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Gang boss shot dead – was active in Tivoli, cops say
• Diary found on killer outlines criminal activities
BY MARK CUMMINGS Observer senior reporter cummingsm@jamaicaobserver.com
Friday, August 13, 2010
MONTEGO BAY, St James — Notorious Stone Crusher gang leader Cedrick Murray, who had been on a list of Jamaica’s 10 most wanted fugitives for more than seven years, was yesterday shot dead by the police near the border of Clarendon and Manchester.
Commanding officer for St James, Superintendent Merrick Watson, told reporters during a press conference at the Montego Bay Freeport Police Station yesterday that Murray was killed at about 7:30 am during a confrontation with members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
MURRAY… eluded police for more than seven years
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Watson, however, declined to give details of the operation, but said that a Cigpro 9mm pistol was taken from Murray’s body, while the driver of the vehicle in which the fugitive was travelling escaped, probably with gunshot wounds.
A diary, Watson added, which contained voluminous information, including Murray’s thoughts on the May 24 incursion of Tivoli Gardens by police and soldiers, was also taken from the slain gangster.
Superintendent Watson said excerpts from the diary — some of which are “not fit for airplay” — spoke to Murray’s loyalty to former Tivoli strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke and his family.
“The diary details events that took place prior to, during, and after the incursion of the security forces in Tivoli Gardens. There are some parts of it that are not fit for airplay; but some parts of it read: ‘May 24, Babylon — the enemy — invaded Tivoli Gardens, gunshots rang out for hours from every corner of West Kingston and other places of Kingston to protect the man, the don of all dons, Christopher Coke aka ‘Dudus’,” Watson read from what he said were photocopied pages of the diary.
Other pages, he said, read: “My don is free; I will always say Jim Brown. I am loyal to the Coke family and my guns will always be ready. I may never see my don again — maybe years to come — but he knows that I will always be there for him.”
According to Watson, Murray also wrote in his diary that he was not afraid of the police and that his gun was his best friend.
“Babylon feel seh man a fool like dem. Dem feel seh dem can just come an’ kill mi. Dem better know seh mi a gangster fi life, all out when we get drawn out, straight bullet fi dem. My gun is my best friend, we are always together, always,” Watson said the gangster wrote.
Added Watson: “Another part of the diary reads: ‘I fired my AK until my finger was numb. I eat gunpowder until my throat was sore’.”
Coke was captured in June and extradited to the US to face gun and drug trafficking charges. Murray, the police said, had been on the run since 2002 after he was fingered in at least six murders committed in St James in previous years.
The police said he frequently visited Norwood, Salt Spring and Rose Heights in St James; Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland; and the Coronation Market in downtown Kingston. He is also accused of a triple murder at Felicity Road in Montego Bay, St James in February 2006.
Despite several police dragnets and a $1-million bounty, the fugitive had managed to elude the police.
“We know that Murray left Montego Bay and went to Tivoli Gardens where he occupied a very envious position in gang activities in that region,” said Watson. “He has been moving to and fro. We tried several times to apprehend him and he has managed to elude the police on a number of occasions.”
• Diary found on killer outlines criminal activities
BY MARK CUMMINGS Observer senior reporter cummingsm@jamaicaobserver.com
Friday, August 13, 2010
MONTEGO BAY, St James — Notorious Stone Crusher gang leader Cedrick Murray, who had been on a list of Jamaica’s 10 most wanted fugitives for more than seven years, was yesterday shot dead by the police near the border of Clarendon and Manchester.
Commanding officer for St James, Superintendent Merrick Watson, told reporters during a press conference at the Montego Bay Freeport Police Station yesterday that Murray was killed at about 7:30 am during a confrontation with members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
MURRAY… eluded police for more than seven years
[Hide Description] MURRAY… eluded police for more than seven years
[Restore Description]
1/1
Watson, however, declined to give details of the operation, but said that a Cigpro 9mm pistol was taken from Murray’s body, while the driver of the vehicle in which the fugitive was travelling escaped, probably with gunshot wounds.
A diary, Watson added, which contained voluminous information, including Murray’s thoughts on the May 24 incursion of Tivoli Gardens by police and soldiers, was also taken from the slain gangster.
Superintendent Watson said excerpts from the diary — some of which are “not fit for airplay” — spoke to Murray’s loyalty to former Tivoli strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke and his family.
“The diary details events that took place prior to, during, and after the incursion of the security forces in Tivoli Gardens. There are some parts of it that are not fit for airplay; but some parts of it read: ‘May 24, Babylon — the enemy — invaded Tivoli Gardens, gunshots rang out for hours from every corner of West Kingston and other places of Kingston to protect the man, the don of all dons, Christopher Coke aka ‘Dudus’,” Watson read from what he said were photocopied pages of the diary.
Other pages, he said, read: “My don is free; I will always say Jim Brown. I am loyal to the Coke family and my guns will always be ready. I may never see my don again — maybe years to come — but he knows that I will always be there for him.”
According to Watson, Murray also wrote in his diary that he was not afraid of the police and that his gun was his best friend.
“Babylon feel seh man a fool like dem. Dem feel seh dem can just come an’ kill mi. Dem better know seh mi a gangster fi life, all out when we get drawn out, straight bullet fi dem. My gun is my best friend, we are always together, always,” Watson said the gangster wrote.
Added Watson: “Another part of the diary reads: ‘I fired my AK until my finger was numb. I eat gunpowder until my throat was sore’.”
Coke was captured in June and extradited to the US to face gun and drug trafficking charges. Murray, the police said, had been on the run since 2002 after he was fingered in at least six murders committed in St James in previous years.
The police said he frequently visited Norwood, Salt Spring and Rose Heights in St James; Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland; and the Coronation Market in downtown Kingston. He is also accused of a triple murder at Felicity Road in Montego Bay, St James in February 2006.
Despite several police dragnets and a $1-million bounty, the fugitive had managed to elude the police.
“We know that Murray left Montego Bay and went to Tivoli Gardens where he occupied a very envious position in gang activities in that region,” said Watson. “He has been moving to and fro. We tried several times to apprehend him and he has managed to elude the police on a number of occasions.”
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