Critical evidence has vanished and key investigative procedures were never followed in the murder case against Delano Forbes – revelations that could derail the prosecution’s case entirely.

A wallet containing the victim’s social security card has gone missing from police custody. The suspected murder weapon was never tested for fingerprints and officers cannot confirm whether DNA testing was conducted on any evidence.

The admissions were made throughout the trial that began in early November and as the final prosecution witnesses testified Friday morning, those issues were highlighted again.

So it was no surprise that defence attorney Sherfield Bowen immediately announced he will file a no-case submission upon which Justice Ann Marie-Smith is expected to make a ruling on December 11.

The testimony from two police officers ended the case for the prosecution. The officers merely exposed troubling gaps in the investigation of the March 7, 2018 killing of post office worker Maurison Thomas at his All Saints home.

One officer who presented evidence extracted data from two cellphones by a now deceased officer, acknowledged he was never involved in the extraction process, admitting he only joined the case in 2025 – seven years after the crime.

But it was the second officer’s testimony that proved most damaging to the prosecution. Questioned about Forbes’s escape from custody, the now Superintendent of Police revealed he was unaware whether fingerprints were ever taken from the crime scene. He also didn’t know a wallet had gone missing from evidence.

The officer recalled last seeing the wallet in March with money and a social security card inside. Under cross-examination, he confirmed that only police have access to crime scene evidence. When asked if it would surprise him to learn the social security card was found at the scene, he said yes and agreed only a police officer could have moved it.

This creates a critical problem for the prosecution. Multiple witnesses testified during the trial that they were shown a wallet containing money and ID cards in Forbes’s possession. However, a crime scene photographer identified an ID card lying next to Thomas’s body in blood.

The missing evidence compounds earlier revelations about investigative failures that have plagued the trial. A forensic evidence officer previously admitted he never tested the suspected murder weapon – a bloodstained metal pipe – for fingerprints. He also failed to test chairs, a barrel, a refrigerator, and cushions that covered the body.

That officer also said he never created a crime scene diagram and couldn’t confirm if DNA testing was done on any items. While he claimed some surfaces were too porous for fingerprint testing, he admitted a refrigerator would have been ideal but was never examined.

Bowen accused that officer of “abandoning his duty.”

The prosecution’s case rested heavily on physical evidence linking Forbes to the crime. Thomas’s daughter gave emotional testimony about seeing someone in an army-coloured hoodie fleeing her father’s home on the day of the murder. She described the person as dark-skinned, approximately five-foot-five or five-foot-six, with small plaits.

Police recovered that hoodie when they captured Forbes weeks later hiding in a pump house in the Folley’s area. Also found were a Tommy Hilfiger wallet the daughter had given her father for Father’s Day containing $285, a belt, a black bag, two cellphones, red boots, and other items all identified as belonging to Thomas.

Prosecutors showed video footage allegedly depicting someone resembling Forbes in an army-coloured hoodie searching through a black bag said to belong to the victim.

One of Thomas’s cellphones was found in Forbes’s possession. During police questioning, Forbes denied any involvement, said he didn’t know the victim, and refused to provide DNA samples.

A pathologist testified that Thomas died from brain injuries and skull fractures caused by tremendous force from a blunt object.

Forbes, 31, faces three additional murder charges in separate cases spanning 2017 and 2018. He is also charged with killing Wilfred “Bongo” Williams in Swetes, Shawn Henry in Point, and Lisue Williams on All Saints Road.