I do believe that for the rest of my life I shall reflect on murders that will haunt me. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Barbara Gayle murder is one that will haunt and hurt me the most.

I have worked on many murders in my lifetime in a variety of roles, carrying out several different functions. I have even known quite a few of the victims. Why Barbara’s case hurts so much is because she did nothing wrong. She didn’t choose a life of crime, she didn’t insult anyone, she wasn’t even particularly negligent. She literally was killed because she was kind.

I’ve always liked her since I became involved in the courts of Jamaica almost 40 years ago. No matter what side I was working for she always seemed to be supporting the same team.

Her murder investigation is perhaps the only bright light in this entire tragedy, because it was so professionally done that maybe it will convince people not to commit violent crime. This is not a common belief in Jamaica, people actually believe that most of the time murderers get away with murder. It’s simply not true. Jamaica solves most of its murders. More than half, in fact, and consistently so.

In this case, forensic evidence was used, telecommunication evidence, CCTV, trace evidence, and, of course, good old-fashioned police work. This case was virtually solved within 48 hours. Every major department in the Criminal Investigations Bureau (CIB), from CIB headquarters to Communication Forensics and Cybercrime Division, was made available to the investigators from the St Catherine South Police Division’s CIB, which is actually, in my somewhat biased opinion, the best CIB in the country.

Jamaica, however, is at a point where it likely boasts the best CIB in the Caribbean without any real challenge from any other country in the region. They don’t market their success very well, but there are few countries in the world that can boast the amount of solved cases that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) can, if put to a ratio comparison relative to ‘size of force’. We solve more murders annually than the New York Police Department with a staff one-third their size.

I honestly believe that there are not many scientific investigative techniques being used by First-World countries that are not being used in Jamaica. Our laws are our biggest stumbling blocks. We cannot get telecommunication evidence at the drop of a hat like American investigators can. We cannot take confessions from suspects without them having some form of legal representation. There are very good reasons for these rules, but nevertheless, they are tools that we don’t have access to.

I remember training as a homicide investigator at Miami Dade Police Academy some years ago. My instructor was Dr Henry Lee, who had become famous because of the OJ Simpson case, and he was genuinely an expert. I was impressed with him, but to be honest, there is no process at this point in time that he was teaching me that is not currently in use by the JCF’s CIB and, pound for pound, I think Deputy Superintendent Blackstock can give him a run for his money.

Jamaicans don’t respond well to statistics. They also tend to lean towards analysing crime and the effectiveness of the police force by news headlines rather than scientific analysis. I guess one is more fun to read than the other. So I would invite you to look at major cases and see how many are not just solved, but solved in record time.

Danielle Anglin, Cherry Tree Lane, and Barbara Gayle are just three that I can think of in a wink. We are in a good place nationally as it relates to investigations. There are good, talented officers administering the CIB, from Deputy Commissioner of Police Richard Stewart, who is the overall man in charge, to the leader of CIB, Acting Assistant Commissioner Wayne Josephs, so we are in good hands.

I have known Wayne Josephs most of his career. The CIB could not be administered by a more competent officer or a better person. Under his command, the already exceptional performance of the CIB is only expected to improve.

I believe Barbara Gayle’s case reflects this. I believe that she, as a legendary crime reporter, would be proud of the investigation that led to the man accused of killing her being arrested and charged.

As a social scientist and criminologist, I have pondered, considerably, why a crime like this occurs. I look at social conditions, economic realities, and the culture of misery as possible contributors to the creation of this brutal human being. I even read my fellow Calabar old boy, former Prime Minister Percival Patterson’s analysis of the culture of violence that exists in the creation of the man who brutally murdered Barbara.

I agree with a lot of what he says; we do have a culture of violence. The unanswered question, however, is why is it that most of us, literally 99 per cent of us, do not engage in brutal crimes of this nature?

What made this man believe that it was okay for him to do this to another human being, who was only showing him kindness? This is not a reflection of the average Jamaican citizen. This is not even a reflection of the average Jamaican criminal.

I felt a hole in my chest when I responded to her crime scene because I had already been informed by the officers there what had occurred. I still feel that hole. It hasn’t gotten smaller. It hasn’t gotten better. But I feel comforted that her accused killer has been caught. I feel proud that the JCF’s CIB has demonstrated its capabilities once again.

There is no perfect crime, and this perpetrator made many errors. There was, however, a time when there was no CCTV, no DNA, no telecommunications tracking, and no JamaicaEye. Despite this, great Jamaican detectives like Cornwall “Bigga” Ford, Anthony Hewitt, WG Walker, and Dick Hibbert always virtually solved the big cases. They did this because they were committed to use what technology was available to them at that time.

Commitment has been a consistent factor in the JCF’s CIB for decades upon decades. Our current committed detectives now have scientific tools that their predecessors didn’t have, but it is the commitment of our detectives that makes the difference and has been the one consistent element in our war over the last 50 years.

I cannot think of a major crime scene where I didn’t see Acting Deputy Superintendent of Police Homer Morgan, Senior Superintendent of Police Champenny, Det Inspector McGill, and Det Sergeant Wayne Hunt, irrespective of where the crime takes place.

I saw Homer Morgan on a mountain top last week in Central Village at a triple murder. He was also at Cherry Tree Lane, which is not even his division. The commitment of our CIB is as misunderstood as its capabilities.

If we can get some shred of positivity from this horror story, let it be that this case reflects the certainty that if you commit murders, there is an extremely good chance that they will get you and put you in a cage, like an animal, for the rest of your life.

Maybe, just maybe, it will deter even one more evil, useless mongrel from taking the life of a helpless old woman.

Feedback: drjasonamckay@gmail.com

Jason McKay