Man who killed, buried girlfriend in 'moment of passion' gets life

A 25-year-old man, who stabbed his girlfriend to death in 2017 and buried her in concrete in their bedroom in what he claimed was “a moment of passion” was Wednesday sentenced to life in prison.

He had confessed to the murder.

Ayele Russell of Pee Wee Lane in St James, who had fled to the United States after committing the gruesome act, will serve 24 years in prison before being eligible for parole. 

The sentence was handed down by Justice Courtney Daye in the Westmoreland Home Circuit Court. 

The decomposing body of the victim, 24-year-old Nadian Dyer was found with multiple stab wounds at her Negril, Westmoreland house on June 7, 2017, two months after she and her three-year-old daughter went missing. 

The child has not been found. 

Before the sentence was passed, Russell apologised to Dyer's family while professing his love for the young woman. 

“It was only in a moment of passion. Every day I searching for Nadian. Mi love Nadia, miss her, think bout her every day. It was in a moment of passion; am sorry about that. I am sorry," he said. 

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions issued a statement Wednesday outlining the facts of the case.

Dyer, who was involved in an intimate relationship with Russell, moved in to his one-room Westmorland house in 2016 with her daughter. 

On April 17, 2017, the couple was overheard quarreling.  

The following day, a strong disinfectant odour was noticed emanating from the couple's bedroom. 

Dyer was never seen alive after that quarrel.

However, Russell was seen on April 23 leaving the premises with a knapsack and later informed a relative that he was in New York. 

Dyer's mother who was concerned about her whereabouts visited the police station on numerous occasions and on June 5, went to her home with the assistance of the police.

But on their arrival, they observed that the door was padlocked with a long chain with weights. 

Police officers who managed to unlock the door went inside and saw construction buckets on the floor as well as a section of the room where cement had been mixed. 

A blood-stained mattress was also observed leaning on the wall and when it was moved, officers found a rectangular-shaped structure made of 6 inches of block and cement.

The officers left and two days later when they returned, broke down the structure and removed a naked body which was wrapped in a plastic bag. 

The body at the time was unable to be identified owing to the advanced state of decomposition but had stab wounds to the abdomen and right arm. 

Following a post-mortem, the body was confirmed to be Dyer's. 

Russell, by then, was in the US. But he later deported on July 29, 2021 after he was convicted and sentenced for armed robbery.

He was subsequently charged for Dyer's murder. 

DPP Paula Llewellyn indicated said there was no evidence on the file implicating the man in the possible disappearance of the child.

There was only a statement from a third recounting what the deceased mother of the child allegedly told her.

The woman had reportedly indicated that she handed over her daughter to a relative at a bus park.

The third party is reportedly a female relative of the convicted murderer who had made enquiries of the child she said she last saw in December 2016 and heard in January 2017.  

There was no other material on the file linking the accused, Llewellyn said. 

The DPP said her office asked the police whether there was any investigation about the child.

The police indicated there was none as an official missing report was not filed by the mother of the child before she died, the DPP said. 

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