‘Wall of silence’ over Jamaica murder Brits
Fear may stop truth coming out say granddaughters on eve of inquest into killings
THE family of a British couple murdered in Jamaica say a wall of silence is protecting their killers.
An inquest into the deaths of Charlie and Gayle Anderson is due to open in the UK tomorrow, more than two years after their bodies were found in their burned-out home on the island.
Granddaughter Stacey Anderson believes people there know who is responsible but are too scared to talk.
Charlie, 74, and Gayle, 71, were killed in June 2018 – a year after leaving the UK for a home they had built in Mount Pleasant, north of capital Kingston.
They had face and neck injuries and the house had been petrol bombed.
Just 48 hours earlier Gayle had told police the name of a man she believed had siphoned tens of thousands of pounds from their bank. A suspect who had worked for them as a handyman and driver was later charged with fraud and is due to stand trial next month.
But their killers are still at large. The couple, from Manchester, had been married for 55 years and had two sons. Granddaughter Stacey, 33, believes the alleged fraud and the murders are linked.
She said: “I think people do know who’s done it – and I believe it was more than one person.
“But I think people are scared for their own safety. And I can’t blame them, the same could happen to them.
“My grandma went to the police station and was killed a short time later. I can understand they’re scared to come forward but I would of course urge them to.”
Stacey, from Manchester, believes the killers knew the house and had visited
STARTING OUT On wedding day
previously. She said: “My grandparents didn’t use the front door. It looked like it was the front door but it was boarded up inside. These people didn’t try the front, they knew to go to the side door.” She and sister Chloe, 28, have been in regular contact with the Foreign Office but are frustrated at the lack of progress being made in Jamaica.
They are bracing themselves to hear harrowing details of their grandparents’ deaths at the inquest.
But they are praying the hearing will pave the way to a breakthrough. Stacey added: “I hope it brings more attention to the case and lets people know we will not give up.
“The end goal is that somebody is charged with my grandparents’ murder.
“These people are still leading their lives, doing what they would normally
SCENE Pair’s burnt-out Jamaica home
do. My grandma and grandad can’t live the rest of theirs. They had many years left, they were young grandparents.
“Their killers think it’s been forgotten, but we won’t rest until they’re caught.”
Ex-supermarket worker Gayle and builder Charlie had moved to Jamaica, where he was born, for their retirement.
Their bodies were brought back to Manchester and hundreds of people lined the streets at their funeral in Gorton, where they had lived.
The family’s lawyer Shane Smith, of Slater and Gordon, said: “This tragic case has been made all the more distressing because of delays in Jamaica.
“It’s assumed, based on the evidence, that the fraud and murder were linked but we’ve yet to have this confirmed.
“The family only want to find out what happened to their grandparents – why their lives were so tragically cut short.”
People are scared to talk, it may happen to them too
STACEY ANDERSON ON GRANDPARENTS’ MURDER