Crime in Jamaica-Negril
charles Lamoureux
Xtabi Hotel in the West End. On 12/28/98, while my wife and I slept, our
room was entered and all our cash stolen from the room safe. Actually,
all passports, tickets and credit cards were stolen but the thief tossed
everything but the cash in the bushes. The safe key had been well hidden
in the room but to no avail. The police were abusive, accused us of
fabricating the story and refused to provide a copy of the police report
for our insurance. That same night, a tourist, who had arrived on the
same day as our family, was robbed and strangled to death on the beach.
If you encounter crime in Jamaica, you will be on your own! The hotel
even charged me for the emergency phone call to VISA International.
Nobody takes any responsibility
for the crime; the police blame it on the tourist, its all being
dreamnt up by the tourist as an insurance scam! Also, each crime for
which the police refuse to issue a police report, is one less crime
statistic.
Lori Grasso
Werner Busch
when I'm on vacation I want tobe sometimes with the locals
and stroll araound.
But Negril is dangerous.
At my holidays there a woman from our hotels was robbed at the beach
and another couple robbed at the beach near the hotel and injured with
a knife.
Often the criminals are not from negril , they come there only for
robbery.
Avoid dark beaches and wlk near the sea when there is no light.
and avoid the beach between the bridge and Coral Seas Hotel.
werner
>I am very sorry to hear about what happened to you and your family! I
>have been going to Negril,Jamaica for years now and have never seen or
>heard any of what you poor people went through. I have found that the
>natives that I came across to be very polite and helpful! Unlike some of
>the islands I have been too! I don't know much about your hotel that you
>stayed at. I have always stayed at an all-inclusive resort where there a
>guards all around the resort! And I feel very safe!
>So sorry again, ~LORI~
greg kerr
charles Lamoureux wrote:
Jamaica is probably the most dangerous island in the Caribbean. It is
beyond me why tourists still go there. If you want a really safe island to
visit next time try either the Caymans or Cuba.
S&G
On Sun, 03 Jan 1999 15:23:04 -0500, charles Lamoureux
<clam...@erols.com> wrote:
>Just returned from Christmas family vacation in Negril Jamaica at the
>Xtabi Hotel in the West End. On 12/28/98, while my wife and I slept, our
>room was entered and all our cash stolen from the room safe. Actually,
>all passports, tickets and credit cards were stolen but the thief tossed
>everything but the cash in the bushes. The safe key had been well hidden
>in the room but to no avail. The police were abusive, accused us of
>fabricating the story and refused to provide a copy of the police report
>for our insurance. That same night, a tourist, who had arrived on the
>same day as our family, was robbed and strangled to death on the beach.
>If you encounter crime in Jamaica, you will be on your own! The hotel
>even charged me for the emergency phone call to VISA International.
>Nobody takes any responsibility
>for the crime; the police blame it on the tourist, its all being
>dreamnt up by the tourist as an insurance scam! Also, each crime for
>which the police refuse to issue a police report, is one less crime
>statistic.
>
--
S&G White
Canada
Rusty Neff
S&G wrote in message <36938738...@news.golden.net>...
>Can anyone verify this report re theft and murder in Negril?
Yes, the murder can be verified. It has been a hot topic of discussion on
the web board at www.negril.com
MsTho...@webtv.net
Robert Carpenter
>
> I just relayed the story that was published. The fact that Jamaica has
> a crime problem does not stop me from going there. I have been the 9
> times and hope to go again in the future. A visitor must just use
> common sense just like anywhere, even here in the US. Atlanta probably
> has about as much violent crime per capita as JA .
Perhaps 3 or 4 years go I ran into a story on a Caribbean news broadcast
that reported that there had been 777 murders in Jamaica the previous
year (just ended). Population is a bit over two million. That's around
38 per hundred thousand. Taxi drivers were reported to be a main victim.
In 1998, the city of Washington, DC, had a rate of about 49 per hundred
thousand, but the DC is still the USA's worst murder city - though the
newspaper story remarks that middle-class people are hardly ever
involved. My suburban Maryland county, which directly abuts the DC on
the north, had a murder rate of about 1.4 per hundred thousand in 1998.
Bob C.
Carleen Capps
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/ibbin/ibGate.exe?LOADPAGE=%2fJamaicaObserver%2findex.html
December 29, 1998
Mystery shrouds death of tourist in NegrilMYSTERY surrounds the death of an American
visitor who was found dead on a beach in Negril
yesterday morning as a post mortem performed
later in the day proved inconclusive.The police reported last night that a further detailed
analysis would be carried out by the government's
forensic laboratory to ascertain the cause of death.According to police reports, the body of 43-year-old
George Ffrench of a Georgia, USA, address was found,
at about 3: am, about 100 yards from the villa where he
was staying. Ffrench and his wife, Pamela, arrived in the
island on Christmas Eve and they were staying at the
Shields Negril Villas."At about 7:00 pm on the 27th, he left his wife in the hotel
room and went to cash some travellers cheques," a police
source told the Observer. "Two hours later when he
didn't return, his wife made an alarm and went in search
of him; but she did not find him."Ffrench's body was later discovered by a fisherman,
Richard Stewart, who notified a security officer from the
villa. Pamela Ffrench was notified and identified the body
as that of her husband."The body was lying on its back on the beach, with the
face covered with sand, but it was fully dressed," the
police said.No cash was found on Ffrench's body, and his Rolex
watch and bracelet were also missing; but his gold chain
and wedding ring were in place. According to the police
there were no external injuries or marks on the body.With the tourist industry already hampered by the late
allocation of promotional funds, and the fallout because of
the recent robberies, Ffrench's death is another potential
blow to the two-week-old winter tourist season.His death yesterday came on the heels of two separate
incidents of buses transporting German visitors being
hijacked and the hijacking of a bus transporting returning
residents.Resorts like Negril and Montego Bay have already started
receiving cancellations from Germany.With the weather getting colder overseas, industry
players were optimistic that the flagging industry would
pick up, but with this latest incident, there may be some
additional fallout when the story is picked up by the
international media.The JTB declined to comment on this latest incident,
involving Ffrench, until after it had received more
information regarding the circumstances of his death.S&G wrote:
Can anyone verify this report re theft and murder in Negril?
On Sun, 03 Jan 1999 15:23:04 -0500, charles Lamoureux
Darcy J Perkins
r_li...@hotmail.com
murdered on his way to cash travelers checks. Kip worked for me for a number
of months and was one of the finest Microsoft certified systems engineers I
have ever known. He will be missed by all of us. Our condolences to his
family. He had surprised his wife with the trip as an XMAS gift. What a
tragic thing it is when innocent tourists are murdered.
In article <36938738...@news.golden.net>,
sgw...@golden.net (S&G) wrote:
> Can anyone verify this report re theft and murder in Negril?
>
> On Sun, 03 Jan 1999 15:23:04 -0500, charles Lamoureux
> <clam...@erols.com> wrote:
>
> >Just returned from Christmas family vacation in Negril Jamaica at the
> >Xtabi Hotel in the West End. On 12/28/98, while my wife and I slept, our
> >room was entered and all our cash stolen from the room safe. Actually,
> >all passports, tickets and credit cards were stolen but the thief tossed
> >everything but the cash in the bushes. The safe key had been well hidden
> >in the room but to no avail. The police were abusive, accused us of
> >fabricating the story and refused to provide a copy of the police report
> >for our insurance. That same night, a tourist, who had arrived on the
> >same day as our family, was robbed and strangled to death on the beach.
> >If you encounter crime in Jamaica, you will be on your own! The hotel
> >even charged me for the emergency phone call to VISA International.
> >Nobody takes any responsibility
> >for the crime; the police blame it on the tourist, its all being
> >dreamnt up by the tourist as an insurance scam! Also, each crime for
> >which the police refuse to issue a police report, is one less crime
> >statistic.
> >
>
> --
> S&G White
> Canada
>
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corn
POSSIBLE DRUG OVERDOSE IN DEATH OF AMERICAN
TOURIST
Local News
Category: News
Date: 08 Jan 1999
Time: 17:57:22
Local News Text
There is a new development Friday afternoon in the mysterious death of
American tourist George Ffrench.
RJR News understands that forensic tests conducted into the death of the
American revealed that death could have
been caused by a drug overdose.
Deputy Spuerintendent of Police, A.J. Forbes has confirmed to RJR News
that the tests revealed that traces of
heroine were found in Mr Ffrench's urine, blood and stomach.
However, he said the police have not yet been advised by the Laboratory
whether the quantity of drugs found in Mr
Ffrench's system contributed to his death.
Two persons are now in police custody, being questioned in connection
with Mr. Ffrench's death.
Police Commissioner Francis Forbes had ordered a top level investigation
into the death of Mr. Ffrench of Georgia,
USA, after he was found dead on a beach in Negril on December 28.
A postmortem conducted on the same day revealed that death could have
been caused by strangulation.
According to Deputy Superintendent Forbes, notwithstanding the new
development the police are still being guided
by the findings of the pathologist.
Mr Ffrench was found dead hours after he left his Hotel in Negril to
change travelers cheques.
No cash was found on his body.
His Rolex watch and bracelet were also missing, but his gold chain and
wedding ring were found on him.
[../]
T1543
Recommended reading for anyone interested in how the evidence in cases like
this can be distorted by the police to protect a local tourist industry
is"Sitting Ducks" authored by Betsy Hitz-Holman, a former editor of Cruising
World Magazine [Seven Seas Press, 1983]. She and her boy friend were attacked
and robbed by a local in Bequia resulting in the near death of her boyfriend
from machete wounds. The amazing cover-up by the police and local officials
which followed is detailed in the book. The motive? Maybe 10% due to pure
ineptness in handling the investigation but 90% to protect the local tourist
economy from the black eye which would be associated with a violent crime
happening against a vacationer. True this wasn't Jamacia but the author, a
credible professional writer who saw all this firsthand, documents how a
tourist dependent island can go to great lengths to protect their bread and
butter.
T.
Rusty Neff
loss is huge, and I respect that.
However there is something that doesn't sounds quite right.
Mr. Ffrench went out to cash traveler's checks at 7:30....long after the
banks were closed, as were the cambios (money exchange booths). It was after
dark on the beach and no check cashing facilities were open.
Sometimes people do things on vacation they would never do at home.
T1543 wrote in message <19990111192213...@ng-fv1.aol.com>...
T1543
Your coyness is deafening.
And just what do you infer from your knowledge of when you can negotiate a
traveler's check in Negril? That Mr. French likewise knew the same? And his
strangled remains ended up on the beach because he walked there for wrongful
purpose?
In the book I referred to the author had been wearing a bikini when their yacht
arrived in Friendship Bay, Bequia. The police deduced this was the key piece
of evidence. They reasoned that her attire provoked passion which must have
led to the ensuing incident. The investigators spent more time looking into
proof of her provocation than searching for the local whose passion included
robbery and trying to machete her boyfriend to death.
It's called missing the jugular because of an instinct for the capillaries, a
well honed instinct of officials in tourist senstive economies.
T.
T.
Rusty Neff
I'm not saying the police are doing a good job, and I'm not attacking book
you read.
What I'm saying is that given everything I've read in the Gleaner (a
Jamaican newspaper), heard from Jamaicans, and know from living in a tourist
town myself, some aspects of the story sound a little out of whack. I'm not
claiming to have all the answers.
The point I'd like to make is that many people on this newsgroup (and on
other web boards) have an incredibly easy time jumping to conclusions, based
on heresay and rumor.
Maybe this situation is nearly identical to the one you described in the
book, but then again, maybe it isn't. We don't know. All we can do is
speculate.
Trashing Jamaicans (which you didn't do, by the way, and I thank you for it)
doesn't solve the crime and doesn't bring back Mr. Ffrench. All it does is
cause economic harm to primarily small business people. The large resorts
can up the marketing budget and weather any storm. Small business people in
Jamaica, dependent upon the tourist trade, will be the ones to suffer.
T1543 wrote in message <19990112235034...@ng-fc2.aol.com>...