Arguing that 20-year-old accountant Khanice Jackson “suffered an excruciating and slow death by strangulation” even while clawing at her killer’s shoulders “to hold on to her life”, the prosecution on Thursday said her killer, 52-year-old mechanic Robert Fowler, should be sentenced to nothing less than life behind bars.

A senior prosecutor, during a sentencing hearing for Fowler before Justice Leighton Pusey in the Home Circuit Division of the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston, said while Fowler — who pleaded guilty on March 8 this year — is eligible for a sentence discount based on the law, there was precedence for that discount to be further reduced or denied owing to the gravity of the offence or the strength of the case against the offender.

Further, the Crown commended the approach taken in a ruling of the Appeal Court in which the reduction of a discount was seen as imperative where protection of the public necessitates that a long sentence be imposed. As such, the prosecutor said the Crown was recommending that Fowler be sentenced to life imprisonment with eligibility for parole after he has spent between 20 and 25 years in prison.

“The deceased suffered an excruciating and slow death by strangulation, and the wounds on the defendant’s shoulders the Crown is asking this court to find as signs that she struggled to hold on to her life,” the prosecutor continued in further urging the sentencing judge to regard Jackson’s age and gender in comparison to her killer’s.

“The court must be mindful that we live in a society where we do have older men killing younger girls. The deceased was 20, while the defendant was 50 at the time of the incident. The defendant continued to aggravate the offence in an effort to conceal the body. He first hid the body in an abandoned building and then, perhaps like garbage, disposed of the body in a ditch,” he said further.

“This, the Crown submits, was a grave offence. A young lady, [having a] relationship of trust with the accused person, who was strangled to death, no doubt slowly appreciating what was happening, that she was not going to live. He has given a caution statement, where he has admitted his guilt; items belonging to her were found at his home; the case was strong against him,” the prosecutor said.

In the meantime, the prosecutor, who said the Crown had struggled to find murder cases with similar facts as Jackson’s, told the court the closest it came was that of fashion designer and photo studio operator 37-year-old Cornelius Robinson, who in 2015 pleaded guilty to the murder of 14-year-old schoolgirl Santoya Campbell with whom he claimed to have had a relationship. Robinson was that same year sentenced to life with eligibility for parole after 25 years. Robinson, in a renewed appeal in 2022, lost his bid to have his sentence reduced and succeeded only in having the 21 days he had spent in custody awaiting trial deducted.

“We would commend this case for the court’s consideration when it is deciding the sentence to be handed down,” the senior prosecutor said in noting that the appropriate objective when Fowler is being sentenced should be retribution and deterrence in light of the nature of the offence, the list of aggravating factors, and the public interest. He, however, noted that the call for retribution was not to be seen as asking the court to be “vengeful” in sentencing.

Justice Pusey stated emphatically that parole, when a life sentence is imposed, was not automatic, and even if granted did not mean that the convicted individual would be a “free person to walk up and down” at will.

Fowler’s attorney, Lynden Wellesley, in his plea in mitigation, said there were no words of consolation that could soothe the relatives of the dead woman. In pleading for Justice Pusey to “temper justice with mercy” Wellesley said his client had not wasted the court’s time and had accepted responsibility for the crime. The attorney, in further urging the judge to give consideration to Fowler’s rehabilitation, said he would not make any suggestion as to the sentence to be imposed on his client.

Responding to the submissions of the Crown, Wellesley said while he would not argue with the proposal for a life sentence, his client should be credited for time spent behind bars and the fact that he was remorseful. According to the attorney, his client has “been contrite, has accepted responsibility, and is sorry”. He further suggested that the period to be served before eligibility for parole should be less than 20 years.

Fowler is to be sentenced on May 4.