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Pharmacist abducted, raped, murdered
Police urge commuters to take legal taxisKARYL WALKER, Crime/court co-ordinator walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Police investigators process the crime scene at Chancery Hall, St Andrew where Terry-Ann Thompson's (inset) charred remains were found stuffed in a culvert yesterday. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)
POLICE have warned members of the public to take registered public transportation, following yesterday's gruesome discovery of the charred remains of a female pharmacist in Chancery Hall, St Andrew.
The pharmacist, Terry-Ann Thompson, 23, worked at MegaMart on Waterloo Road in St Andrew. She resided at Woodhaven Avenue, also in St Andrew.
"People must stay away from robot taxis and take the JUTC buses. Find a reputable taxi company and stay away from illegal transport operators," head of the St Andrew North Police Division, Superintendent Anthony Morris, said yesterday.
Morris's warning came less than a week after an officer from the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) announced that robot taxi operators, minibus drivers and conductors were the main sexual predators of underage girls.
Police believe Thompson was abducted, raped and murdered shortly after boarding a route taxi in Half-Way-Tree after leaving work Thursday night.
Thompson's body was found stuffed in a culvert at Wagner Avenue in Chancery Hall at the foot of Red Hills in St Andrew.
The woman's remains were badly burnt and only a section of her upper body was identifiable. Police said her attacker(s) apparently used wood, cardboard and paper to ignite the body after raping and killing her.
While investigators were busy processing the crime scene, two men, who said they were the dead woman's brother-in-law and a neighbour arrived with photographs of Thompson, after receiving reports that the body could be that of her.
Funeral home workers had difficulties retrieving the body from the culvert. Seconds after they exited a waterway, which led from the culvert, a gush of water came flowing down during a heavy downpour.
"We are very lucky because the body would have washed away and we would have nothing to work with," a police investigator told the Observer.
Immediately after the removal of the body the two men were asked by the police to identify it. However, because of the severe burns the man who said he was the brother-in-law was not sure if the remains were that of Thompson. "I am not sure. It don't look like she," the man told investigators.
Thompson's body was eventually identified by her twin sister who had earlier reported her missing. Her murder has left a five-year-old boy motherless.
Police urge commuters to take legal taxisKARYL WALKER, Crime/court co-ordinator walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Police investigators process the crime scene at Chancery Hall, St Andrew where Terry-Ann Thompson's (inset) charred remains were found stuffed in a culvert yesterday. (Photo: Bryan Cummings) POLICE have warned members of the public to take registered public transportation, following yesterday's gruesome discovery of the charred remains of a female pharmacist in Chancery Hall, St Andrew.
The pharmacist, Terry-Ann Thompson, 23, worked at MegaMart on Waterloo Road in St Andrew. She resided at Woodhaven Avenue, also in St Andrew.
"People must stay away from robot taxis and take the JUTC buses. Find a reputable taxi company and stay away from illegal transport operators," head of the St Andrew North Police Division, Superintendent Anthony Morris, said yesterday.
Morris's warning came less than a week after an officer from the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) announced that robot taxi operators, minibus drivers and conductors were the main sexual predators of underage girls.
Police believe Thompson was abducted, raped and murdered shortly after boarding a route taxi in Half-Way-Tree after leaving work Thursday night.
Thompson's body was found stuffed in a culvert at Wagner Avenue in Chancery Hall at the foot of Red Hills in St Andrew.
The woman's remains were badly burnt and only a section of her upper body was identifiable. Police said her attacker(s) apparently used wood, cardboard and paper to ignite the body after raping and killing her.
While investigators were busy processing the crime scene, two men, who said they were the dead woman's brother-in-law and a neighbour arrived with photographs of Thompson, after receiving reports that the body could be that of her.
Funeral home workers had difficulties retrieving the body from the culvert. Seconds after they exited a waterway, which led from the culvert, a gush of water came flowing down during a heavy downpour.
"We are very lucky because the body would have washed away and we would have nothing to work with," a police investigator told the Observer.
Immediately after the removal of the body the two men were asked by the police to identify it. However, because of the severe burns the man who said he was the brother-in-law was not sure if the remains were that of Thompson. "I am not sure. It don't look like she," the man told investigators.
Thompson's body was eventually identified by her twin sister who had earlier reported her missing. Her murder has left a five-year-old boy motherless.
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