FROM TEARS TO CHARGES

Exactly a week after Melissa Silvera’s funeral, detectives assigned to the Major Investigation Division (MID) yesterday preferred charges against her husband, former St Mary Western Member of Parliament (MP) Jolyan Silvera.

Silvera, a land developer who wept openly at his wife’s thanksgiving service, was charged with murder less than a day after he was arrested and taken into custody on Thursday.

His first court appearance was being arranged yesterday, while other charges in relation to the gun murder are pending.

The former legislator is currently represented by King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie, but attorney Richard Lynch attended Friday’s question-and-answer session.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey, head of the crime portfolio, during a police briefing yesterday afternoon, said there are other charges that will be laid against the 52-year-old.

Initial reports were that Melissa, 42, died in her sleep on November 10 of natural causes, at the Silvera’s 2A Diamond Court apartment, a month shy of her eighth wedding anniversary.

An autopsy reportedly requested by the lone policeman who attended the scene, and performed in December, three weeks after her death, unearthed at least three bullet fragments from her body.

This prompted the police to launch a murder investigation.

Bailey also sought to put to rest public discourse that there was a cover-up on the part of the police and medical doctor who pronounced Melissa dead.

“The person who pronounces an individual dead is not even requested to attend court because, after that, it triggers other processes, for example, post- mortem … . If the same police officer who went on the scene requested the postmortem to be done, then in my own understanding and assessment of that, there is no incline or inclination that there is a cover-up because the postmortem really is to reveal the cause of sudden death,” Bailey said in a video released by the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

Bailey disclosed that investigators relied on all the forensic sciences to include cyber, ballistics and telecommunication.

“All of those sciences were applied and I hasten to say this case was not one of the easiest ones for us but because there is a level of competence within the organisation, we have the skill sets, very bright individuals who are well trained at a first-world standard. This has resulted in us achieving what we have achieved,” Bailey said.

Silvera, a one-term MP in the House of Representatives, was on the St Mary Western ballot for the People’s National Party (PNP) in the 2011 general election.

Mere hours after the police charged Silvera, the PNP, in a release to the media, said it noted the charges brought against him in connection with the murder of his wife.

“The People’s National Party is committed to upholding the principles of justice and accountability and emphasises the importance of the rule of law and due process,” the party said.

“We call upon members of the public who have information that can assist the police investigation to do so, so that no stone is left unturned in the pursuit of justice for Melissa,” the PNP added.

The investigators also spoke to the contamination of the crime scene and far beyond normal things that were noticed.

The police said their suspicions were confirmed with use of technology and assistance of other agents of the JCF.

“The story about the renovation of the home is factual,” Bailey said.

The Gleaner reported previously that the room was retiled, painted and new furniture introduced.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com