‘Kill the police if they enter’

A police constable on Thursday testified in the murder trial of Andre Ruddock that when he and a team of three other cops arrived at Pathways International Restoration Ministries in Albion, St James, on October 17, 2021, he heard a loud voice giving instructions to kill them if they tried to enter the church premises. Ruddock is on trial for murder in relation to the death of 39-year-old Taneka Gardner at the church during an alleged human sacrifice ritual, ordered by the now-deceased pastor of the church, Kevin Smith. Ruddock is accused of cutting Gardner’s throat, although Anthony Williams, the attorney for the defendant, has suggested that it was the pastor who killed the woman.

The constable, who started giving evidence on Thursday, became the third to take the stand in the trial which started last week in the Home Circuit Court, downtown, Kingston. He told the court that he was on duty when information reached the team about a stabbing incident at the Yaweh Church in Albion, St James. “On our way to Yahweh we saw a gathering at the Pathways International Church.

I stopped the service vehicle and Constable Williams was talking to a lady dressed in brown. He spoke to her in relation to the gathering. After he spoke with the lady we decided to go to the Yahweh Church to deal with the report but we didn’t see anyone to speak to or to take a report from,” the witness explained during the examination-in-chief by prosecutor LaToya Bernard.

He said the team decided to proceed to Pathways church where people, except for one woman, were dressed in white garments and standing outside the gates. “A male voice was giving instructions to people on the property. The instructions were in relation to the police.

The voice said, ‘Kill the police if they try to enter the property’. We contacted our supervisor and I informed her of what was happening. She gave us some instructions and we waited for support to come to us.

That was the instruction,” the policeman told the court. He said that while waiting, a special operations team came to assist him and the three other cops who were the first responders to the scene. he said he spoke to the two constables and, “with the use of their tactical flashlights they went closer to the fence and were making some observations of the property”.