POLICE investigators were last night trying to ascertain whether slain businessman Joseph Hanna was the victim of a contract killing. The 81-year-old Hanna was cut down as he left his business place at Retirement Crescent in Kingston about 5:30 Sunday afternoon.

The police said Hanna drove his Mercedes Benz motor car from his businessplace — B J Hanna and Sons Ltd — when two men on a motorcycle rode up and ordered him to drive back onto the compound.

Hanna refused to meet the demands of the gunmen and attempted to drive away but his attackers opened fire before he could get far. He was shot several times and managed to drive a few metres before his vehicle crashed into a woodwork shop. He died on the spot.

The gunmen, the police said, then took two bags from the trunk of his vehicle before escaping.

Homicide investigators were yesterday looking at the possibility that Hanna was taken out by a paid assassin. “We are not leaving out any possibility, but the way the murder was carried out makes it seem like a hit although it could also be a robbery as the men took bags from the trunk of the car,” one investigator told the Observer.

Hanna is the father of two-year-old twins and three other children who live abroad.

Yesterday, his car was parked at the Half-Way-Tree Police Station after forensic experts processed it. The front window on the driver’s side was shattered from the impact of the bullets while the left side of the vehicle and the headlamps were damaged. The left side mirror was also hit off.

B J Hanna and Sons was founded in 1939 and is a major importer and distributor of industrial parts and equipment.

Yesterday, president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, Milton Samuda, said Hanna’s murder was a reminder that the country still had a lot of work to do to beat back the perpetrators of crime and violence.

“My first reaction would be to extend condolences to his entire family. This shows us that although we have made some progress in fighting crime we still have a far way to go. The fight is nowhere near over and all law-abiding citizens must co-operate with the security forces. We have to be relentless,” Samuda said.

In November 2006, general manager for the company, Rosa Goveia, 37, was also shot and killed by a gunman as she entered the company’s compound.