St. Catherine, JAMAICA: "Dear God, why, why? Look how dem kill Mr Phillips!" Tourism consultant murdered in Marlie Mount.... 56 y-o Horace Phillips body found partially burnt in his rented house on the outskirts of Old Harbour.

BY KIMMO MATTHEWS Observer staff reporter matthewsk@jamaicaobserver.com  Wednesday, November 05, 2014    

THE St Catherine community of Marlie Mount was sent into shock and despair yesterday after the partially burnt body of tourism consultant Horace Phillips was found in his rented house on the outskirts of Old Harbour.

Relatives and friends of Horace Phillips console each other
 after his body was found in Marlie Mount, St Catherine, yesterday.

The gruesome discovery brought an end to a desperate search by family and friends who had reported Phillips missing from Sunday.

Residents told the Jamaica Observer that the discovery of the 56-year-old Jamaica Tourist Board consultant's body was made two days before his mother was scheduled to mark her birthday.

"Have mercy. I don't know how I am going to tell his mother what took place today," said Nadine Phillips, the slain man's niece.

"Dear God, why, why? Look how dem kill Mr Phillips!" screamed one woman as the body was removed from the house by undertakers.

Both women stood among a large group of residents, and members of the Anglican Church community, who flooded the area and waited for hours for police to finish processing the crime scene.

Police yesterday said they were called to the community about 9:00 am after the partially burnt body was found.

Andrew Robinson, a political representative from the area who said he knew Phillips, described the murder as one of the worst to take place in the community in recent years.

Suffragan Bishop of Kingston, Rt Reverend Robert Thompson,
 is surrounded by residents in Marlie Mount, St Catherine,
 the community where the partially burnt body of tourism consultant
Horace Phillips was found in the house he rented yesterday.

Suffragan Bishop of Kingston, Rt Reverend Robert Thompson, who was also at the scene, said the murder had left him in shock.

"I was in my office in Kingston when I heard, and it is certainly a loss for the community," said Bishop Thompson, who explained that Phillips was an active member of the congregation at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Old Harbour.

The clergyman said he was deeply concerned about the violent way in which people were being killed in the country. "The level of violence is certainly giving us chills," he said. more