Long delayed murder trial to start Tuesday in St Kitts

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

BASSETERRE, St Kitts: The widow of British millionaire Tony Fetherston is finally set to face the man accused of gunning him down in cold blood. Margaret Fetherston is due to attend court in St Kitts on Tuesday for the dramatic trial of Joseph Hazel.

He is charged with shooting dead her husband, an ex-RAF pilot and company executive, at point-blank range.

Officials on St Kitts told Mrs Fetherston only on Friday night that she had to be in court this week for the start of the case that has gripped the island.

But she was not given a flight by the St Kitts government and faced a desperate race against time to find a seat on a transatlantic flight to Antigua before taking the short flight to St Kitts.

Mrs Fetherston said she was furious that her 8,000-mile round trip had not been properly organised.

She flew out from Gatwick Airport at the last minute on Sunday with her daughter Alex by her side to support and comfort her.

The public prosecutions team on St Kitts has been working round the clock for months to start the trial on March 23.

Earlier this month lawyers finalised arrangements for forensic scientists to fly from London to give evidence.

Mrs Fetherston was put on stand-by but did not receive confirmation until Friday night. 

The hard-up St Kitts government has been trying to slash the cost of the high-profile trial and it is understood forensic scientists have agreed to cut their fees by thousands of dollars to enable the trial to start.

They analysed the DNA evidence in England after it was bizarrely flown back from the Caribbean by a policewoman on a netball tour.

The trial has already been postponed five times due to arguments over the costs and the logistical problems in flying out many witnesses from Britain.

Hazel, a decorator in his late 20s, has been in the island's jail since June 2001.

Mr Fetherston was killed on January 26, 2000, when he was staying at the couple's holiday home in the island's capital Basseterre.

The 65-year-old was shot while his wife was on the phone inside the luxury home talking to their daughter in New York.

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