There is shock and grief over the apparent murder and rape of a Christian woman, who was coming home from work on Sunday, May 28.
Dead is 59-year-old Paulette Kerr-Duncan, a domestic helper of Launcewood in Exchange, near Ocho Rios in St Ann.
Kerr-Duncan’s naked body was found on Monday afternoon, May 29 with what appeared to be chop and stab wounds.
A week after the murder, Mrs Kerr-Duncan’s husband, George Duncan, also known as ‘Sleepy’ sat and reflected at their house they had recently moved into. He said that the police had told him that she had been raped and killed.
DID NOT COME HOME
Mr Duncan explained his wife left home at about 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 28 to go to work at her employer’s house in the Bonham Spring area. He said that she would usually leave work at 5 p.m. However, there was no sign of his wife later that evening.
“I started to call from 7:30 in the Sunday night. She normally come home by 6 or 6:30. But when me call her, I got no reply. So the night pass and me start call her back at seven and 10 Monday morning and the phone ring and still no answer. When me call her back at 11:30 a.m., it ring and then it go straight to voicemail,” Mr Duncan explained.
He said that it was about 2:30 p.m. on Monday, May 29, that her naked body was found in bushes on a section of his wife’s employer’s property in the Bonham Spring area.
Mr Duncan explained that he got a call from the employer of his wife to say that a man, who worked on the property, was walking on the road, when he saw money and a phone on the roadway. He later found the body and reported it.
CHRISTIAN COUPLE
“The two of us are Christian people and a mean it’s a missing company. It was only the two of us,” Mr Duncan said, while adding that they both attended the Bonham Spring Church of God in Exchange.
He described his wife as a very jovial person, who was very active in church and that they both got along well. Both had been married for nine years and they had no children together. However, she had two girls and a son, who lived in Hanover. Mrs Kerr-Duncan had also been living in Hanover, before coming to reside in St Ann.
Mr Duncan indicated that no one had been arrested for his wife’s killing.
ACTIVE CHURCH MEMBER
While The Times was at the couple’s home, several female church members of the Bonham Spring Church of God came to visit Mr Duncan.
They all recounted that she was very actively involved in the church. One church member indicated that Mrs Kerr-Duncan was not in church that Sunday (May 28) as she had indicated that she was not feeling well.
“She was a type of person, who is very dedicated. We referred to her as a prayer warrior. She was very dedicated,” one church member indicated.
Others also described her as very kind, dedicated, quiet and always giving.
Mrs Kerr-Duncan was also a member of the hospitality committee of the church who ensured the preparation of meals for visitors to the church, among other duties.
The church members indicated that they were also fearful, shaken up and worried by the murder of their church member.