Belair man gets 24-year jail term for murder of retired librarian

A man who was on remand for nearly 11 years for the vicious murder of a 73-year-old retired librarian, will spend another 13 years imprisoned.

Junior Quashie, who stands at a height of 6’3, has been in jail since April, 2008. Before his imprisonment, he was a 32-year-old plumber of Belair. His victim was Lorna Small, who lived alone at Queen’s Drive.

Small was last seen alive by her family members on April 15, 2008, and they became very worried by April 22, when efforts to reach her proved futile. The matter was reported to the police and her partially decomposed body was found in a shallow grave in the Belair cemetery on April 23.

It is said that Small had driven alone in her car to the beach, and it was there that Quashie decided to rob her of her vehicle. The elderly woman died of chop wounds to the neck, and the amputation of her left hand.

Quashie drove her car to the Belair cemetery and dug a shallow grave, where he buried the body.

The police found the car of the deceased, identified by her brother, near the Jehovah Witness assembly in Belair. Their investigations led them to Quashie. Quashie, who was at his residence at the time was questioned, and he handed over the car keys which were in his pocket, saying “this is the car keys”.

In that car the police found a garden fork with soil on it, a white bucket with clothing in it, a bag with Quashie’s passport, a NCB bank book, a receipt in Quashie’s name, a cellphone and a charger.

Quashie gave a statement to the police admitting to the offence on April 28.

This Valentine’s day, February 14, 2019, he pleaded guilty before Justice Brian Cottle, and was sentenced at the High Court last Friday.

“I note that in St Vincent and the Grenadines it is still possible for a person who is found guilty of murder to be sentenced to the death penalty. In this present case, that option is closed to the court, and that is because it is the law that this most severe of sanctions is reserved for the worst of the worst cases,” Cottle noted.

The prisoner’s guilty plea, his confession to the police at an early stage, and his lack of a criminal record before this, were all mitigating in the eyes of the judge.

However, “The victim was a vulnerable elderly woman. The prisoner was then aged 32, stands 6 foot three inches tall, weighs 230 pounds,” Cottle listed.

Small was unarmed, and “also aggravating was that this murder occurred during the course of a robbery, the victim did nothing to provoke this person, the attack was violent, even when she lay bleeding on the ground you still administered [another wound].”

“After the offence he was content to drive around in her stolen car, this attack was placed at a public location, in fact, a popular local beach,” Cottle continued.

The offence seemed to be premeditated, the judge noted.

The court does not only look at the offence solely, but it must also factor in the particular characteristics of an offender. A sentencing court sentences a specific offender, and not just an offence, Cottle commented.

A psychiatric report revealed that Quashie is afflicted with chronic psychotic disorder, similar to schizophrenia, and for which he is constantly on anti-psychotic medication to control his symptoms. This having been said, the psychiatrist had ruled that he was fit to stand trial and plea.

The officer who prepared a social inquiry report for the court stated that the prisoner was calm, coherent and willing to share.

“Family members of the prisoner, and friends of the prisoner expressed shock at hearing about the role of the prisoner in this offence. That is because they all had viewed him as a quiet person who would not cause trouble,” Cottle informed.

The same sentiment was expressed from those who knew him in his home community of Belair.

The starting point for murder is 30 years imprisonment, and for the aggravating features which far outweigh the mitigating in the judge’s mind, he thought it apt to move upwards by six years.

Thirty-six years would have been the sentence of the court had Quashie not admitted to his guilt at an early stage. The law requires that the sentence be reduced by one third in these cases, which took the term back down to 24 years.

Also relevant was the time he had already spent on remand, which was more than a decade.

“The final sentence of this court is that you are to go to prison for a period of 13 years, one month, three weeks from today,” Cottle concluded.

Prosecuting for the crown was Acting Director of Public Prosecutions(DPP) Sejilla McDowall.