THE former girlfriend of the man accused of the robbery and murder of Nelson Mandela Bay traffic officer Neal Domingo has told the Port Elizabeth High Court he was with her at the time of the incident.
Charmaine Sampson, who has since married another man, testified that she and Gavin Minnie were housebound for the two weeks following the murder of her daughter, Bianca, who was killed in a gang-related shooting two weeks before Domingo was murdered.
In August 2009, Domingo was gunned down in his official vehicle, in what the state alleges was an armed robbery for his firearm.
Minnie, 31, from Ibex Street, Helenvale, told the court he was housebound the week that the incident took place as his family had been bereaved.
Sampson yesterday echoed his evidence. She said they were bereaved and rarely left the house apart from occasional visits to their priest and Minnie walking to a nearby shop every now and then to buy cigarettes.
At the time of the incident she lived with Minnie.
She said that on the evening of Domingo’s death they were watching television and later watched a DVD.
Wrapping up her cross-examination yesterday, state advocate Jason Thysse told Sampson her testimony was so similar to that of Minnie that he found it decidedly strange. He also said her alibi evidence came very late in the case.
The trial continues.
