By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

In the minutes before he was strangled and suffocated in his basement, Winston George struggled with two masked men and prayed out loud.

His stepson, Giovanni Whiteman, testified Wednesday that he could hear his “Pop” fighting with two men in the hallway of their Old Orchard Beach home before everything went silent.

Giovanni testified in York County Superior Court on the third day of the murder trial of his mother, Darlene George, and uncle, Jeffrey Williams. They are charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the June 20, 2008, death of Winston George in the basement of his home at 56 Smithwheel Road.

Rennie Cassimy previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and is expected to testify today as a witness for the state. Prosecutors said Cassimy is Darlene George’s longtime lover and a tenant in a building she owned in New York.

Prosecutors contend Darlene George conspired with Williams and Cassimy to kill Winston George during a staged home invasion. Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea told jurors earlier this week that the case boils down to infidelity. Both Darlene and Winston George were having affairs, she said.

Giovanni testified his life in Old Orchard Beach with Winston and Darlene George was happy and peaceful. He said he heard his parents arguing a few times at night and never saw any physical fights. He said he knew Cassimy as his mother’s friend who occasionally visited Maine.

Giovanni was 13 and had just graduated from eighth grade when he was attacked by an intruder after returning from a shopping trip with his mother on June 19, 2008, he testified. Earlier in the day, he and his stepfather went out to lunch and Winston George gave him money for new sneakers.

Giovanni said he was tired and headed to bed when he and his mother got home around 11 p.m. He had seen a light on in the basement and the upstairs lights were off, which was unusual, he said. He headed straight to his bedroom.

 “In the rooms down the hallway I thought there were two men peeking out,” he said. “I said to my mom ‘I think there’s people in here’ and then I go to the bathroom and flick on the light.”

As he turned on the light, a man rushed at him, knocked him to the ground and held a knife in front of him, Giovanni said. The man was wearing a nylon stocking on his face and latex gloves, he said. Darlene George, who had followed her son into the house and was carrying grocery bags, immediately ran over to see what was happening, he said.

 “I believe the other man grabbed her and she was telling me not to struggle with the man on top of me,” he said.

Giovanni said he was taken to his parents’ bedroom, where he was laid sideways on the bed, tied up and blindfolded. The blindfold slipped and he could see reflections of people coming and going from the room in the shiny surface of the headboard, he said.

After his mother was brought into the room and tied up on the floor, Giovanni said the men began searching drawers and closets. They repeatedly asked where the drugs and money were in fake Jamaican accents, he said.

Giovanni said he was in the bedroom for hours and fell asleep at one point. He heard his stepfather come home and struggle with the men, then the house was silent for a long time, he said.

Giovanni said he told his mother he could slip out of his restraints and use the cell phone in his pocket to call police. He also suggested they push a bureau in front of the bedroom door so the men could not get back in, he said.

Giovanni said his mother told him that was too dangerous. She also told him not to look at the men when they brought him to use the bathroom, he said. Darlene George called police on the cell phone around 5:45 a.m.    

Giovanni said he initially thought the situation was a joke played by some of his mother’s friends.

“I didn’t think this would actually happen,” he said.

The trial continues this week as prosecutors present their case. Attorneys Paul Vincent, who represents Williams, and Paul Aronson and Larry Goodglass, who represent Darlene George, are expected to present their defenses next week.