Man slain in front of family
December 04, 2008
As the sun was slowly setting behind the clouds in Logwood, Hanover, Tues-day, Joy Gray sat on her murdered son's Yamaha RX100 bike gazing steadfastly at his photos. Fighting back tears, she remembered Richard Farrier as cheerful.
"Just as how you see him smiling in the pictures, that's how he was - very jovial," she lamented.
Farrier, a 36-year-old scuba diver, of Orange Bay Road, Logwood, was shot multiple times about 1:30 Tuesday morning.
Uncertain of motive
Police told The Gleaner Wednesday they were still uncertain of the motive.
Constable Rohan Reid, the Constabulary Communications Network liaison officer for Hanover, reported that four men, three of whom were armed with guns, entered Farrier's house and demanded money.
When their demands were not met, they shot him in front of his common-law wife and their four children - the youngest of whom is nine years old and the eldest, 10.
The gunmen then escaped. Farrier's family was not hurt.
Police confirmed that Farrier was shot twice in the head, twice in the back and once in the neck.
Investigators said they were probing rumours that Farrier's death might be linked to a find during one of his dives.
"We have no evidence, however, to substantiate such reports so for now we can only treat it as speculation," one officer stated.
Rocked community
Meanwhile, Farrier's 16-year-old son, whose identity has been withheld for security reasons, told The Gleaner that his father was not known to be a troublemaker.
"Him nuh trouble people and him nuh in a nutten wid nobody. Him just go from work to home," he said.
The incident has rocked the community. Residents say the brazenness of the act harks back to a grisly murder in Logwood in 1980.
"We feel very fearful right now," said a female resident, who did not disclose her name.
Author: Noel Thompson
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
