- As men chase man who stole their money
The quiet, remote district of Cross Roads near Keith in St Ann woke to screams, running feet and shouts of “fire!” And shortly thereafter, in the early Sunday morning, April 24, came news that two women, sisters in their mid fifties, had been burnt to death.
Before that, there had been a window broken, a bottle bomb thrown into the house where the sisters lived and then a fire raced through the six-apartment house.
Dead are: 57-year-old Paulette James, also called Lou and her sister a deaf/mute 59-year- old Janet James, also called Frances, both of Cross Roads, near the district of Keith. The two were stay-at-home adults who lived in their family home and were supported by relatives, most of them from overseas.
Reports are that two men had come to the area, in the darkness after midnight Saturday, searching for a man who had allegedly stolen money from someone in Montego Bay. The men broke their way into the alleged thief’s house but he ran from the house next door to where the sisters lived.
Members of the community, near Brown’s Town, could scarcely contain their grief Sunday morning but began to ask questions about whether the tragedy could have been averted had they reported to the police, the carryings on of one of their own and men who had come looking for him before.
The string of “hush hush events” culminated Sunday morning in the firebombing of the James’ house, set back from the road and up more than a dozen broad steps, in the small community between Minard and Keith.
The two sisters died in the kitchen, apparently having fled the bedroom where the fire is believed to have started. They were found on the floor lying head to toe.
A senior investigator on the scene said their torsos were barely identifiable, their skulls apparently burnt. “Severely charred, severely charred,” a senior investigator said.
Police used caution tape half way into the yard Sunday, asking everyone to stay clear of the house, the frame of which was left standing, as forensic analysts were to visit Monday. Fire personnel carried out detailed examination of the scene Sunday.
A grief stricken sister of the women, Sylvia Murray who lives in Runaway Bay said the women visited her every Wednesday except last week as they had a brother visiting from overseas for a funeral. The brother, Webster left Thursday. Ms Murray said her sisters enjoyed life and were fine Thursday when she spoke to them. “It is hard” she said, stating that she was struggling to come to terms with the loss of two of her seven siblings who died innocently.
