More than five years after Customs officer Nigel Christian was shot dead on a dirt road in Thibou's, the murder trial of the three men accused of killing him is entering its final stage. According to Antigua.news, when proceedings resumed Tuesday before Justice Rajiv Persaud, two witnesses took the stand, leaving only one remaining witness for the Crown.

Saleim Harrigan, Wayne Thomas and Lasean Bully are accused of abducting Christian from his McKinnons home at gunpoint on the afternoon of July 10, 2020, and shooting him dead shortly afterward.

Much of Tuesday's proceedings centred on a bag. The court has heard that several people who knew Christian well say they never saw it in his possession — yet it sits at the heart of the Crown's case. Officers, directed by the prosecution's key witness, recovered the bag at Perry Bay in the days following the murder. That witness, a driver who says he transported the three accused on the day of the killing, told the court the accused had asked him to bring gasoline to burn the bags at Perry Bay, but that he did not do so.

The woman who had been in a romantic relationship with Christian for approximately three years returned to the stand on Tuesday to complete testimony cut short at an earlier sitting. It was through her evidence that the bag was formally tendered into court.

During her earlier appearance, she told the court the bag belonged to Christian, that he used it to carry his laptop, and that she recognised it by its contents — among them tea bags and Swiss chocolate — as well as its floral interior lining. She signed the evidence bag in which it was stored. On Tuesday, the defence moved to dismantle that identification piece by piece.

Under cross-examination by Wendel Alexander, counsel for Harrigan, she agreed the bag was not unique to Christian and said she was unsure where it could even be purchased. She told the court Christian had never spoken to her about fears for his safety and that she had no knowledge of any plan to harm him.

Sherfield Bowen, counsel for Thomas, pressed the witness further. She acknowledged she could not recall whether the bag was open or closed when police showed it to her, or whether its contents were inside or sitting separately at the time. She was shown her signed statement and the signed evidence bag, and acknowledged the two signatures appeared different. She also agreed that if four identical bags were placed before her, she would be unable to identify which had belonged to Christian. Bowen told her that Christian's mother, his brother and a coworker who saw him daily had all said they had never seen the bag before. She said she was not aware of that. She maintained throughout, however, that she had a basis for her identification.

The second witness on Tuesday was the lead investigator, an Assistant Superintendent of Police who has been giving evidence since March 20, 2026. He had previously told the court that he responded to Thibou's on the day of the murder and later met separately with Harrigan and Bully in custody, informing each of the allegations they faced. His evidence had been paused at one point to address legal matters before resuming.

His cross-examination continues Wednesday morning. The prosecution is then expected to call its final witness before closing its case, after which the defence will present its own.