A cousin and four friends of this countryâs latest murder victim are all asking the same question, âWho would do something like this?â
Last Monday morning, Kelson âI-Layâ Layne/McBarÂnette, whom persons also knew as âSallayâ, was found stabbed to death in his meagre wall house at Georgetown. Reports are that the dreadlocked man, who would have celebrated his 61st birthday in September, had as many as 13 stab wounds and his throat was cut.
The killer or killers had no problem gaining access to Kelsonâs home, as his home has no doors. He was killed in his bedroom.
The dead manâs cousin, Noel Layne, told SEARCHLIGHT that yesterday morning at about 8.15, he received what he considers âvery sad news.â{{more}}
âSomeone call me and tell me they found my cousin in his house with stab woundsâ¦I donât see the reason why somebody would want to kill him,â said Layne, who is entertaining the theory that Kelson was killed in the wee hours of Monday morning, as rain pelted the North Central Windward constituency where he lived.
âI would usually call him to find out if he alright,â the distraught and confused man said on Monday. âI have my lunch, I canât even eat it; he was quiet, real, real quiet. When we heard he dead, everyone in the community saying no one in this community would do such a brutal act. He get 13 stab wounds, according to the police and he neck slash. What kind of man would do that? I still canât even catch myself. I canât really function.â
Layne revealed that both Kelsonâs mother and father have passed away and he has no children that he (Layne) knows about.
Junior Cato, one of the deceased manâs friends said that he knew Kelson since they were boys.
âHis life was quiet, very, very quiet; he goes nowhere, he sits on his wall all the time. He involved in nothing and when I heard about his death this morning, I was very shock the way he get destroy,â said Cato.
Sitting at a shop near to Kelsonâs home and drinking alcohol with other villagers, Cato reminisced, âI never hear he and nobody get in nothing at all. We never know him as a man in argument. He love to talk politics; he would argue politics, but he not a violent guy. Everybody goes by him; he goes by nobody.â
Cato offered further, âWe canât have no suspect in Georgetown, because we never know him as a violent guy.â
Samuel Duncan, another friend of the dead man, described this countryâs 15th murder victim as: âa nonviolent, very peaceful and free-handed man.â He said that he and Kelson grew up playing football and cricket together.
âThis morning, when they discover this man die, I couldnât go to look at him. I feel it deep in my heart; that murderer is supposed to be punished. It is something that hurt almost the whole community heart. He was very good,â said Duncan.
Devonish âAliâ Carr said that Kelson was instrumental in helping one of her sons get into the British Army, as he supported him financially during his schooling here.
âI know him all my years, he was a very caring and giving guy. Many days when I couldnât get money to send my children to school, I send them to him and he would give to them and make sure they get something to eat. He is loving. I have a son in the army and is he send him to school.â
Carr said that Kelson was not a person to argue with people and he was very friendly.
âWhen you go by him, anything you want, he would give it to you. He love his lady friends and things like that. He is not a violent person, he would get up in the morning and leave go to work in the mountains and then back home, thatâs his thing. I am very sad and I am very heartbrokenâ¦I cannot cope with it,â said Carr fighting back tears.
One of Kelsonâs closest friends, St Clair Cox, said that he knew the âRastamanâ since they were youths growing up in Georgetown.
âHe love to argue politics and he love to argue for his rights, but he is a person he donât want no noise with anybody. He donât want to be aggressive with anybody and people would tell you he is a peaceful man, but if you molest him he would talk for his rights,â said Cox, who described his relationship with the dead man as more of a brotherhood than a friendship.
âI feel very sad. I feel like I lost a friend for the rest of my life. When my brother Gideon Cox disappeared at Soufriere in October 1983, I really feel that one, because he was my blood brother. Well, Mr Layne wasnât my blood brother, but he was like a brother to me, so I really feel it deep down inside like I loss a brother and a friend,â stressed Cox.
He said when he last saw his friend, they spoke about a court case that Kelson was involved in, which would see him receiving compensation from another villager.
âHe said that he win the case and the person had to pay some money to him,â said Cox.
Police are investigating Kelsonâs murder and investigators are urging persons with any information to come forward.(LC)