SEVERAL high-profile murders which rocked the Jamaican nation over the past decade, including that of the well-known politician Madame Rose Leon, remain unsolved, police admitted. 

But Senior Superintendent in charge of operations at the Criminal Investigations Branch, Calvin Benjamin, insisted that despite the long process that some murder investigations had undergone, there were no plans to stop the search to bring the killers to justice, and police were optimistic that charges would be laid, if citizens with information share it with those who swore to protect, serve and reassure.

The Sunday Observer could not ascertain the clear-up rate for the more than 12,500 murders over the 10-year period going back to 1999. But the arrest rate for last year was put at 31 per cent, still not good enough according to the senior crime fighter. The number of murders committed here up to the end of March was 318.

Among the well-publicised murders still not solved in the decade under review is that of former government minister Madame Rose Leon, who served both Jamaica Labour Party and People’s National Party administrations during the 1960s and 1970s. She was found dead at her St Andrew home on October 16, 1999. She was 87.

“In relation to the murder of Madame Rose Leon, no one has been arrested so far and we are still trying to locate her vehicle which was stolen from her home that night,” Benjamin said in an interview.

“We are still asking any witness or witnesses who can assist us with our investigations to get in touch with the police and we will take it from there as we are very much interested in solving this murder,” Benjamin appealed.

A roadblock too, has been erected before investigators who are probing the killing of former MegaMart pharmacist, Terry-Ann Thompson, whose body was found in the Red Hills area of St Andrew last year.

“Regarding the Terry-Ann Thompson murder, one man was taken into custody but was subsequently released,” said Benjamin. “Since then, no one else has been held. We are still pursuing the investigation on that matter.”

Of the over 1,612 murders recorded here last year, one that tugged at the heart of the entire nation was that of 11-year-old Swallowfield All-Age School pupil, Ananda Dean.

Ananda’s decomposed body was found in a ditch in Belvedere, St Andrew on September 29. She went missing on September 17, after being seen last on a bus heading to Half-Way-Tree after school. Activist groups spearheaded futile efforts to locate her alive, including posting her photographs at various points across the island.

“There still has not been a breakthrough,” Benjamin said. “We have no suspect in the Ananda Dean murder. We are looking at all angles and we have interviewed a number of persons and we are still asking persons with any information to help us with it. They might believe that what they have might not be useful, but maybe that vital information is what we need to help us solve the case.”

The police have enjoyed only partial success in another high-profile murder, that of university zoology lecturer Dr Peter Vogel, 60, who was found dead at his Mona Commons, St Andrew home on July 19, 2007. One man has been arrested and charged with his murder, and law enforcers are searching for his girlfriend who police allege is still on the run.

“The boyfriend will be going back to court soon,” Benjamin said. “We believe that we can tie up other bits and pieces of the case as soon as we get in touch with the woman whom we are looking for.”

Former army head and present police commissioner, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, lost his mother to the hands of murderers in St Ann years ago. At his first news conference after he became police commissioner in 2007, Lewin disclosed that no one had been held for the murder after lengthy investigations.

Among those still unsolved is the double-murder of police sergeant Huan Genus and his daughter, journalist Shari. The two were travelling in a Toyota Corolla station wagon motor car to Huan Genus’ Stewart Castle residence in Trelawny on the night of January 2, 2007, when on reaching a few metres from their house, they came upon a roadblock. The elder Genus was shot as he attempted to clear the road. The gunmen then shot his daughter dead.

The killing of Vincentian medical practitioner, Dr Ken Nanton, who worked at the Accidents and Emergency Unit of the University Hospital of the West Indies, also remains a mystery.

Police reported then that gunmen attempted to steal his Toyota Hilux Surf sports utility vehicle as he sat at Lookout Point, along Skyline Drive in Jack’s Hill, St Andrew. He failed to comply with a request for the keys to his vehicle and was killed, police said. Investigators could not say whether or not Nanton had a companion at the scene known as a lovers’ rendezvous.

Also unsolved is the January 2, 2007 execution-style slaying of police constable Ralston Ebanks and his sister Fernandis Ebanks-Clarke, when gunmen approached their car and shot them dead at an intersection in Portmore, St Catherine. Ebanks’ niece, aged 15 months, was shot and injured.

The case of Bahamian biology student Joseph Burrows, 22, a former student of Northern Caribbean University in Mandeville, is another that has left police baffled.

Burrows’ body was found in bushes behind an old car in New Green near Mandeville. Investigators said that money was taken from his bank account, possibly by his killer.

Senior Superintendent Benjamin fended off suggestions that the police put more resources into going after accused persons who murder popular persons, compared to efforts made to nab criminals who execute low-profile Jamaicans.

“It’s not a matter that we go after high-profile murderers more than we do other murderers,” he said. “A murder is a murder. A life is just a life. When someone is killed, we try to get the evidence as quickly as possible to do our investigations. If the evidence is available in a high-profile murder, we do just the same for a low-profile. Everyone’s life is respected and we will always look at it as a murder.”

Still, Benjamin believes that the combined effort of elite police units, including the Major Investigation Task Force, was working well to provide the platform upon which deeper investigations may be conducted.

“Despite our present arrest rate being at 31 per cent, arrests have improved in the Corporate Area and our efforts at reducing crime have paid off in Clarendon, which has seen a 35 per cent reduction in murders in recent months, compared with the same period last year,” he said.

“We are concerned about other areas, though, for example Westmoreland, which has seen a rise in killings recently, including a 14-year-old student for whose murder we recently held a man.

“We are not comfortable with our arrest rate, because we have been up to 42 per cent before in one year, but we are still trying to win the confidence of the public in getting information so that we can nab criminals,” Benjamin said.