Pastor hacked to death in St Elizabeth

WESTERN BUREAU:

RESIDENTS OF Top Hill in Junction, St Elizabeth, are in shock after the partially decomposed body of a popular pastor was found at his home on Sunday with multiple chop wounds.

The murdered church leader has been identified as 40-year-old Patrick Brown, who was pastor of the Exton New Testament Church of God, also in Junction. He was last seen alive in the community last Wednesday.

After not seeing Brown since Wednesday, residents became suspicious when they noticed that his Toyota Axio motor car, which was normally parked in his yard, was missing. Calls to his phone also went unanswered.

When he did not show up at church on Sunday morning, a member of the congregation visited Brown’s house and reportedly saw swarms of flies coming from a window. There was also an odour.

She raised an alarm and the police were summoned.

The body was removed and taken to the morgue, where a post-mortem is slated to be done.

‘Kind, Humble’

Brown was an integral part of community life, residents said, describing the late cleric as kind and humble.

“I last saw him on Wednesday afternoon after he left the shop and said he was going to his house, which is within walking distance,” said the resident, who declined to be named.

Brown, who is originally from Cave Valley, St Ann, moved to Top Hill in 2018 when he became pastor at the Exton New Testament Church in Junction.

“We a go miss Pastor, him was a very good man,” an elderly resident said. “Dem just transfer him to Westmoreland. He was to start preaching a di Pipers Corner New Testament Church.”

Preliminary investigations indicate that robbery might have been the motive for the murder. Brown’s vehicle was stolen.