The recent arrest of former PNP Member of Parliament Jolyan Silvera for the murder of his wife Melissa, who died late last year, should not elicit any excitement from ordinary Jamaicans.
The reality is that no one should be exempt from the reach of the law when they break it. Sadly, the arrest, much less the successful prosecution of high-profile Jamaicans, remains a distant dream rather than a reality.
I listened to one very senior member of the JCF relating to the media the arrest specifics, and I could barely listen to the whole thing. The case’s specifics make it so clear-cut that not arresting Silvera would have been a clear abdication of duty.
However, the JCF has a history of abdicating its responsibility to the country when it suits them.
This has created distrust, disrespect, and a lack of confidence in the agency by most Jamaican people.
https://mikebeckles.com/what-are-the-police-afraid-of-why-they-havent-arrested-the-murderers-of-germaine-junior/
The caustic comments on social media directed at the police around this arrest can be brushed aside as cop-hating gibberish. However, an agency that requires the public’s participation for much of its success must be mindful of public perceptions. Perceptions are not always facts, but given enough time and no factual correction, perception oftentimes becomes a reality.
Far too many well-connected people are committing crimes and facing no consequences. Ordinary Jamaicans are not blind to these things, and so they are in no mood to hear the police crowing about one arrest as if they want medals for doing their jobs.
The JCF has fumbled the bag on numerous occasions that involve high-profile cases. Many Jamaicans alive today will recall the allegations surrounding the infamous Dianne Smith case in 1983 by the Constant Spring Police.
Dianne Smith, a young student, was allegedly raped and murdered while on her way to school. Allegations arose after the dastardly crime that a well-known upper Saint Andrew man, the son of a well-connected political family, had committed the crime.
The man named who himself became and is still a member of parliament has struggled over the decades to convince a skeptical Jamaica that he was innocent. Those struggles included threatening tort action against those who dared to mention his name in the Dianne Smith murder case.
Whether or not this political figure was involved in the rape and murder of Dianne Smith is anyone’s guess because the Constant Spring Police tasked with the murder investigations have yet to arrest anyone, much less gain a conviction for that murder forty-one (41) years later. The perceptions surrounding that crime remain that there have been no real investigations because of who the alleged suspect was.
The failure of the police to investigate and arrest the criminal/s in the Dianne Smith case enabled the rumor to continue and has done immense harm to the reputation and good name of the person named by the streets. If the person named in that rape and murder was truly guilty, the incompetence or complicity of those tasked with investigating that crime enabled him to walk away scot-free.
I served in the Constant Spring CIB office between 1987 and 1991, and never once did I hear anyone talk about a Dianne Smith case file that was still open.
It is important to remember that murder is not a statute; it is against common law. As such, murder has no statutory limitations as to when a guilty murderer must be caught and convicted. I found it odd that though a murderer may be arrested for a murder he committed a hundred years earlier, by the time I arrived at the Constant Spring CIB in 1987, a mere four (4) years later, there was no talk or investigations ongoing in the Dianne Smith rape/murder case. There was absolutely no open, ongoing investigation.
Why was that?
WHY HAS THERE NOT BEEN AN ARREST IN THIS CASE?
In the link provided above in red, I wrote about a similar case that the Constant Spring CIB office supposedly investigated, similar to the Dianne Smith case. Below is one of several articles I wrote in 2017 about the Germaine Junior case.
In 2021, here is what the police had to say.
We have not closed their probe into the murder of a man four years ago at the St Andrew home of prominent attorney Patrick Bailey.
Germain Junior, a 51-year-old construction worker, was found with stab wounds and a single gunshot wound to the head in the attorney’s living room on September 30, 2016.
In an update on the case on February 1st, 2021, at a police press conference, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in charge of crime, Fitz Bailey, said the probe into the killing is ongoing.
“Well, the matter [Junior’s murder case] is ongoing. It is not yet closed, but the truth is we go by the evidence, and I don’t think we have the adequate amount of evidence to advance a criminal prosecution at this time,” he disclosed.
“Even since I took over the [crime] portfolio, we have had quite a number of case reviews. We have actually done several lines of enquiries, but at this point we don’t have the evidence to mount a criminal prosecution,” Bailey added.
Police reports at the time suggested that Bailey stumbled on the body shortly after 4 am in his living room, and the police were alerted.
(How could a police department even mention closing a murder investigation when there are no statutory limitations on murder)?
WHAT ARE THE POLICE AFRAID OF WHY THEY HAVEN’T ARRESTED THE MURDERER/S OF GERMAINE JUNIOR
Nevertheless, over a year has passed, and still, the deceased’s family has not gotten closure as the police have not made an arrest.Now I understand that it’s easy to shrug and say, “Join the line; there are thousands of unsolved murders in Jamaica,” but again, the circumstances of this case cause me to second guess my deference to the police on this one.The case involved the death of 51-year-old Germaine Junior at a home supposedly owned by an attorney at law, Patrick Bailey, over a year ago.
According to local reporting, the deceased was stabbed several times and shot once in the head.
The deceased man was reported to be a naturalized American citizen and was supposedly visiting the Island upon his death. Mister Junior’s family is incensed at the police for good reason. The family insists that the case would have been solved long ago if their loved one had been a prominent person. They bemoan the fact that the police have been in contact with them only once in the last year since mister Junior’s death.
A couple of points have stuck out like a sore thumb, in this case, leaving much room for speculation in the absence of better reporting and more information forthcoming from the police.
♦ Patrick Bailey is a prominent attorney who easily fits into the category of the proverbial big man according to Jamaican culture.
♦ Was Mister Junior there as his guest? If not his, then whose?
♦ Who else lives in the home of attorney Patrick Bailey, if anyone?
♦ Police reported that Bailey stumbled upon the body at about 4:30 am in his own house as he was asleep even though Mister Junior was allegedly shot.
♦ If the homicide happened in a section of the residence outside mister Bailey’s earshot (assuming the residence is large enough that Bailey would not have heard a gunshot), nevertheless, who gets up and walks around the house at 4:30 am?
♦ How could Bailey sleep through what must have been a struggle, much less the sound of a gunshot in his house?
♦ The statement that he stumbled upon the body at 4:30 am could only have come from Bailey himself, which gives it little credibility under the circumstances.
♦ A proper coroner’s inquest should nail down approximately what time Mister Junior was killed, as against Patrick Bailey’s assertions.
♦ The Police reported no forced entry to Bailey’s house. This is absolutely critical evidence as it demonstrates that whoever killed mister Junior had access to the residence.
♦ A knife believed to be the one used to stab Mister Junior was allegedly found beside his body. Was it checked for fingerprints?
♦ If Mister Junior was living abroad at the time and was only visiting the Island, why would the police and others allege that he was a caretaker of the residence?
♦ The fact that mister Junior’s body was found with multiple stab wounds suggests a crime of passion coupled with the fact that he was also shot.
♦ Was Patrick Bailey’s person checked for marks indicating whether he was involved in a struggle, or did the police take his word that he slept through a stabbing and a shooting? If not, why was it not done?
♦ Why was Patrick Bailey ruled medically unfit to give statements to police by Doctor Jephthah Ford at the time?
♦ According to local media reports after the incident, Patrick Bailey’s doctor and client, Jephthah Ford, instructed that he be confined to bed after reportedly exhibiting signs of being unwell. Ford also said he was not fit to give a statement at the time.
♦ Why was Bailey given special privileges when even police officers traumatized by instances of fatal encounters are forced to give a quick accounting as to what occurred?
♦ Who else had access to the residence? If anyone, what was their relationship to Mister Junior?
♦ Did the police check Patrick Bailey’s house for bloody clothes or clothes recently washed?
♦ Did the Police check outhouses (if applicable) and garbage receptacles for potential bloody clothes?
♦ If the police determined no forced entry to Bailey’s house, how could they summarily rule him out as a suspect?
I am making no assumptions about who killed this man; I am not saying anyone, in particular, is responsible. I am saying that the Police should get up off their backsides and do the investigative work, and whoever killed Mister Junior should be bangled up and bundled off to jail. When contacted by the media, Bailey was reported to be arrogant, asserting the quote,” Anything dem seh, mek dem seh it. I have no answer; publish whatever they say. My back is broad. I have no comments, no comments, no comments! Just simply, you report whatever you want to,”
According to local media reporting, Assistant Commissioner of Police Élan Powell, who had the crime portfolio at the time of the homicide, insisted that the police were hiding nothing, the investigations would be done, and the chips would fall where they may.
This statement does little to assuage the anger and distrust the family of Mister Junior harbors as it relates to the police’s ability to bring the killer of their loved one to justice.
Clearly, whatever the underlying assumptions and presumptions in this case are, a human being was murdered, and someone is responsible for his unlawful killing. This cannot be a difficult case to solve one way or the other.
If the owner of the premises, a well-heeled lawyer, did not kill the victim, someone else did in his house.
It does not require rocket science to figure this case out; if no one broke into the house and there was no one else in the house, then the person in the house is the killer or the person in the house knows who killed Mister Junior and has aided and abetted the coverup of this horrendous murder.
This case is a travesty and should not stand; the police cannot be that incompetent or, worse, pissed-scared that they are unwilling to arrest the killer or killers.
Whatever the police know caused them to rule Patrick Bailey out as a suspect ought to be made public or told to the grieving family.
Bailey deserves no special treatment or deference under the law over and above anyone else. This would give the police reason not to divulge how they determined he was not a suspect.
In February 2016, Assistant Commissioner Powell told a Gleaner Editor’s forum that the police did not wish to name a suspect but sought to assure the public that the police were actively pursuing the case.
Since Powel was in charge of crime at the time, both he and the head of crime must now properly account for this bereaved family as they are duty-bound to do.
There should be no more murders swept under the rug because someone knows someone who knows someone.
This should not be allowed to stand, and the family should not stand for it; they are right in demanding answers.