December 9 sentencing for 4 year-old gay lover beheading case in St Ann

In a follow up to a case I have been tracking since 2012 of the beheading of a man in St Ann one of the accused is to be sentenced in the St Ann Home Circuit Court on December 9 after he was convicted of the murder, he is Howard Ricketts, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP says Ricketts helped his co accused Neville ‘Garnet’ Lewis murder Burnett Thomas back in March 2012 at his Brown’s Town home in St Ann the deceased was said to have had an intimate relationship with the accused. On the day of his death they had a dispute reportedly Lewis otherwise called ‘Garnet’ accused the deceased Mr Thomas of infecting him with HIV Ricketts testified that on the morning of the incident he saw Lewis use a machete to chop Mr Thomas on the left side of the neck he said then Lewis told him he had to take part in the act.

here was the TVJ report then:

TVJ March 25th Headless Man Story & Suspicions from GLBTQJA 

Rickets said he assisted Lewis to pull Mr Thomas to the bedroom where he then inflicted stab wounds to the chest and intestinal area with a machete as well. Lewis enraged subsequently use the machete to sever the head of Thomas then placed it in a rice bag, police acting on information proceeded to the house where smoke was seen coming from one of the room windows, firemen who also arrived on the scene to extinguish the flames when they discovered the body of a naked headless man lying on his back was seen on the also partially burnt mattress. He was later identified to be Mr Burnett Thomas; the body had several stab wounds with reportedly intestines protruding.

Rickets said in an unsworn statement indicated that he stabbed the deceased approximately three times and that Lewis chopped off the head of the deceased after the incident Ricketts said he was so scared he got dressed and left for work as usual. On March 29, 2012 an eyewitness residing nearby said a foul stench was in the air and went to investigate and found the decomposing head of what appeared to be a male with flies encompassing it in close proximity to their house in Orange Hill District, Brown’s Town St Ann, the head was later identified to be that of the deceased. On April 2, 2012 the accused Howard Ricketts was charged.

When cautioned he said:

“Officer a de boi Garnet cause dis pon mi enuh, a him seh mi fi help and look wah happen”

(Officer is the boy Garnet cause this on me you know, he said I should help him now look what has happened)

On May 26, 2014 Neville ‘Garnet’ Lewis pleaded guilty to murder while his co accused was found guilty late last month.

As word of this case spreads comments continue to conflate crimes of passion beliefs versus reported homophobic driven murders all because of one case, those who supposedly oppose homosexuality of the removal of amendment of the buggery law, it was earlier this year as well we saw a matter in western Jamaica where a teacher was found dead in his house also in a decomposing state and allegations were that a lovers’ quarrel led to the gruesome find as gays are supposedly jealous to the core. One or two murders that may appear to be domestic or intimate partner violence evidence cannot and ought not to be used to justify homophobia indeed condemning the deceased as deserving of their fate; and sometimes done in the name of God bizarrely.

Older more popular murder cases that are kept alive in media given the typed of attention and skewing deliberately or not of the situations and ignorance of gay life altogether; speculation is the driver on the crisis reporting front. Older terms that used to attend was “Sodomatical attack” as an old case in the 80s, September 28 1983 the day of the murder and May 30, 1984 is one such, the judge was scathing in his summation in that case as the man who was murdered as the Chauffeur one Anthony Angus in question was freed on the basis of the usually deceptively used ‘gay panic defense’ by defense council or prosecution and that the accused was ‘entitled to kill in justification’ of the deceased Desmond Schnoor a business also in St Ann as this beheading case, Mr Schnoor’s gun was used to kill him.

Angus testified that he went to the home of Schnoor after being asked to although he may have suspected he was gay and that was the supposed outcome as the business made a move on him, the question then as is now is why did Angus go in the first place if he knew or suspected Schnoor was gay? Sad that in that particular instance what appeared to be a lie to suit the national sentiments on male homosexuality went on to free an accused man; the truth may never have been revealed, there may have been a down-low element in that matter.

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

also see/listen:

Chopped for girly walk, fingers almost severed in dispute 


Teacher found dead in home, crime of passion is suspected by cops

Oh Uncle Brian ....

Gay panic defense used to gain bail in penis biting case 

Bail offered in wounding case 

Brothers charged for killing suspected gay lover 

Gay on Gay violence on the rise