Defendant in Nancy Hardy murder offered bail

ONE OF two men who were recently charged in connection with last November’s murder of 72-year-old American national Nancy Hardy was offered bail in the sum of J$300,000 with two sureties when they appeared in the Hanover Parish Court on Tuesday.

Thirty-two-year-old Cedric ‘Smurf’ Johnson, of an Alexandria address in St Ann, is charged on one count of being an accessory to murder. He made a successful bail application through his attorney, Ernest Smith.

As part of his bail conditions, Johnson is to report to the Alexandria Police Station three days each week.

The other defendant, 33-year-old, Kemar ‘Rasta’ Grant, of Orange Bay, Hanover, and Sandy Bay, Clarendon, addresses, is charged with murder. He was remanded as he had no legal representation. Both men will return to court on April 26. Johnson and Grant were arrested by the police in Alexandria, St Ann, on March 12, after investigators received information that Johnson was seen in possession of a grey 2004 Honda CR-V, which was owned by Nancy Hardy.

Hardy, who hailed from Amherst, Massachusetts, went missing from her residence in Phase 3, Whitehall, Negril, on Saturday, November 24.

According to reports, approximately 10 o’clock that morning, a friend of Hardy’s went to visit her at home, only to discover that she was missing. A report was made to the police and a search was carried out, but Hardy was not found.

Hardy’s friend then reportedly informed the police that the missing woman was last seen in Grant’s company, as the two shared a common-law relationship. The lawmen went to a house in Logwood, Hanover, where Grant was residing, and neither he nor the American woman was found.

A search was carried out at the premises and the police stumbled upon a shallow grave close to the house. The grave was uprooted and Hardy’s decomposing body was found wrapped in a green towel, with her feet and hands bound, and her mouth stuffed with a rag.

Grant was immediately listed as the main person of interest in connection with Hardy’s murder and was eventually captured in early March. Johnson was taken into custody sometime afterwards.