THE brother of the 51-year-old man murdered in prominent attorney-at-law Patrick Bailey’s Barbican home has made an about-turn on his decision to give up his fight for justice.
David Roberts, the closest family member of the deceased, Germaine Junior, told the Jamaica Observer that he felt that his brother would be disappointed if he were to give up.
“Mi get a dream and like him a ask me, ‘Weh yaa do? Don’t do that,’” Roberts shared with the Sunday Observer.
Roberts said that he felt that was a message to him to continue to seek justice.
“Mi nuh think mi fi give up; him wouldn’t want me to.”
A despondent Roberts told the Sunday Observer last month that it made no sense to seek justice because nothing will come of it.
“I call to say thanks for everything, but I don’t think I can continue with this. If the police dem did interested dem woulda arrest the killer, because dem know is who. Honestly, mi nuh think seh anything a go come of it,” he said at the time in a telephone interview.
Since the Observer reported the story, at least two lawyers and a politician have contacted the man in a bid to help him.
The case has attracted the attention of thousands of Jamaicans who are also demanding justice.
Observer Online reader Juniro Farqquharson said: “The silence of civil society, including the Jamaica [For] Justice, and of politicians of various stripes is rather deafening. Only in Jamaica! Yet, we wonder why there are over 1,300 murders.”
Another reader commented that “the country is going downhill fast”.
Equally, one said: “The police wouldn’t know real evidence if it came notarised on their forehead. How can you ‘immediately’ rule out anyone before carrying out the proper investigation? Do you expect the murderer to just show up with bloody hands, or to report to the station as you usually demand?”
The Sunday Observer questioned the police high command last month about the status of the investigation at a press briefing called by Commissioner of Police George Quallo at his St Andrew office.
Deputy commissioner of police in charge of the crime portfolio, Selvin Haye, said that contrary to media reports that nothing is being done to solve the case, the police are carrying out investigations.
“What we can say on that is that the investigation is still open and it’s continuing. And contrary to what we have seen in the media, no one has been exempted and no one has been eliminated so the investigation is in full force,” Haye said.
He added that the police are “following some leads” and will give an update soon. They did not answer whether or not a motive has been established for the killing.
Junior was found with more than a dozen stab wounds and a gunshot to the head in Bailey’s living room on the morning of September 30, 2016. Police report that Bailey stumbled upon Junior’s body about 4:30 am. The knife used was reportedly found beside the body. The police said that there were no signs of forced entry. Bailey was immediately ruled out as a suspect and placed on bed rest by his doctor and client Jephthah Ford.
Ford was later found guilty of corruption after he tried to bribe a police officer to release two Surinamese men who were caught in 2014 with nearly $60 million.
He was last month sentenced to six months in prison, but has appealed the decision of the judge and is on bail.
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The Police have launched an investigation into the murder of a man at a premises reportedly owned by prominent attorney-at-law Patrick Bailey yesterday.
The body of the dead man, identified only as ‘Gully’, and who was reportedly a caretaker of the premises, was found at about 4 a.m. with multiple stab wounds and what appeared to be a bullet wound to the head. The dead man was reportedly in his early 50s.
Up to late yesterday afternoon, hours after police had processed the crime scene and left the property, the Constabulary Community Unit (CCU) had still not issued a report on the incident that caused a shutdown of the usually busy Barbican Road in St Andrew in the morning rush hour yesterday.
CRIME SCENE
“What I can confirm is that the police responded to a crime scene at the Barbican premises where a man was said to be stabbed to death,” offered Senior Superintendent Stephanie Lindsay-Clarke, head of the CCU.
Up to late yesterday morning, long after the scene was processed and the body removed, Bailey was still being interviewed by police officers inside the house.
The man was reportedly found sprawled on a couch inside Bailey’s ransacked living room. He was reportedly stabbed more than 20 times, and the bullet wound discovered only after a spent shell was found.
Bailey was said to be inside the house at the time of the incident and reportedly slept through the ordeal. The police reported no signs of forced entry to the premises, which is guarded by an electronic gate.
Yesterday, the incident drew the ire of relatives and friends of the deceased man as they turned up to the premises probing for answers.
They described the deceased as hard-working and “reserved”, and said he had been friends with Bailey for more than a decade.
‘Gully’ was said to be the father of a four-month-old boy.
Patrick Bailey claims he didn’t hear any sound
Him wearing that God awful pants is proof of his guilt cuz anyone in sumpn so oversized definitely have something up dem trousers Fi hide!!
Don’t stop till u get satisfactory justice good sir!!
Hmmm met u on to something with the second picture… Locks… #skipaway