WESTERN BUREAU – Two police officers were among 10 persons identified on a list of murder victims which St James cops said they retrieved after an alleged shoot-out that left three of five armed men dead last Friday.

The top section of the neatly handwritten list gave the aliases and dates of those killed in one column, the month of the killing in the second column and then the shortened version of the full date in a third column. Attempts were also made to categorise the victims by occupation, with notations made to indicate that those killed had included two lawmen and two taxi operators.

The bottom of the list, a lined page from a book, showed a category called “almost victims”. The three persons who had apparently been spared were only identified by their Christian names – Dwayne, Kevin and Junior.

Cops have so far matched seven of the aliases and dates of those murdered with unsolved crimes, and were trying to determine the identities of the other three victims.

The murders were committed between August, 1998 and last month.

According to the crime chief for Area One, Superintendent John Morris, the list is linked to a group of men believed to be responsible for a number of major crimes in the Norwood, Glendevon and Flankers sections of St James. The three, who were killed by lawmen last week after an alleged hold-up, are:

. Norwood residents Vencott Dennis, 20 and Christopher Blair, 24; as well as

. Nagibe Pyne, 21, of Marlborough, St Mary.

After the alleged shoot-out, the police seized a .357 Mark II handgun, with serial number H1661, three live rounds and three spent shells, as well as a 9mm pistol, with serial number GO 1249, and a magazine containing one live round.

“We are currently vetting our files to fully establish if the alleged gunmen were involved with the murders of these persons (on the list),” Superintendent Morris told the Observer yesterday.

“The fact that the list was found at the location where they were killed is telling us that they may be involved,” he added.

Cops have now intensified their search for the dead trio’s two cronies who escaped during last week’s alleged shoot-out.

The seven slayings they have matched to notations on the list, so far, include the August 1998 killing of Constable Alton Grey, who was also called Buju. The notation on the list simply said, “Policeman, Saturday August ’98, Rose Heights”. But that was enough to match it with police records.

According to Superintendent Morris, one gunman and another wielding a machete pounced upon Grey in Rose Heights on August 20, 1998. He was shot and injured then later died.

The first entry on the list is “Townman”, whom cops have identified as 17 year-old unemployed Martin Ferguson who was killed in Glendevon on June 28, 2002.

The others are:

. Gregory Scott, 19, from Albion, St James, who was killed along Williams Street in Montego Bay on Saturday, October 6, 2003. He was listed, Morris said, as “Gregory, Wednesday, October 2003”.

. Fabian “Kenneth” Dalley, 21, from Paradise/Norwood was shot and killed on Tuesday, December 30, 2003. He was listed as “Zinga, Tuesday, December 2003”.

. The entry “Taximan, January 23, ’04” has been interpreted as the slaying of 24 year-old cabbie, Curtis “Junior” Vassell, who was killed at about 7:30 pm on Nesberry Street in Glendevon. The Paradise/Norwood resident was found suffering from gunshot wounds in his Toyota Carolla station wagon after residents heard explosions.

. Another cabbie, 41 year-old Clarence Robb, was shot and killed along the Albion main road on Friday, April 11, 2003. His killing has been matched to the entry “Taximan Doray, Sunday night, Albion, 8/12/03”.

. And 44 year-old Harold Barnes is believed to be the victim described as “Middle East, Saturday 2, ’03”. According to police files, Barnes was killed in Providence Heights on

Thursday, October 9, 2003 at about midnight.

Superintendent Morris theorised, yesterday, that the list was the killers’ method of recording their exploits.

“These fellows took pride in what they were doing, so they made a record of it,” he said.

Now that three of the gang have been killed, he added, the parish is already seeing a noticeable decrease in the number of murders committed.

“We want to assure the public that we are working assiduously to bring back St James to the calm that it is accustomed to,” he said. “We are working very, very hard at it.”

Last year, there were 105 murders in the parish, 25 per cent more than the 84 recorded in 2002.