Did Kerry Winter case witnesses leave country?

The Dubai Appeals Court has asked the Dubai Public Prosecution to check with the Residency and Foreigners Affairs Department whether the two witnesses in the Kerry Winter case have left the country.

The court sought to know why the authorities could not reach the two affirmative witnesses -- Morris Wibros and Asghar Khan -- who had earlier testified before the court with several crucial facts related to the role of the accused British national Mark Arnold and how he planned the murder of his South African girlfriend Kerry Winter, 36.

He had earlier confessed that he hit Winter on her head with a baseball bat, wrapped her body in a blanket and dumped it with weights in the sea. He said he had broken up with Winter as he was into a relationship with another woman.

The two witnesses had earlier testified on them unknowingly providing assistance to Arnold in executing the crime. While Wibros is the

logistics director of the company where Arnold worked, Khan is a driver with the company.

The prosecution said it could not locate the two witnesses while the defence lawyer insisted on hearing their testimonies.

According to the case sheet of the prosecution -- based on the confessions of the accused and statements of the two witnesses -- Arnold had asked Wibros to buy him a tracking device, a sack made of cloth, a water-proof bag and 10 pieces of weight.

Wibros had testified before the court that he had no idea why he was asked to get these items. He had supported the statement by providing bills as proof of purchase bought a few days before the crime.

A day before the crime, the accused has asked both Wibros and Khan to follow him in their cars, wait for the victim at the parking lot of Lamcy Plaza, and follow her from the place of work. The accused wanted them to keep track of her if he missed her.

“I wonder how the Prosecution is giving the excuse that the addresses are not clear as they had been reached, notified and listened to during the  Prosecution investigations," defence lawyer Yousef Khalifa Hammad told Emirates 24|7.

“The Court of First Instance has given a great value and weight to the testimonies of these two affirmative witnesses for making its verdict. I find loopholes in their testimonies, and I have the right to contest their testimonies in light of that,” he noted.

“The two affirmative witnesses whose testimonies were highly valued in convicting a suspect guilty with premeditated murder should be heard and questioned by the court and the defence lawyer,” he added.

Lawyer Hussain Al Jaziri, the plaintiff's counsel highlighted the right of the victim's family who had asked for death penalty to the accused and sought the case to be referred back to the prosecution to further investigate the hiding of the body and treat it is as a seperate case from the murder case itself.

While the defence lawyer objected, the court rejected the plea made by the plaintiff's counsel.

The case has been adjourned to September 26.

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