Anglicans gather at the rectory where St Jude's rector, Rev Richard Johnson, was slain on Sunday night. Police said the churchman's body had 25 stab wounds. (Photo: Michael Gordon)

A pall of gloom hung stubbornly over the century-old St Jude's Anglican Church in Stony Hill yesterday, as church members, their tear-stained faces masked with grief, mourned the brutal stabbing death of their priest, Rev Richard Johnson.

But by nightfall, police had in their custody an alleged suspect in the killing of the Anglican priest, whose demise sent shock waves throughout the Stony Hill community which he served.

The man identified only as 'Bomber', turned himself in to the Constant Spring Police, hours after he was pinpointed as a suspect in the slaying of the 45-year-old rector of the St Jude's Anglican Church and chief cleric of the St Phiilips, St Michael's and Tom's River Anglican churches in West Rural St Andrew.

Father Johnson was found dead with over 25 stab wounds at his residence on Rectory Road in Stony Hill minutes before 10:00 o'clock Sunday night.

Rev Richard Johnson, whose nude body was found lying on a stairwell at the Anglican church rectory in Stony Hill yesterday.

On a still night, Father Johnson's blood curdling screams for help brought a caretaker scurrying to the rectory where the priest lived, about a mile from the Stony Hill square.

The caretaker found the priest dead, his nude body lying on a stairwell at the residence located a short distance from the 119-year-old St Jude's Church, police said. There were no signs of forced entry into the rectory, said police.
But police quickly identified a suspect, a man they said was known to frequent the rectory.

"We have evidence that 'Bomber' was seen running from the premises after the priest was heard crying out for help. We know 'Bomber' was known to pay frequent visits to the priest's dwelling," head of the Criminal Investigation Department, Asst Supt Denver Frater, told the Observer.
As news of Father Johnson's death spread yesterday, grief-stricken members of the Anglican Church community gathered on the grounds of the St Jude's Church, many asking 'why him?'.

"It has been a huge loss. He was like a Mother Teresa to us. I don't understand why someone would take a life like this and they can't give life," moaned senior server and member of the church committee, Dave Dennie. His eyes reddened from crying, Dennie described his priest as a jovial, caring person.

Parishioners recalled that in his last sermon that same Sunday morning, Father Johnson had preached about the Good Samaritan, the biblical figure who assisted a wounded man left for dead at a roadside by bandits, when others had only passed him by. The underlying message was about loving one's neighbour.

One female church member pointed sadly to a newly built wooden chair inside the church in which Rev Johnson sat for the first time on Sunday. "The chair was just put in last week. It was commissioned by the women's guild in memory of another departed member," she sighed.

At the death house, Anglican community members and acquaintances milled about the grief-shrouded residence, marvelling about how such a wretched thing could come to pass.

But for their sad countenance and some blood drops on the steps leading to the house, there were hardly any signs that a gruesome murder had taken place hours earlier. A large German Shepherd sat listlessly in a kennel while a mongrel barked incessantly at the strangers.

The lights were still on in some rooms and a Toyota Camry motor car, reportedly owned by the churchman, was locked up on the carport.

Rev Johnson served in Rural St Andrew for three years and was based at the very church where he married Heather Johnson, principal of the St Hilda's High School in St Ann. He was ordained as a priest in 1992 and previously served at the St Michael's and Gilnock churches in Kingston and Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth.

-walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com

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