ROAD TOWN, British Virgin Islands — The last of nearly 20 prosecution witnesses called to testify in the murder trial of four Americans took the stand Friday, concluding the third week of testimony in this internationally high-profile case.

Prosecutors Terrence Williams and Theodore Guerra are expected to rest their case Monday, after the defense and the nine-member jury has a chance to pose questions to Chief Inspector Anderson Blackman. One of the first police supervisors to report to the beach where Lois McMillen's body was found on Jan. 15, 2000, Blackman informed defendants William Labrador and Michael Spicer of McMillen's death after the 34-year-old victim's mother suggested her acquaintances might know something.

Blackman testified last summer that both Labrador and Spicer seemed surprised when he told them that McMillen was dead. He was on the stand for 30 minutes Friday afternoon and will return Monday to resume direct examination by the prosecution and cross-examination by the defense.

Friday, as a matter of course, Blackman read to the jury a 2 1/2-page statement defendant Alexander Benedetto gave police the day after McMillen's body was found lying face up on the shore of Sir Francis Drake Channel. The rocky beach is located on the coastline on the opposite side of this eastern Caribbean island where both the McMillen and Spicer families own homes.

The blond, blue-eyed Benedetto told Blackman that he met McMillen in 1997 at Bomba's Shack, a beachfront bar known throughout the Caribbean, at one of the establishment's famous Full Moon parties. McMillen and Benedetto had an "intimate" relationship here and in New York for several months in 1997, he told police, that ended amicably. Benedetto said in his statement that he broke it off because "she was behaving strangely (i.e. the things she said, the way she dressed, the feeling she gave off and the way she acted made me feel scared as well as other people)."

Benedetto, the 35-year-old son of New York book publisher Victor Benedetto, went on to tell Blackman in his statement that he did not see McMillen again until two nights before she was killed. They ran into each other again at Bomba's. McMillen gave Benedetto, Spicer and co-defendant Evan George a ride back to Spicer's house, which is known as Zebra House.

"This was about 1 a.m. on ... 13th January 2000 when she dropped us off," Benedetto said in his statement. "I gave her a hug and wished her well with her [sick] father and that was the last time I saw Lois McMillen."

Prosecutors have yet to propose a theory about the role they believe Benedetto played in the drowning death of his one-time girlfriend, an attractive former model who often dressed in outrageous outfits. Victor Benedetto, who has attended every day of the trial since it began April 2, says his son and his son's friends are innocent and that he has yet to see any evidence that suggests otherwise.

Friday's testimony began with a second appearance by University of London professor Kenneth Pye, an environmental geologist who analyzed sand collected from shoes allegedly worn by Labrador, Spicer and George. Pye repeated his earlier testimony that he could find no link between the sand from the shoes of Labrador and George and sand in the general vicinity of where McMillen's body was discovered. Spicer's "K-Swiss" brand sneakers contained a mixture of sediment, but only about 15 percent of the small sample appeared similar to sand and sediment near the crime scene.

In response to a question from the prosecution, Pye said he would have expected to find sand similar in composition to sand at Cane Garden Bay on the shoes of Spicer and George if they had worn them there as they claimed. The defense, however, is expected to have several people testify that they spent time at a beachfront restaurant in Cane Garden Bay with Spicer, George and Benedetto around the time that McMillen was drowned.

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CORRECTION: University of London environmental geologist Kenneth Pye could not establish a definite link between sand collected from the McMillen murder crime scene and sand collected from the footwear of defendants William Labrador, Michael Spicer and Evan George. Defendant Alexander Benedetto's footwear was not examined for sand evidence. Pye's testimony was misstated in coverage of the proceedings of Thursday, April 19.