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Crime Featured News Jamaica Latest Jamaican News

UTECH Student Arrested in Court for Alleged Cyber Bank Robbery

St Andrew, Jamaica (McN) – Alleged “Bank Hacker” Romaine Barrett, cuffed on Wednesday when he appeared before the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Court to answer charges of Cyber Fraud.

Barrett, a computer science student at the University of Technology (UTech) – St. Andrew campus, was arrested in court on Wednesday when he appeared before the St. Andrew Parish Court to answer allegation of – violation of the Cyber Criminal Act.

According to court reports, allegedly, Romaine Barrett was refused bail based on arguments of his level of computer knowledge, that if he is released, Barrett could erase vital evidence from the computer systems in question.

Court reports are the Barrett who pleads not guilty to breaching the Cyber Crimes Act, is the alleged mastermind behind the creation of computer malware viruses, which he “allegedly” used to hack unto several customers accounts at various banks, pocketing millions of J$dollar of, bank customers’ money.

Barrett will return to the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Court on February 2, 2017.

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Crime Featured News Jamaica

Voodoo Doctor – Lottery scammer Arrested: No Hucus Pocus Helped!!

MONTEGO BAY, St James (McN) – The new trend for lottery scammers according to the Lottery Scam Task Force is to get “spiritual” help to “guard” them in their crime. 

The St. James task force reports that a man and his Haitian wife confessed that they were voodoo practitioners when they were arrested during a task force anti-lottery raid in their Rose Heights, St. James home.

Sergeant Kevin Watson, media liaison officer of the Lottery Scam Task Force states that during the raid the task force discovered multiple bottles of oil, and a makeshift voodoo shrine found hidden in their home.

Sergeant Watson states that the man admitted that he is a “spiritual worker,” and voodoo is in his Haitian wife’s blood.

Sergeant Watson said that the task force has made arrest during their operation in the parishes of St. James, Hanover, Westmoreland and Trelawny.

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Politics World News

Trump becomes 45th President of the United States

President Donald Trump tweets

Washington (CNN) –Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States on Friday, vowing to drain power from Washington elites and always put “America first” in its dealings with the world at a moment of transformative political change.

He arrived at the White House for the first time as President just before 5 p.m. ET following a day of tradition marking the power shift in the nation’s capital.

In a time-honored ceremony on the flag-draped West Front of the Capitol earlier in the afternoon, Trump placed his left hand on a family Bible and another that belonged to Abraham Lincoln and promised to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. As light rain began to fall on a crowd stretching toward the Washington Monument, Trump took the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts with the new first lady, Melania, by his side.

President Trump signs first bill into law

Trump’s inaugural address centered on the themes that animated his stunning outsider campaign, which shattered political conventions and gave voice to heartland voters who felt badly let down by professional politicians.

Though he paid tribute to outgoing President Barack Obama, the President sketched a vision of America that came across as a repudiation of the last administration. He promised to restore the nation’s strength and purpose and to rebuild it from within, vowing to “bring back” American jobs, borders, wealth and dreams.

 

(CNN) Trump Shakes Hand with MLK III

Trump waves during the Army-Navy football game, which was played in Baltimore on Saturday, December 10.

“We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, and in every foreign capital and in every hall of power,” Trump said. “From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land, from this day forward, it’s going to be only ‘America first! America first!'”

Trump: ‘You will never be ignored again’

Trump talked of a nation of mothers and children trapped in poverty in the inner cities and “rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones,” and warned crime and gangs had robbed the nation of much of its potential.

 

Trump’s full speech
“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” Trump said, with Obama looking on.
“A new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights and heal our divisions,” Trump said, emphasizing that whether people are black or white they still bleed the same red blood of patriots.
And he told Americans listening to the address: “You will never be ignored again.”
Former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter attended the ceremony. Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated in the November election, was in the audience in a show of support for national unity and the peaceful transfer of presidential authority.

But, contrary to some expectations, Trump made no gesture of reconciliation toward Clinton or her supporters following the deeply divisive campaign in which he won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote. He later recognized her during a congressional lunch, when she received a standing ovation.

“I was very honored, very, very honored when I heard that President Bill Clinton and Secretary Hillary Clinton was coming today, I think it is appropriate to say it,” Trump said. “Honestly, there is nothing more I can say because I have a lot of respect for those two people.”

Many traditions

The swearing-in was one of many traditions that began Friday morning. Trump and his family attended a private worship service at St. John’s Episcopal Church, known as the church of presidents. The Obamas greeted Trump and the new first lady at the North Portico of the White House before hosting them for tea.
Earlier in the morning, Obama wrote a letter to Trump and left it on the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, as outgoing presidents typically do for their successors. As Obama left the Oval Office for the final time, he was asked whether he had any words for the American people. “Thank you,” Obama responded.
 The customs and symbolism that are playing out — from Trump’s ride to the Capitol with Obama to the first couple’s dance at an inaugural ball — are familiar. But the circumstances of this inauguration — the 58th in the nation’s history — could hardly be more unconventional.
Everything you need to know about Trump’s inauguration, weekend protests
When the presidential primary season began nearly a year ago, few thought Trump could survive the battle for the Republican nomination — much less beat Clinton to win the presidency. He was the oldest president sworn in for a first term and the first president with no previous diplomatic, political or military executive experience.

In what is always a poignant moment, the former President Obama and his wife left Capitol Hill on a helicopter bound for Joint Base Andrews for a farewell ceremony before taking one last flight on the presidential jet. The Obamas are heading to Palm Springs, California, for a vacation.

Trump attended a joint congressional inaugural luncheon in the Capitol before heading back to the White House for the inaugural parade. Halfway along Pennsylvania Avenue, Trump’s vehicle stopped and the new first couple walked hand in hand past the cheering crowds. By the time the motorcade approached the new Trump hotel, the President was back in the hulking car.

In the evening, Trump and the new first lady will attend two inaugural balls, part of the stripped-down inaugural festivities that aides say are meant to stress that the new president is eager to get to work.

Supporters excited; others concerned

Trump’s supporters, who sent him to Washington to rip up political norms and thwart the establishment, are thrilled as he assumes power. The crowds started streaming toward the National Mall as dawn broke, with many people wearing Trump’s distinctive red “Make America Great Again” baseball caps.

Day One: Trump says he will sign ‘very meaningful’ documents amid talk of executive orders

But millions of Americans are also anxious, owing to the abrasive tone of Trump’s campaign and fears over the consequences of his strongman leadership style.
Trump has vowed to tear up US trade deals that he says disadvantage US workers, confront a rising China and improve estranged relations with Russia, despite allegations that Moscow interfered in the election. He has set high expectations for his presidency by promising to return jobs to US shores and reviving the manufacturing industry. He has pledged to crush ISIS and introduce tough new vetting on immigrants from countries where there is terrorist activity, raising fears of discrimination against Muslims.

Trump is promising to build a wall on the southern border, to crack down on undocumented migrants and to gut the financial and environmental regulations that are at the center of the Obama administration’s legacy.

New presidents typically use the inaugural address — viewed by a huge crowd fanned out on the National Mall and millions of television viewers — to issue a call for national unity and ease the wounds of divisive elections. They typically remind Americans of the values and the history that binds them and of the nation’s historic mission.

Trump, so far, has done little to reach out to his foes since November.

“He is still talking as if he is the insurgent candidate rather than the President-elect,” said Robert Rowland, an expert on presidential rhetoric at the University of Kansas. “Historically, presidents who are effective use inaugural addresses to heal the wounds of the campaign, to talk about what it means to be an American, to discuss shared values and lay out their political principles to come across as a strong not vain leader.”

CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Sara Murray contributed to this story
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Crime Featured News Jamaica Latest Jamaican News

Jamaican Extradited – DNA Linked Him to 1990 Murder – Full Story

1990 murder

Mountainside, St. Andrew (Mckoy’s News) – The long arm of the law closed the 1990 murder case of a Florida woman who was shot execution style in her home by a cleaned shaved, thin mustache, now known to be Jamaican man – who knocked on her door, well dressed in church pants, leather shoes, and white pinstripe dress shirt, carrying a black briefcase.

Mercedes Perez was at home in her South Beach apartment on September 21, 1990, with her high school friend who was visiting from New Jersey, when around 1 pm a well-dressed stranger with a black briefcase knocked on her door, asking for the phone number of the manager of the apartment complex.

Perez left the man at the door, still opened, she went to her bedroom to get the number – on her way back from her bedroom she steered into the face of a killer and a pointed handgun.

Police say he then forced Mercedes Perez into her bedroom, shot and killed her.

Reports are that the killer next forced her friend into a bathroom, raping her at gunpoint, while asking her about money – before ransacking the apartment, locking her in a closet and escaping.

Case Solved

According to the police, the heartless murder and rape is now solved. The case seemed cold, as police received many leads but no arrest since 1990. But thanks to DNA, and a later US conviction of the suspect, which caused the accused DNA to be stored by the American justice system – the accused killer will now stand trial for the brutal attacks.

1990 murder Accused killer, 53 -year-old Dale Ewers, also a former South Beach resident who lived near the home of the victims in 1990 is now in the custody of the US government after he was captured in Mountainside, Jamaica – a residential community in St. Andrew, near Kingston.

Ewers was deported home to Jamaica in October 2008 after serving time in the US for a Massachusetts burglary and stolen property. The conviction pointed the Miami Beach Police to the killer, as his collected DNA while serving time in prison was a match in the 1990 crime.

In 2012 the DNA database matched the DNA of Dale Ewers to that which was found at he crime scene of the horrifying murder and rape.

Ewers who have lived in Jamaica since 2008, without return to the US, was indicted of the crimes by a Miami-Dade grand jury in 2013.

Extradition to Miami to Face Charges

But after a long and complicated extradition process from Jamaica, Ewers was arrested in Mountainside, in the parish of St. Andrew. A warrant for Ewers’ arrest was issued in Jamaica October 2016.

Dale Ewers was taken into custody on a separate Jamaican burglary charge.

The Ministry of Justice signed a surrender order after his burglary charge was resolved in December, 2016.

On Wednesday January 18, 2017 – 53 -year-old Dale Ewers was escorted by US federal marshals back to Miami, to face the charges of first-degree murder, armed sexual battery, armed robbery and armed kidnapping in the Miami-Dade circuit court.

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Crime Featured News Jamaica Latest Jamaican News

US$70,000 worth of coke in Patties: in Jamaican Woman’s suitcase

Jamaica, Queens (USA) – McKoys News reports that a Jamaican woman traveling from Kingston to New York on Tuesday, January 17 was arrested after 4 lbs of cocaine was found in a box of beef patty she was carrying.

According to US Federal Customs and Border Protection, Chantal Alecia Bedward arrived at JFK Airport from Kingston, Jamaica, on Tuesday.  US custom agents got suspicious when they found a box of Tastee Brand Jamaican Beef Patties in Bedward’s luggage.

Where is the Beef? Patties without Meat

Bedward was then taken to the customs exam room and opened the box, 12 duct taped packages were found in the patty box. The tapes were removed and, on closer examination – instead of 12 golden crusted patties, white powder spilled out.

According to the U.S. Customers and Border Protection – white powder spilled out as the packages were opened. The powder tested positive for cocaine – about 4 pounds of it, officials said – an estimated street value of US $70,000.

Agents arrested Bedward for drug smuggling. The case was turned overt to the US Department of Homeland Security.

Chantal Bedward is now facing US federal narcotics smuggling charges. She awaits prosecution in the Brooklyn Federal Court.

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Featured News Jamaica Latest Jamaican News

Three new marine border base to Reduce Gun and Human Trafficking

Illegal Guns Seized

St Andrew, Jamaica (McN) – At a press conference on Wednesday, Minister of National Security Robert Montague stated that there will be three (3) new marine base established on the coastlines, effective to protect Jamaica’s borders.

Minster Montague stated the marine bases will be operated by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCA) and the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) jointly. He noted that the bases will be effective to control the import of guns into the island.

The Minster stated that it has been difficult to control the flow of guns into the island at the country’s borders; in that Jamaica’s marine space is 25 times the size of the country and, criminals have created 145 illegal points of entry for items into the county.

Locations of the New Marine Bases

The bases will be located at James Bond Beach in St Mary, Alligator Pond in St Elizabeth, and Rocky Point in Clarendon. A Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) that was signed last month.

Minster Montague told to press:

“We do not manufacture guns or bullets legally, yet in 81 per cent of crimes committed in Jamaica, the gun is featured. We have to stop the flow of guns coming into Jamaica. This MOU to provide additional protection along our coast is welcomed…”

Function of the bases: Duties of the marine bases will be to detect and prosecute breaches of the Jamaica Customs  Laws and other laws of Jamaica.

Operations will include searching of vessels coming into and leaving the county; interception of suspicious vessels, people, or goods, coastal surveillance and intelligence gathering.

Marine Borders will Reduce Gun and Human Trafficking

According to acting Commissioner of Police, Novelette Grant, a main function of the the new marine bases is ensuring reduction of contraband in and out of the county, and reducing the incidents of human trafficking.

Revamping of the border protection will include the JCA providing two 30-foot (Boston Whaler) watercraft and twin-cab pick-up motor vehicles to be deployed at Rocky Point and Little Ochi bases.

The JCF will provide three (3) marine craft along with a person to steer the boat, and crew, which will be deployed to all bases round the clock – 24 hours each day.

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Crime Featured News Jamaica Latest Jamaican News

Brutish men killed 18 month old and 5 year old babies -follow-up

Hanover, Jamaica (McN) – Williamsfield is in mayhem knowing that they are powerless against heartless thugs with high powered guns.

The once quite community in Hanover has been disrupted since last November when a woman was murdered, and another person murdered in the community in December of 2016. And now with this massive murder and shooting mayhem which left three persons dead, and three persons struggling for their lives in the hospital, the residents are quivering with fear.

Mckoy’s News broke the story yesterday of the murder of a man while he was home, and the murders of young children (18-months-old, and 5-year-old) of his friend, a single mother in her home nearby.

Police report that thugs kicked in the door of Hopeton Lee, 34 at about 11 pm on Wednesday, and executed him. The heartless gunmen then went to the home of Lee’s female friend and sprayed it with bullets from top to bottom – killing five-year-old Kimani Johnson and eighteen month-old Daquan Davidson.

The police are saying that they believe the murders are connected to the murder of a woman in the community, November 2016.

The investigating officer are trying to connect a theory that Hopton Lee may have been executed to prevent him from being a witness at the trial of the person accused in killing the woman in November. Lee witnessed the crime but decline to identify the killer.

These killing occurred despite the increase in Police presence in the community since last November.

Child Development Agency

Jamaica’s Child Development Agency (CDA) was present at the locations yesterday and began care for the other children in the family of the wounded.

Ministry of Education gives statement on the Murders

In a news release from the Ministry of Education, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education Youth and Information Floyd Green expressed:

 “As a society we cannot sit back and allow this to be the new norm…”

“Someone knows who committed this act and must give the information to the police; these villains must have nowhere to hide.”

More patrol and more reliable vehicle, says Member of Parliament for Hanover

Member of Parliament for Hanover Western, Ian Hayles could hardly contain his tears yesterday as he spoke with reporters.

He pointed out that there is a reduction in the body of Police officers for the parish and not enough reliable Police vehicles. He is calling for the Ministry of National Security to honor their promise from last year to give Hanover updated Police vehicles. He wants more officers patrolling Hanover’s communities.

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Featured News Jamaica Latest Jamaican News

82 Year old woman with Alzheimer burnt to death at her home

West Street, Kingston (McN) – The daughter of a 82 year old woman with Alzheimer rushed home from work to find that her mother had not escaped the inferno of the blaze that burnt down the building in which she lived in with her mother.

Residents and the daughter of the deceased are blaming the police and fire department for the death of the elderly woman – who they said prevented other residents from entering the burning building to remove her.

82-year-old Ellfreda Brown according to her daughter,  suffered from Alzheimer and came to live with her two year ago at the two story building at 7 to 11 West Street in downtown Kingston, so that her daughter could take care of her.

Reports from Superintendent Patrick Gooden of York Park Fire Station are, that the fire brigade received the call at 11:03 am and responded promptly however, they had difficulty accessing nearby fire water supply.

In conflict with the statement of angry residents, that say they could have rescued Brown, if the police did not prevent them; Gooden told the press that when the brigade arrived, the building was already engulfed and the elderly lady could not be rescued.

The deceased daughter Carlene Aird, accused the firemen of not listening to men of the community that wanted to go in and rescue Ellfreda Brown.

Aird uttered words of grief saying that she thought her mother would have die from illness, it was better if he had gotten sick and died, Aird lamented.

The Police have dismissed the community’s claim that members were ready to rescue Brown when the Police prevented them, telling them it was better one died than six. Instead Police state that there was no resident trying to rescue the woman, there were two groups of people, onlookers that were dismissed and people trying to retrieve their personal items, which they allowed.

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Crime

Lunch Chop

Montego Bay, St. James (McN) – Popular Montego Bay newspaper vendor and mascot for the Montego Bay United Football team ‘Lunch’ as he is affectionately called by many, is now battling for his life in the Cornwall Regional hospital.


He was attacked and chopped on Friday morning, January 20 just outside the JN Bank on Harbour Street, near the Baywest plaza where he ply his newspaper vending trade for well over two decades.

The man who carried out the vicious attack was apprehended, and is now under arrest.
The police came and cordoned off the area, and divert traffic from coming off Howard Cooke Boulevard to proceed straight.


In his early days Lunch kept goal for Seba United, and also played master league football mostly as a goalkeeper. Many of his football fans and people who buy newspaper from him where seen converged on the crime scene, as evidence of blood was seen splattered on the ground where the incident occurred.