Jason Percival...described as
a manipulative liar.

Former soldier, Jason Percival, has been described as a career criminal, yet he turned out to be the US Government’s star witness against seven Trinidadians charged with taking US citizen, Balram “Balo” Maharaj, hostage. Balo was kidnapped on April 6, 2005 in Aranguez, but his mutilated remains were not found in a forested area in Santa Cruz until January 8, 2006. Washington-based attorney, Jonathan Zucker, said Percival had been involved in drug dealing, robberies, shootings, and kidnappings for ransom. He added: “Any dishonest way to make a buck, Jason Percival is with it, and he’s going to be the Government’s star witness in this case. The evidence will show you that Mr Percival is a very accomplished liar. He will say, from the stand and elsewhere, whatever it takes, truth be damned. The evidence is going to show you that he was the leader of whatever was going on in the kidnapping of Balo.

“And Jason Percival’s smart... Jason Percival was smart enough to insulate himself. Jason Percival hired or got other people to do his dirty work, and you’re going to hear from three of them here. He never snatched the body. He never negotiated the ransom. He never guarded it. You’re going to hear from three of the people who are going to be government cooperators along with him. “The reason he did that? Because he knew that by doing that, by insulating himself, letting other people do his dirty work, he was minimising the probability that he would get caught. The evidence will show you he’s a masterful manipulator. I expect we’ve all known people like Mr Percival in our lives and it will become apparent to you, maybe not right away but after a while. When you think about it and after he testifies, people are such good liars they can avoid getting caught. People who can get other people to believe anything they say.”

Zucker, who represents Ricardo De Four, continued: “Like many pathological liars, I’ve never met Mr Percival personally, but I expect you're going to find he is charming, ingratiating, good looking, and he will seem so sincere. But the evidence will show you that Jason Percival has no conscience about what he does and any harm he causes to other people. “That’s how he was involved in this kidnapping that led to Balo’s death, and that’s why he’s going to be able to come in here and point at an innocent person and not feel a twinge of conscience. “The evidence is going to show you that Percival was so masterfully manipulative that after Balo’s body was found...and it was all over the Trinidadian press... it was a gruesome crime...after that was found and discovered, after people started getting arrested for this, Jason Percival did not run, did not hide.

“Jason Percival walked into a police station. He got in front of this. He walked into a police station and he did what he did best. He manipulated, he lied. “He told them, you know what, I’m involved but I’m only tangentially involved, but I was involved in that kidnapping that led to Balo’s murder. And he said I was also involved in all these other kidnappings as well.” Zucker told the Washington jury that Percival was not completely forthcoming. “This was a crime where the police were actively arresting people and prosecuting them and investigating Percival. “Jason Percival walked in. He talked to the police. And he walked right back out of the police station. He was never arrested, he was never charged, because he cut a deal with the police and with the prosecutors.

“He was so good at manipulating the situation that even though he was admitting some of his involvement, he minimised...but he admitted it. “They wanted him as a witness to testify against other people, and they let him go, and they used him as a witness and never arrested him, never charged him.” Zucker asked: “How did he do it? Well, Jason Percival knows, and you’ll see it here. He knows what every good liar knows. You have to mix a little bit of truth in with the lies because the truth that can be corroborated will make those lies believable. He needed, if he was going to pull this off, and he has, essentially (or at least he did in Trinidad for sure)...He needed to blame other people for his conduct. “And that’s what the evidence is going to show you he did. One of the people he selected, my client, Ricardo de Four. “That’s how De Four ended up in here.”