The 38-year-old, who is accused of murder, told the Supreme Court he was driven to killing his lover with a wooden plank meshed with iron after Robins threatened to leave Grand Bahama for Nassau.
Farrington said the relationship had grown strained when he could no longer support Robins, 22. He said his lover had turned to petty crime before his death in July 2002.
“He started doing things in the apartment that would have aggravated the whole atmosphere,” the said in unsworn testimony. “Jamaal knew I loved him ﾖ he knew where my heart was ﾖ he knew where my weak spots were.
“Jamaal threatened to leave and go to Nassau. He was taking advantage of the situation,” Farrington added in his statement.
The accused said he and Robins had a “bad argument” on the Thursday morning of the murder. Robins had just been released from jail and Mr. Farrington said he was certain he would leave for Nassau.
Staring jurors in the eye as he stood in the prisoner’s dock, his grey T-shirt tucked in his Faded Glory jeans, Farrington said: “Jamaal was lying [in] the bed. I took the plank from beside the bed and I hit him with it. I hit him across the head. I hit him as hard as I could and I hit him again and again and again and again and again …” he said, pausing as he stared at the jury.
The accused told the court that after Robins’ death he could only think about covering up what he had done. He told the jury he wrapped the bloodstained body in sheets and towels and placed it in a closet.
After getting a roommate to help him dump Robins’ body in bushes, Farrington told the court that he returned home. He said he went back to the bushes several times to stop birds from scavenging the body. Holding his arm, the accused Farrington went on to tell the court that could feel his lover’s spirit.
It was the urge for that closeness, he explained, that eventually drove him to collect the remains of Robins’ body and take them back to his apartment. “I put the them in a plastic bag and took them home,” he said, adding that even now: “I always feel Jamaal is still with me.”
Farrington said he told police “the truth about everything” when he eventually confessed because “this wasn’t a situation where I wanted hide.”
The accused claimed he grew as a child with an alcoholic mother and was forced to support his sisters from the age of eight. “I grew up in a home where there was a lot of bad treatment, cursing, yelling, shouting [and] sexual abuse,” he told the Supreme Court.
“I grew up knowing that something had to be wrong. This can’t be a normal thing.” Taking time out in his statement to apologize to Robins’ family, Farrington said he didn’t expect forgiveness. But he said he was satisfied that he had received the “opportunity” to tell his side of the story.
“If I could have changed that morning Jamaal would still be alive today. But I couldn’t stop myself,” Farrington told the court.
His unsworn statement came after the Supreme Court had reconvened before Justice Anita Allen, following a lunch break. The prosecution had rested its case. The highlight of the trial during the morning session was when the Court viewed a videotape of Farrington’s original confession in October 27, 2003. He was calm as he gave his statement to investigators.
He first confessed to the murder on October 26, 2003. Robins had been missing for more than a year before Farrington led police officers to bushes off the Grand Bahama Highway to collect portions of the remains that had been left behind.
The case continues today when the defence will call a final witness, psychiatrist/ psychologist Dr Michael Neville.
By: RAYMOND KONGWA, The Nassau Guardian
