Very disturbed by the brutal slaying

Dec.15.06

EDITOR: I was disturbed by the news of the brutal slaying, including beheading, of one of our young Vincentians this week.

While I pondered on what could have prompted such a ghastly crime, I also tried to imagine what the parents, relatives, and witnesses of this animalistic act are enduring at this time.

I imagine that only experience can fully communicate the extent of their hurt. This is an experience that I hope no other family in our “blessed” St Vincent and the Grenadines or anywhere else would be forced to endure.

However, while it was somewhat expected, what I found most disturbing was the fact that some persons, for reasons better known to them, posted the pictures on the Internet blogs, while others attached them to email, forwarding them to the ends of the earth.{{more}}

As a recipient of such an email, I think that the intentions of the senders are understandable, in that they might have simply wanted to communicate information.

However, I ask the senders of such emails: If Stacey Wilson were a relative or friend of yours, would you have liked to have seen her lying beheaded in a bus stand? Would you broadcast it in unnerving detail to the world? In what ways might you be helping in perpetrating the assailant in his/her intentions?

I cannot help but wonder why the police did not cover the body in the first instance, or sooner, if they did.

As a former media practitioner who has visited a few murder scenes I cannot help but recall a homicide this year in which the police successfully, and maybe rightly, exerted a draconian effort in ensuring that the public, including the media, was denied even a glimpse of the body at the scene.

Stacey Wilson and her family deserve similar respect and consideration. May God comfort their hearts during this very trying period.

Kenton “Tish” Chance