MONTEGO BAY, ST James — FRIENDS and family of 43-year-old Paul Gardner, managing director of the Wexford Hotel here, are in shock following the discovery of his body yesterday in an apartment minutes away from his matrimonial home in the Norwood Housing Scheme.

The gruesome discovery was made in the wee hours of the morning after the police spotted a Toyota Vista motor car — which turned out to be that of Gardner’s wife, Raquel — being driven without headlights on during a patrol in Greenwood, a community on the border of St James and Trelawny.

According to a normally impeccable Observer West police source, as the police drew closer, the motor vehicle accelerated, but was intercepted within minutes.

One of the two occupants of the car jumped out and eluded the police. However, the driver, whose clothes were drenched in blood, was caught. The police also discovered a bloodied knife in the car.

After being interrogated, the man led the police to an apartment in the upscale Mango Walk community of St James, where Gardner’s bloody body was found with multiple stab wounds.

Subsequent investigations led the police to the suspect’s house in Greenwood.

According to the police, the house is shared by about 10 other male occupants.

The police source say an identification card belonging to a senior army man was also discovered at the Greenwood apartment.

Gardner, who was employed to the Wexford for just under a year, was highly respected in the hotel sector where he worked with several establishments before settling at the Wexford. He also lectured at the Northern Caribbean University’s Runaway Bay campus.

“He was supposed to be there this evening,” his wife, Raquel told the Observer West yesterday.

According to Raquel, she last saw her husband at about 7:00 pm on the night of his murder.

“We arrived home within minutes of each other and watched the news together. Then he said he had to go back to work to finish some paperwork for the bank. The last thing we talked about was renewing our drivers’ licences which expire in July,” she said in tears.

Gardner, who hails from Westmoreland’s Bethel Town, is also survived by a daughter and two sons.

‘Paul Gardner was a good man’— Wexford

THE Wexford Hotel expressed sorrow at the death of its managing director in a press release yesterday. “The management and staff of The Wexford Hotel sadly mourn the loss of our managing director, Paul Gardner, who was killed by unknown assailants this morning, Wednesday, June 2.

“Paul was an integral part of our team, someone we could always depend on,” said Carlyle Allen, the hotel’s chairman.

“Mr Gardner was a jovial person, an all-rounder that bent backwards in offering help to staff, he’ll be greatly missed,” Allen added.