The murder of a British tourist in Jamaica was a ‘contract murder’ by ‘unknown assailants’, police in the country have claimed.
West London’s Sean Patterson was found in a “pool of blood” with gunshot wounds to the upper body and head around noon on January 2.
Officers made the grim discovery near the pool at the 33-year-old’s holiday accommodation in Bogue Hill, St James, where he was staying with another man, also from London.
“Our investigation so far has speculated that the murder was a contract murder emanating from Britain,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Fitz Bailey said in a video statement on Wednesday.
He added that Mr Patterson arrived in Jamaica on December 29 and spent several days in an apartment before checking into the Bogue Hill villa on New Year’s Day.
Later that day, Mr Patterson and the man staying with him met a third person from Kingston, and all three stayed at the guesthouse in separate rooms.
It was around noon the next day that Mr Patterson and the Jamaican man went to the villa’s pool deck, and a ‘lone man in a black hoodie’ was seen shooting , Mr. Bailey said.
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“(The Kingston man) reported that he had his back to (Mr.) Patterson when he heard several loud explosions (which) sounded like gunfire,” he added.
“He reported that he looked around and saw a lone man in a black hoodie with a handgun shooting at (Mr.) Patterson.”
The witness allegedly fled and hid in the bushes.
“Significant progress” underway
The commissioner concluded by saying local authorities were working with their international partners, including British police, and making “significant progress” in the case.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Patterson’s mother, Lesley Wright, said her son had traveled to Jamaica to meet his family and it was his first time visiting the country.
The 63-year-old told the outlet: “I lost my baby. No mother should have to bury her child.
“We hope justice will be served and my son’s killer will be taken off the streets where he can’t hurt anyone else and destroy another family.”
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office confirmed that they were “supporting the family of a Briton who died in Jamaica and are in contact with local authorities”.
