A sixty-year-old businessman and his 31-year-old son, accused of murdering a Farm Town resident in February this year that triggered a riot in the community, head the St Ann police most wanted list, released yesterday.

The police said the businessman, Dennis Gayle, of Farm Town and his 31-year-old son, Dwayne, are wanted for the murder of Ryan Whitehorn, who was shot in Farm Town on February 1, 2006 and later died in the St Ann’s Bay Hospital.

The Gayles head a list of four men who are wanted by the St Ann police on the capital offence, for which a reward of $250,000 has been posted, Senior Superintendent Ray Palmer said yesterday.

The other two are James Skeen, wanted for the September 2003 murder of Lance Richards of Brown’s Town, St Ann, and Neville Hamilton of Wynter’s Pen, Spanish Town, wanted for the murder of Rohan Broderick, of Steer Town, St Ann.

The release of the names comes as the police report a five per cent reduction in serious crimes in St Ann.

Police said Dennis Gayle is about 5ft 6ins tall, and of stout build, while his son Dwayne, was said to be about 5ft 8ins and of dark complexion.

Skeen is said to be of brown complexion, medium build, oval face, broad forehead, thick lips and has large ears. Hamilton is of medium build, dark complexion and about 5ft 11ins tall.

The Farm Town killing sparked three separate days of protest in the usually quiet district as residents vented their anger after the police released Gayle, who was held for questioning after the death of Whitehorn.

The police said at the time that Gayle’s lawyer had filed a writ in the St Ann’s Bay RM court, forcing the release of the suspect.

Yesterday, Senior Superintendent Palmer told the Observer that the writ was filed while the police were awaiting the ruling on the incident from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The DPP has since ruled that the Palmers be charged.

Residents had accused the police of being tardy in their investigations, thus allowing the suspect to flee.

During a violent protest, Gayle’s home, liquor store, bar and two motor vehicles were torched by angry residents.

One resident told the Observer then that Gayle aroused suspicion as he and Whitehorn had an ongoing dispute.

Meanwhile, the St Ann police have reported that shootings were down by 41 per cent, rape down 45 per cent and break-ins down 13 per cent up to the end of July, compared to the same period last year.

However, Palmer said, murders, robberies and carnal abuse cases were showing increases of 29, 21 and 57 per cent respectively.

There have been 22 murders in St Ann since the start of 2006, which the police said were caused from disputes between family members, friends and co-workers.

The police superintendent said the increases in robberies and murders have been attributed to two factors – a boom in the construction industry and the fallout caused by the crackdown in the drug trade.