Manslaughter Plea Ends Murder Trial on Martha's Vineyard

The trial in Dukes County Superior Court of an Aquinnah man accused of murder for fatally stabbing his wife's ex-husband has ended, according to a report from the Vineyard Gazette.

Saying he had not acted in self-defense as he earlier had claimed, Ovando Eghill pleaded guilty this morning to manslaughter and assault with a dangerous weapon in the June 14, 2011 stabbing of Michael Trusty, the Gazette reports. Read the full report here.

Eghill will serve two sentences totaling seven years in the Dukes County house of correction and is also subject to deportation to his native Jamaica, according to the Gazette.

Trusty was formerly married to Eghill's wife and the children from both marriages were being cared for at a home in Tisbury where the stabbing took place after an altercation in which Trusty armed himself with a machete and Eghill pulled out a knife. Trusty died of his injuries at a Boston hospital a few days later.

For more about the case, please see

• Martha's Vineyard Murder Trial Begins
• Stabbing Victim Remains Critical; "Possibility" He May Be Charged
• Stabbing Victim Has Died
• Stabbing in Vineyard Haven: Sequence of Events

For more police and court news on and off the Vineyard, please see our Police & Fire section, available in the News tab above or by clicking here.

Stay Patched in! Follow Martha's Vineyard Patch on Twitter | Like Martha's Vineyard Patch on Facebook | Sign up for the daily email with links to the latest news | Got something to say? Start a blog and share your views.