The police have made a breakthrough in the killing of a Digicel Jamaica employee whose body was found in a barrel last month after he was reported missing.

Three women have been charged in connection with the killing. Others are in custody, and the police are seeking several more suspects.

The deceased, 43-year-old Kevin Walker, from Antrim Road in Vineyard Town, Kingston 3, was a sales administrator at the telecommunications company.

Walker was found inside a blue plastic barrel along Industrial Terrace in the Kingston Western division on February 3, 2025. His stolen debit and credit cards have since been recovered.

Those charged are Anita Vanzie, 30, from Mark Lane; Shaday Bennett, 29, from Oxford Street and Joanna ‘Birdy’ Williams, 36, also from Oxford Street, all in Kingston.

They have been charged with murder, conspiracy to murder, simple larceny, being a part of a criminal organisation, providing benefit to a criminal organisation, misprision of felony, accessory before the fact, accessary after the fact and preventing the lawful burial of a corpse.

The police have listed two men as persons of interest in connection with the killing. They are Lavar Witter and a man known as ‘Shaino’. These men are asked to report to the Denham Town Police Station by 6:00 pm on Monday.

Assistant Commissioner Michael Phipps, head of the Area 4 police, told Observer Online that the breakthrough was a result of the cutting-edge technology and forensic science the JCF has employed.

“After weeks of meticulous investigations, our team of investigators, supported by our partners and other significant stakeholders, utilized advanced technologies and other forensics, including DNA forensics to re-examine the evidence and identify new leads in the murder,” ACP Phipps said. “The combination of advanced technology and forensic expertise has proven to be a game changer in our efforts to solve this crime.”

Information reaching Observer Online indicated that around 10:00 am on February 1, Walker left home and went to meet women who lured him into the Hannah Town community. While there, he was accosted by three men at a premises.

The men robbed him of his debit and credit cards and forced him to give up his Personal Identification Number (PIN) and online banking information, which he did.

Immediately afterwards, police said two women went to an ATM at Cross Roads, St Andrew, where they withdrew monies from Walker’s card, returned to the premises and shared it among the group.

Walker was tied up, beaten and stabbed to death. Around 11:50 pm that same day, the body was placed in a barrel and disposed of on Industrial Terrace.

On Sunday, February 2, 2025, a missing person report was made at the Vineyard Town Police Station for Walker. The body was found the following day but was not immediately identified due to its advanced stage of decomposition.

READ: Kingston man missing

It was identified a few days later. A postmortem conducted on February 16 concluded that death was a result of “deep throat cutting”.

Prior to that, police said intensive investigations led them on a targeted operation on Mark Lane on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, where Vanzie was held and one of the bank cards was found in her possession.

Subsequent operations led to the arrest of the two other women. They were all charged following a ruling from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODDP).

The ACP praised those involved in investigating the murder.

“I would like to commend and acknowledge the invaluable contributions of our forensic experts, other technologists and of course investigators and some other critical stakeholders who I know worked tirelessly to bring this investigation to a successful resolution. This achievement again demonstrates the JCF’s commitment to leverage innovative technologies and other techniques to drive justice and keep our communities safe,” he said.