Hanover on course for record murders - Latest killings labelled as reprisal for 'Fat Man'

Western Bureau:

With five murders last week and a number of alleged killers on the run, Hanover is now on the brink of eclipsing the 60 murders committed last year as the current tally for 2018 is 39, with five full months to go in the year.

"We are trying our best to arrest the situation, but there are just too many guns in the hands of persons who are willing to commit murders," a policeman told The Gleaner yesterday. "Last week, we had five murders and two of the main suspects are still on the run, so you can expect just about anything," he added.

Over the past weekend, Ricardo Bird, also known as 'Birdie' or 'Whiteman', who was one of several persons implicated in last week's murder of 91-year-old pensioner Laurel Frame and 15-year-old Hopewell High School student Jessie Spence, turned himself in to the police. However, Howard 'Zill' McIntosh and Nickoy 'Nick' McKenzie, who were also asked to turn themselves in, have chosen not to do so.

"Some of these guys will never turn themselves in; they prefer to risk their lives than to go to prison," the policeman said. "One of the suspects we held on the night of the recent murder is just 15 years old [and] some of the killers are children."

Frame and Spence were killed shortly after 9 p.m. last Wednesday when two men armed with handguns barged into Frame's yard and shot them multiple times. Other family members were forced to flee.

Based on information from residents, the latest murders are believed to be acts of reprisal for the gangland-style murder of reputed gang leader Nicko 'Fat Man' Campbell, who was recently shot and killed as he rode his motorcycle along the Sandy Bay main road. The killers allegedly pulled up alongside him in a car and pumped numerous bullets into his body.

"Fat Man was de big man, suh killing him cause a big problem ... him was de Robin Hood fe him crew (gang)," a resident told The Gleaner on condition of anonymity. "We likkle 15-year-old bwoy wah get lock up fe de Malcolm Heights murder a Fat Man likkle brother. A just pure problem right now, people just a fret and a wonder a who next."

Superintendent Sharon Beeput, who was credited with halting the bloodletting when she took command of the parish last year, is currently on vacation leave and reports are circulating that she won't be returning to Hanover.

"Dem better leave her (Beeput); the people love her and trust her ... . She can get information that other police can't get," the resident said. "If dem tek her weh, dawg nyam we supper."