Grisly find of quartet jolts Denham Town

A foiled robbery last Friday is believed to have been the trigger for the horrific murder of several men from Denham Town whose dismembered bodies were excavated from shallow graves at the old Public Works Department (PWD) compound near Tivoli Gardens on Tuesday.

All four men were reported missing over the weekend when relatives thought it strange that they could not be located.

They are Georay ‘Kwesi’ Campbell, 23; Fernando ‘Chun Chun’ Brown, 19; Christopher ‘Banga’ Murray, 29; and Junior ‘Up’ Riley, 29.

Riley would have celebrated his 30th birthday today and his mother told The Gleaner that plans for a celebration were now doomed for a sombre candlelight vigil on Pink Lane.

It is uncertain when Riley, a chef, was killed, but his body was found in one of two shallow graves at the location.

His mother said he was last seen alive on Saturday.

The other three men, The Gleaner was informed, were part of a group of five who attempted to steal a generator at the site of an unfinished gas station at the corner of Pechon Street and Water Lane.

Murray and Campbell were reportedly employed as labourers at the location.

Reports are that the two, along with Brown and two other men, went to the property on Friday night.

They were reportedly held while two others, including a getaway driver, escaped.

That was the last time they were seen alive.

The Denham Town police said on July 17, a missing person report was filed for Campbell and Brown, while Murray’s father reported him missing on July 18.

The Gleaner understands that the PWD site, which is close to Rasta City in Tivoli Gardens, is notorious for shallow graves and grisly deaths. It was Campbell’s mother who reportedly urged the police to scour the property.

On Monday, a team of detectives visited the location where the shallow graves were discovered.

“We found an area with dry bush laid on top of it. There were also drag marks and bloodstains close by. Further checks unearthed smell of gasolene and a foul odour,” a senior investigator told The Gleaner.

The area was secured Monday night by the Jamaica Defence Force and an excavation exercise began early on Tuesday.

As news of the discovery spread, relatives, some of whom camped out near the area since Monday, were awash with raw grief.

As the crowd grew and bodies were identified by relatives, families of the deceased tried to comfort each other, some throwing themselves to the ground in shock and anger.

Campbell’s grandmother, who requested anonymity, told The Gleaner that he attended Wolmer’s Boys’ School.

She said she had often warned him against going about his business without declaring his whereabouts to his family.

Campbell was last seen on Friday evening when a friend called him from his dwelling.

That friend was reportedly among the four found dead on Tuesday.

The under-construction gas station was embroiled in controversy earlier this year when two stolen tanks were seized and removed from the location by bailiffs.

The Major Investigation Division is probing the gruesome killings.