Dear Claudienne,

My deceased husband was a prisoner at the Horizon Adult Remand Centre from 2002 to 2013. Because of his incarceration we no longer had a strong relationship but I maintained contact with him as we had a son.

After his release in 2013, I tried to contact him but could not reach him, I later learnt that he had again been remanded into custody. In July of 2019, I received a call from a policeman in Kingston. He identified himself, but I do not remember his name. He informed me that my husband was admitted in the Kingston Public Hospital and said that I should come to visit him because he was in a serious condition. However, I was not familiar with Kingston so I was hesitant. I, however, contacted my husband’s older sister as I had a bad feeling about what the officer had said to me. We made plans to go and visit him, but later that night she called me to say she heard that he had died and that they wanted me to come to Kingston to be officially notified of his death.

I also got a call from the parish correctional officer and when I went to the office he and his team told me that my husband had a physical confrontation with a correctional officer/warder. He had been restrained by the correctional officer and was found dead. By then it was on the news about an investigation being launched into the mysterious death of an inmate.

I was later informed of a date for the autopsy by an officer and the copy of the burial order that I received from the commissioner of corrections /Department of Correctional Services on April 26, 2021, stated that his body was housed at the Tranquility Funeral home and had been buried at the May Pen Cemetery on December 2, 2020.

As I want to remarry and move on to another phase of my life, I decided to try to get a copy of my husband’s death certificate from the RGD (Registrar General Department). I sought the help of the Office of the Public Defender in Kingston and they referred me to their Mandeville office. At the Mandeville office I obtained the autopsy report of my deceased husband. However, when I took the document to RGD they said that the document was not signed, so it was not legal.

I took the letter back to the Office of the Public Defender in Mandeville for it to be returned to Kingston, but was later called and told to take the document to the Coroner’s Court in Portmore. However, they were unable to tell me the dates when the Coroner’s Court would be in session. I was also informed that I would not be able to speak at the Coroner’s Court, so here it was another dead end. I was then advised by a friend to contact a marriage officer. The marriage officer who I consulted advised me to contact Tell Claudienne.

I am tired of being at a “crossroads” and I am anxious to clear my name, continue in my Christian faith and move on from this over 21 years of nightmare.

I would appreciate your help.

HB

Dear HB,

Tell Claudienne has been in communication with the RGD in regard to your issues and notes that your case was referred to the RGD’s Authentication, Verification and Identity Department for investigation.
Tell Claudienne notes that the RGD has contacted you. The RGD also spoke with the Coroner’s Court and you were instructed to take your marriage certificate and your husband’s birth certificate to the Coroner’s Court. The autopsy report has also been authenticated at the Coroner’s Court. The RGD told
Tell Claudienne that your husband’s death certificate was delivered to the parish office on Tuesday, May 7, 2024 and you told the column on Wednesday, May 15, that you have collected your husband’s death certificate.

We wish you all the best.

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