JAMAICA Observer sources are reporting that Travis Ellis — the man charged with the murder of retired journalist Barbara Gayle — was chased from the community of Gulf in Portmore, St Catherine, after he gave conflicting stories about how he acquired the GLA 180 Mercedes Benz motor vehicle he was seen driving.

According to the sources, hours after news broke about Gayle’s murder, Ellis was seen driving around the community in the grey high-end vehicle.

“Him tell some people that him rent the Benz and him tell others that a him rich uncle buy it for him,” said one Observer source.

“But the man dem never believe him, and them beat him and tell him that him could not stay in the area. A just through man and man rate him father, who died some time ago, that was why him never get worse,” the source added.

It is believed that, under pressure from men in the Gulf area, Ellis ditched the vehicle in bushes along the Dyke Road, which is also in Portmore.

“But when him abandoned the van him could not come back a Gulf and him could not go Caymanas Bay where him have family, so we believe that was why he was hiding in the bushes when the police dem find him,” said the source.

Ellis reportedly grew up in the area known as Gulf, where his father was a popular bus conductor. He shared his time between Gulf and Caymanas Bay where he is believed to have family members.

The sources say it was in Caymanas Bay that he met a gardener who did work for several residents in the Caymanas Country Club Estate housing scheme.

“The gardener give him some work, but him collect money for the man and a hide from him. But because the people dem who live there were used to seeing him over there them never know that he was no longer connected to the gardener. That is how him could reach the journalist house to sit down and talk with her, and we believe him kill her for the Benz,” added one source.

Ellis has reportedly confessed to killing Gayle and is expected to enter a guilty plea when he appears in the St Catherine Parish Court.

He is facing charges of murder and robbery with aggravation.

Gayle was found dead at her home in the gated community of Caymanas Country Club Estate on December 17. Her body had multiple stab wounds and a gash to her face.

Her motor vehicle, which was stolen, was found a day later in bushes close to where Ellis was held.

Several people and entities reacted with shock and horror at the killing of the veteran journalist who made her name as a fair and accurate court reporter during her more than 50 years in the newsroom at The Gleaner.

Among those to condemn Gayle’s killing was former Prime Minister PJ Patterson, King’s Counsel, who interacted with her over many years.

According to Patterson, Gayle’s brutal murder is a wake-up call for Jamaica and underscores the urgent need for the nation to re-examine its values and prioritise those that are life-sustaining.

“Anger and greed must give way to caring and tolerance at every level,” Patterson said.

He added: “The solution to the national dilemma has to begin with acknowledging the sacredness of life — the belief that one’s own life is of intrinsic value. That necessitates valuing and treating others with respect.”