Court hears more about gory missionaries murder scene
Published:Tuesday | July 11, 2023 | 12:12 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter -
Another crime scene investigator, who had processed the scene where two United States missionaries were killed in St Mary in 2016, yesterday provided more details about the gory scene that was uncovered.
Harold Nichols, 53, and Randy Hentzel, 48, were found dead in Wentworth district in the parish on April 30 and May 1, 2016.
Hentzel’s body was found on Saturday, in bushes with a gunshot to the back and his hands bound behind him while Nichols’ body was found in a gully with a gunshot to his chest and six chop wounds to his head some distance away from his colleague.
Both men had left their homes on separate motorbikes to visit a site where they would be working on a home as part of their charitable services in the parish.
Yesterday, during the trial in the Home Circuit Court, where one of the accused killers, Andre Thomas, is being tried on two counts of murder, a detective corporal told the court that when he visited the scene, he found one live round at 100 feet from where Hentzel’s body was found on April 30.
The court also heard that the investigator, on his return to the scene two days later, found a spent casing near where the victim’s head was positioned.
Turning back to what the investigator had first observed, the court heard that Hentzel’s body was seen lying face down with blood coming from his mouth and a gunshot wound to his head. The witness also recalled that a piece of the victim’s shirt was used to tie his hands.
Also spotted on the scene near Hentzel’s body was a motorcycle.
Twenty feet away from that motorcycle, another bike was spotted by the witness with two puddles of blood nearby.
The corporal also told the court that the live round and spent casing were collected, packaged, sealed and sent to the government laboratory for testing.
The missionaries first arrived in Jamaica in October 2002 as part of Christian Service International (CSI) missionaries before moving to Teams for Medical Missions in 2004.
Thomas was arrested in 2016, following the murder, which made international headlines, and was charged with two counts of murder, along with Dwight Henry.
However, Henry pleaded guilty and was sentenced in January to life in prison and ordered to serve 28 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
A ballistic expert is expected to take the stand today when the trial resumes.