Gruesome crimes take a toll: Residents flee: Beheading - a signature mark of murdered Clansman member

Anastasia Cunningham, Senior Gleaner Writer

Despite an increased police presence, some residents from sections of Lauriston in Spanish Town, St Catherine, are still fleeing the area. Three beheadings over two consecutive nights are more than they can bear.

"I will never get that sound out of my head. Until the day I die I will always remember it. Two nights of the most terrible screams I have ever heard. I couldn't believe it," one woman told The Sunday Gleaner.

"What was worse, everybody heard it and no one could do anything. We had to sit in our beds and listen to that screaming for what seemed like forever. All I could do was cry," she said

The woman, whom The Sunday Gleaner caught packing up to leave on Friday, said she was going to stay with friends.

"I lived here for over 15 years with my family. Now we are leaving our home to go 'kotch' with friends. What is this country coming to?"

On Monday, 19-year-old Scott Thomas, aka Scottie, was attacked at his home and beheaded by a group of men armed with guns and machetes.

By Tuesday night, the men struck again. This time, minister of religion 40-year-old Charmaine Rattray and her 19-year-old daughter Joeith Lynch were also attacked at their home and decapitated.

The police are reporting that Thomas was a key member of the criminal Clansman gang that has been wreaking havoc in Spanish Town for years. Since the death of their reputed leader, Donovan 'Bulbie' Bennett in 2005, there has been internal feud in the gang. Tesha Miller later took over, but following his arrest last year, the feud intensified between members of the gang, who were at loggerheads over leadership.

The police claim Thomas was wanted for some 10 murders in the St Catherine North Police Division, and sources say an internal feud in the gang led to a serious fallout, which cost him his life.

He was reportedly dragged from his bed, shot and his head removed and taken by his attackers. Some say as a sign of proof to those who ordered the hit.

A female who was said to be his girlfriend was reportedly at the house at the time, but she was unharmed. She later fled the area.

According to sources, the men went back the following night in search of the girlfriend. It is reported that she was a relative of Rattray and the men went to the home of the two women, thinking she had taken refuge there.

According to the police, Rattray and her daughter, respected as quiet, devout Christians by their neighbours, were sleeping when thugs reportedly kicked off their door and entered. Both women were savagely decapitated and their heads taken by the perpetrators. The police believe the women were killed by the same group of men who beheaded Thomas.

motive of the killing

It was earlier suggested that the women were killed because they had given an off-camera interview to the media about Thomas' murder.

However, head of the St Catherine North Police Division, Senior Superintendent Anthony Castelle, told The Sunday Gleaner that, "People can say many things and they always have different theories on a crime, but we have to rely on what evidence we have uncovered. At this time we cannot say what has happened or the motive for it, because it can lead to more reprisals and killings."

On Thursday, a head was found in the Rio Cobre, believed to be that of Lynch. The Queen's School graduate was known as a vibrant member of her choir and quite focused on her dreams to become a lawyer. She was recently accepted at the University of the West Indies.

Castelle said the search continues for the other missing heads. They are also intensifying their efforts to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

Internal and external feuds between the notorious criminal gangs One Order and Clansman have led to severe bloodshed in Spanish Town for several years. They have been known to commit some heinous crimes.

However, Castelle said this was no longer a war between the two gangs. He said it was now an intra-gang feud within the Clansman gang that was creating this crime wave.

"This is not the first beheading. For years, that general area between Lauriston and Tredegar Park is known for that type of killing. It was the signature mark of someone named James Hinds, who was aligned to the Clansman gang, who was killed some time ago. Over the years we have sometimes found a head or mutilated bodies; he was known for that type of killing," said Castelle.

proof of death

Some sources theorise that the perpetrators take the head with them as proof of death to whoever ordered the hit.

In 2008, a man was killed and his head and limbs removed. His torso was later found near Jones Avenue.

Some residents of Lauriston also told The Gleaner that a few years ago they awoke to find the head of a man in the square.

"He was said to be an informer and this was a message to anyone who dared open their mouth," one man said.

Since last week's beheadings, Castelle said they have tripled patrols in Lauriston, Tredegar Park and surrounding communities in Spanish Town.

"We have always had a presence in Lauriston and Tredegar Park, because you cannot leave those areas un-policed, but now we have tripled the presence," he said.

He added: "Sometimes it is difficult policing the area, because once you do an operation in the area, it is more of a displacement, because what will happen is that the criminals will leave the community and go elsewhere. But, if they are hell-bent on killing some people in the community, they will watch the activities of the police and then return.

"It has to be about containment, then displacement, then the ultimate thing is the relentless pursuit to catch them before they are able to come back into the community."

under curfew

Up to Friday evening, sections of St Catherine were under curfew. They include: Gravel Heights, March Pen and Corletts Road, Rivoli, Dam Head, Quarry Hill, Tredegar Park and De la Vega City in the St Catherine North Police Division.

In the St Catherine South Police Division, Rat Town in Waterford, Big Lane in Central Village, and Zambia.

There are now calls from several quarters for a State of Emergency in St Catherine.

On June 23 last year, the parish was placed under a 30-day State of Emergency, following a plea from St Catherine South Central Member of Parliament Sharon Hay-Webster. At that time, the country was dealing with more than 170 murders in the parish between January and May.

Kingston and St Andrew were already under a State of Emergency following the security forces' incursion into Tivoli Gardens, as the police vowed to rid the country of unruly criminal elements.

Despite the police reporting this year that there has been a reduction in crime, the gruesomeness of the crimes continues to shock the nation.

Jamaicans for Justice, the Jamaica Umbrella Groups of Churches and other organisations, have come out in strong condemnation of the barbaric act.

"This is another reminder of the level of depravity of some of those who live among us. The Church umbrella groups call upon all those who have information regarding such brutal acts to share it with the security forces, and we further call upon the security forces, to leave no stone unturned until the perpetrators are brought to justice," said Rev Dr Lenworth Anglin, in a press statement.

He added, "It is clear that some elements among us are determined to reverse the declining trend of murders, but we cannot afford to revert to where we are coming from. Let us work together at ridding our beautiful land of violence."

anastasia.cunningham@gleanerjm.com