ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica — The 21-year-old son of one of four St Elizabeth men who went missing three weeks ago and are believed to have been murdered and buried in shallow graves in Clarendon, was held by citizens and handed over to the police following an attack on a 61-year-old businessman and farmer in Malvern, which has left the victim hospitalised with head injuries.

The St Elizabeth police are awaiting a statement from the injured man, who is said to be “in and out” of consciousness. It is believed that robbery was the motive for the attack.

“He (victim) is not in a position at this time to give us a statement,” head of the St Elizabeth police Superintendent Catherine Lord told OBSERVER ONLINE Friday.

The man in police custody has reportedly denied allegations made by the citizens.

Reports are that at about 9:30am yesterday, shocked neighbours found the victim of the attack unconscious in his house with a mattress covering his battered body. He was rushed to hospital.

Sometime later, the 21-year-old man, who reportedly said he had come to Malvern from Kingston to oversee his father’s “grave digging”, was held by residents, beaten, and taken to the Malvern police station. Others who were in his company are said to have fled the scene. The young man’s car was damaged.

On Friday, April 27, the decomposing bodies of four men were found in shallow graves in a stream bed in Pennants. The remains are believed to be those of men who left St Elizabeth for Clarendon on April 14 reportedly on a mission to collect payment for ganja. The men, named as Shawn Thompson and Alwyn Griffiths of Schoolfield and Prosper in Malvern; and cousins Kevon Hutchinson and Clinton Hutchinson of Rocky Hill, Santa Cruz were reported missing by relatives on April 15 and 16.

A post mortem was done on the bodies found at Pennants on Tuesday. It showed the men died from gunshot wounds. DNA samples were also taken from close relatives of the missing St Elizabeth four with a view to conclusive identification, police say. Garfield Myers