MONTEGO BAY, St James – The St James police say they have made a breakthrough in the March 3 murder of Montego Bay hotelier Henry Chin.

According to the cops, 33-year-old St Catherine gangster Anthony Riley, who was shot dead on Thursday, June 23 by his cronies in the tough inner-city Gulf section of Norwood, St James, was the trigger man in the hotelier’s shooting.

Chin, who operated Toby Inn Hotel in Montego Bay, was robbed then shot by a gunman at his farm in the industrial area of Ironshore, St James.

Senior Superintendent Marlon Nesbeth said the police believe Riley was the man who killed the hotelier based on a composite sketch. “Plus, he was positively identified since his death by witnesses to the Henry Chin murder,” Nesbeth said.

According to Nesbeth, Riley was a top-tier member of a criminal gang operating in St Catherine. He was facing illegal possession of firearm and shooting charges in Clarendon. However, he took up residence in Norwood after he was granted bail. A condition of his bail was that he should not return to the parishes of Clarendon and St Catherine.

“So he sought refuge within our space with a female who is his girlfriend in the Gulf area,” Nesbeth told the Jamaica Observer.

The head of the St James Police Division appealed to residents to report strange men taking up residence in their communities.

“We would see in the past where hardened criminals transcend across borders. They operate within each other’s space. They invite each other into spaces. And our appeal must be to residents who know these persons within our own locale, tell the police about them. For instance, for Anthony Riley, with this background that he has, he would have found safe haven with this female and we ought to have known about him,” Nesbeth said.

In fact, he disclosed that not only was the St Catherine gangster fingered in the St James hotelier’s killing, but also featured in the Saturday, May 28 murder of Neville Foster in the upscale Ironshore community, where the killer also broke into several houses and robbed residents.

“This Anthony Riley seemingly engaged himself in the Ironshore area in several acts of crime. He robbed, shot people and broke into person’s houses. One of the cases we are looking into is the murder of Neville Foster on the 28th of May this year at 99 Chester Avenue, Ironshore. Based on his modus operandi, we strongly believe he had something to do with that — lone gunman entering the gentleman’s home and subsequently shot him,” Nesbeth pointed out.

Meanwhile, the police have said that during a joint police/military operation in the Irie Lane area of Norwood two Saturdays ago, a Smith and Wesson pistol that was recovered “turned out to be the gun that killed Henry (Chin)”.

The firearm was also robbed from an Independent Commission of Investigation investigator last year.