Man in prison for attempted murder of ex-wife loses petition for house

(CMR) A man currently serving 14 years at Her Majesty's Cayman Islands Prison Service for the attempted murder of his ex-wife has lost a petition to have their estate divided after the Grand Court ruled in favor of his ex-wife.

George Vaughan, a Jamaican, who is scheduled to be released from prison next year, chopped his ex-wife, a Caymanian, several times and attempted to poison her in a 2014 attack that left her with life-changing injuries. Her injuries resulted in her inability to use her left hand normally and damage to her legs, preventing her from walking properly.

In 2019, Vaughan filed a petition to have the court decide how the only asset from the marriage, a home in Bodden Town, is shared.

In a judgment released on 29 June, Justice Walters stated that the woman was lucky to survive and that he had no hesitation in accepting evidence that her injuries were so debilitating that she could not continue her former employment.

The judge also noted that the respondent does not have the ability to earn an income and has to depend solely on her pension, while the petitioner is able-bodied.

Justice Walters said given the circumstances, he believed it was fair that the woman gets the former matrimonial home in its entirety.

According to court documents, the woman said her legs were chopped off and that even after reattachment and five surgeries, she would never be able to walk properly again.

“I have a permanent limp and one foot is noticeably shorter than the other. I will never be able to jog, swim, ride a bicycle, walk quickly, dance, or things I so love doing. My doctors have advised me that the incompatibility in the coordination of my gait likely result in me having hip issues as I get older. The toes on my right leg have been adversely affected as they have now turned inwards,” she said.

“I will wear an ankle-foot orthotic (ATO) brace to help control the instabilities in my lower limbs for the rest of my natural life. I will never again wear high-heeled shoes. I no longer have sensation on the soles of my feet as my nerve endings there have been permanently destroyed. In the attack, I lost a piece of my ear and l am in constant pain from the scars which run from my ear across my neck down my back along my spine and deep in my shoulder muscle; most of that shoulder muscle is now non-existent as a result of the attack,” the woman stated.

The couple was married in 2006 and separated in 2013. The woman was attacked during a visit to the marital home in 2014.