An allegation of evidence tampering has emerged on day two of the murder trial of Delano Forbes, with defence attorney Sherfield Bowen suggesting that a dead man’s phone was planted at the accused’s hideout to manufacture a case against him.

The controversy erupted when prosecutors revealed that one of two cellular phones found where Forbes was hiding belonged to murder victim Maurison Thomas, a post office worker found dead on March 7, 2018.

Bowen challenged officers on how they knew to arrest Forbes for murder in the first place, suggesting the only reason they had was the deceased’s phone being present at the pump house. He argued they could not have known the phone was there unless they knew how it got there, accusing authorities of planting evidence to create excitement.

Police witnesses firmly rejected the allegations. One officer testified that Forbes was arrested for murder based on information received and stated he has no knowledge of any planting of evidence.

The exchange highlighted a key question in the trial: how did Thomas’s phone end up in Forbes’s possession at a remote pump house in Folly’s area where he was found hiding in March, just days after the murder?

In parts of a police interview read to the court, Forbes denied any involvement in the killing and said he did not know the deceased. He refused to consent to providing samples, insisting he didn’t do anything. However, Forbes did tell police how he came to be in the pump house and how he obtained some of the items found there.

Bowen questioned whether any investigation was conducted into the person who was bringing food to Forbes while he was wanted but different answers were given by different police witnesses.

Forbes, 31, is accused of four separate murders spanning 2017 and 2018. He is charged with killing Wilfred “Bongo” Williams in Swetes, Shawn Henry in Point, and Lisue Williams on All Saints Road in 2017. A fourth charge was added in early 2018 for Thomas’s murder in All Saints. The defence successfully argued for separate trials, and this first trial focuses solely on Thomas’s death.

The court heard on Tuesday that Thomas’s daughter, two friends, and a neighbour discovered him lying face down in blood at his home. The first officer at the scene observed a pile of clothes covering his upper body and a long couch placed over him.

On Wednesday, pathologist Dr. Lester Simon testified that Thomas died from brutal head trauma. The doctor told the court that Thomas had multiple skull fractures and lacerations to the brain, brain haemorrhaging and contusions. Dr. Simon concluded the brain injuries were the cause of death, describing the force used as tremendous.