. The DPP giggled a moment later when he found he could not pull the blade back out.

“What the Crown is saying is not only are the statements true but there is other evidence that supports the position of the Crown,” he continued.

“It's Mr. Dill who says that is the block from which he took the knife. What do we have? Corroboration of the truth of what Mr. Dill said. And there is also corroboration of what Mr. Tucker said.”

“In fairness to Mr. Dill, he got caught up in this murder but that doesn't absolve him. I say caught up because he knew Tucker wanted the knife to kill.”

Switching to Smith, Mr. Ratneser said it was he who admitted to having a “criminal mind”, reminding jurors that it was his money which was used to buy cocaine from Mr. Lee.

“The people who have a motive in this case are the people who would have benefited from the sale of drugs,” he continued. “It is Mr. Smith who, by his own admission, shows Mr. Lee how to get to Lefroy House. And he goes up there and he moves the sneaker and the shirt. Why? If he is innocent, why would he move them.

“And what does he then do? He moves the bike. And then he has the discussion with Tucker about burning the body. Why would Mr. Tucker and Mr. Smith have this discussion? Mr. Tucker had Mr. Dill (to work for him). They had something in common. And remember, this is the man who said, ‘the truth is not true'.

“You'll see that this case is not just a flippant prosecution, you'll see that Terranz Smith is intimately involved. His conduct is consistent with procuring the man to the place where he would meet his death.”

Liz Christopher, representing Dill told the jury “he was not a player” in the drug deal, adding: “Blair Tucker had a reason (for Mr. Lee to be killed). James Dill was not delusional about what happened. If someone says ‘God, I'm going to kill him”, do you really think that they're going to do it?

“James Dill didn't witness any of these heated exchanges. He had no context of what was going to happen. In fact, he says he hears these kind of threats all the time in the drug underworld,” Ms Christopher said.

“I suggest to you the reason there was no conversation about moving to Lagoon Park is because there was no plan to lure Mr. Russells up there.

“Why would James Dill persist in going to Lagoon Park if there were no drugs in it for him and after he was seen at the gas station.

“Why are the Crown so schizophrenic about how the portray my client? They say he's a clever chess player. But this is a man who came to court and laid his cards on the table. A man who accepts responsibility.”

The trial resumes on Monday with Puisne Justice Norma Wade Miller giving her summation.