Suspects held for Portland couple's killing

Two male suspects are in police custody for the brutal slaying of two returning residents, husband and wife, whose partially burned bodies were discovered last Friday afternoon in the farming community of Mount Pleasant in west Portland.

The suspects were reportedly picked up by the police between Saturday and Sunday at two undisclosed locations, following an intense operation conducted by police personnel from Area Headquarters and the Technical Services department in Kingston.

Commanding officer in charge of the Portland Police Division, Superintendent Duane Wellington, told The Gleaner yesterday that they were doing a parallel investigation involving the fraudulent use of a credit card belonging to the deceased woman.

“Our investigation thus far has allowed us to look into both incidents involving murder and a credit card scam,” commented Wellington.

“Two male persons of interests are now in custody, who we believe can assist us with our investigation. We are awaiting a postmortem report this week to determine the cause of death, and we are also awaiting a report from the fire department.

“We want to assure residents, family members, and the international community that the police are doing everything possible to bring the guilty ones to justice, and to restore calm to the peaceful community of Mount Pleasant,” the superintendent added.

The partially burnt bodies of 74-year-old Alford Anderson and his 71-year-old Caucasian wife Florence Anderson, returning residents from Manchester, England, were found shortly after 1:30 p.m. Friday, June 22, with injuries to the neck and face The body of the husband was partially burnt in the lower body, while the wife’s body had burns in the area of the torso.

A section of the kitchen area was also firebombed by the attacker(s), leaving a refrigerator, dining table and chairs, microwave, vinyl (records), and two windows badly burned.

Investigators have theorised that the elderly couple was killed to silence them to put a halt to the ongoing investigation of a credit card fraud involving $8 million being withdrawn from an account owned by one of the deceased, Mrs Anderson.

The brutal killing of the couple have left residents in a sombre mood, triggering fears among many, who are now too scared to comment on the gruesome murder, as they are of the opinion that those involved in plotting the demise of the returning residents, could unleash their wrath on them.