ALFRED — Finding the motive for the murder of Old Orchard Beach resident Winston George is not difficult, said Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea, Monday at York County Superior Court, during the first day of the murder trial of Winston’s wife, Darlene George, 45, and her brother, Jeffrey Williams.

The two are charged with murder and conspiracy to murder in relation to the death of Winston George.

Rennie Cassimy, a former tenant of the Georges, pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to commit murder, as part of a plea deal. An earlier charge of murder was dropped.

Winston George was found dead in his Smithwheel Road home in June 2008. He shared the home with Darlene and her son, Giovonni Whiteman.

Zainea said the court is not required to provide a motive for murder, however, “In this case, I think we have it in spades.”

“Why did Winston George have to die?” asked Zainea. It comes right down to the fact that the marriage was unraveling, she said.

Both Williams and Cassimy have strong connections with Darlene George, said Zainea.

“She is the glue that binds the two together,” said Zainea.

Williams is her brother, and Cassimy was her lover, Zainea alleged. She and Cassimy talked on the phone frequently, and he was often the first person to whom she spoke in the morning and the last person to whom she spoke at night, she said.

The Georges moved to Maine from New York shortly after they were married, but their marriage was crumbling, said Zainea.

Darlene went to New York to visit Cassimy, and Cassimy went to Old Orchard Beach, where he would meet Darlene at hotels, she said. Two months before Winston’s death, the two had gone on a trip to Trinidad, where Cassimy is from.

Winston was having a relationship with a co-worker, with whom he often spent time after work, and she had even been to their home, said Zainea.

“Quite simply, they hoped for a future together,” she said.

Paul Aranson, who along with Lawrence Goodglass, is representing Darlene George, disputed any relationship between Cassimy and George, stating that Cassimy is HIV positive.

Zainea said Winston George was cut several times, hog-tied, neck strangled and his head placed in a plastic bag, “suffocating him, cutting his breath.”

Zainea said Giovanni lay in the house, unable to help, “while his stepfather said his last prayers.”

Old Orchard Beach dispatch received a call the morning of June 20, 2008 from Darlene, stating there were intruders in the house.

Old Orchard Beach Police Sergeant Elise Chard testified that when she arrived at the house, couch cushions and pillows were on the floor and the place looked like it had been ransacked. As she walked to the hallway in the house, she found blood on the floor and saw Darlene and Whiteman peeking out from one of the bedrooms.

Photos given as evidence showed blood leading down a staircase to the basement. Chard said that police observed a man with a bag over his head and a bottle stuffed in his mouth. It was determined that he was deceased.

According to a recorded interview with State Police, Darlene George said there were three intruders in the house wearing stockings over their heads. She said she did not know what race they were, but she could tell their Jamaican accents were fake, as her husband is from Trinidad. She said the intruders grabbed her and her son and tied them up, asking for drugs, which she did not have. They also asked for money and she offered them $500 she had in a lock box. She said they took jewelry and a mink coat.

According to testimony from Old Orchard Beach Police Detective David Hemingway, Darlene George said she thought she heard the men confront her husband as he came home from work and ask him for money, and she later heard her husband say a prayer downstairs.

According to Hemingway, Darlene George told Giovanni to stay still after he was able to break his bindings loose and told police she was able to break her bindings loose and snuck into a bathroom with her son’s cellphone and called police.

Witnesses saw Rennie Cassimy and Darlene’s brother, Jeffrey Williams, both of New York, in the area the day of and the day before Winston’s death, according to Zainea.

Cassimy and Williams took a cab from Old Orchard Beach to the Concord Trailways bus terminal, where they took a bus back to New York. Video surveillance showed the two at the Concord Trailways terminal on both days, with Williams carrying a backpack on June 20 that Darlene George had purchased at an Army surplus store, said Zainea. George had also purchased masks the two men had used, according to Zainea.

The trial is ongoing.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.