Glenroy Sinclair and Petrina Francis, Staff Reporters
George Paul McCool's murdered children. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
WHEN PAUL George McCool received a six-month prison sentence in February for attempting to smuggle nine pounds of ganja outside of Jamaica, he thought his life could get no worse. But when he learnt last Sunday that his entire family had been slaughtered in St. Thomas, he was even more devastated.
Allegations are that the killings are linked to a drug deal which went sour, but McCool is insisting that this is not the case. "Nobody in Jamaica kills anyone for four pounds or nine pounds of weed (ganja)," he declared.
"I just want to make it clear that there are no drugs involved. None whatso-ever," the 39-year-old inmate told The Sunday Gleaner during an exclusive interview at the maximum security penal facility, the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Centre. "It was set up like that to look like a drug-related killing. But I think there is actually another crime that was committed recently and the police need to find the motive for that crime."
Tapping his right index finger on a desk in the Superintendent's office, Mr. McCool argued that if the police did not find the motive behind that crime, they may never establish the real motive behind his family's death. He declined to say much about the crime which he claimed the police need to investigate.
As the tears welled up in his eyes, a distressed looking Mr. McCool said he has lost his wife, Patrice George McCool, his children Jihad George McCool, 6; Lloyd Marshall George McCool, 3, and a stepson Sean Chin, 9. Jihad's body was found Thursday in a shallow grave in Rosemount, St. Mary. She was strangled. The throats of his wife, son and stepson were slashed. His wife's aunt, Terry-Ann Mohommed, 40, and another child, Jesse O'Gilvie, 9, were also killed.
"I would never do anything to jeopardise my family. The drugs that I was caught smuggling was mine. I owed nobody any money or anything. All I wanted was to help my family," the inmate said. "If this is really a drug connection, then more people will be killed and the police need to find the drugs."
He told a story how he had gone to a number of persons seeking employment, but nobody offered him a job, so he took the decision to smuggle drugs.
"My son was an angel. All I wanted to do was take him from St. Thomas and bring him uptown where he could go to a good school; that is what I wanted. That's the reason why I was smuggling the drugs. I wanted the best for my children," he said with a sigh.
Clad in a white T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, with a dark coloured handkerchief tied around his neck and sporting a red cap, the small-frame Mr. McCool, said he last saw his wife on Valentine's Day, February 14, which was their third wedding anniversary.
"She just show me the ring and said it's our anniversary and wished me happy anniversary, then told me that she loved me," said Mr. McCool, who has been studying the Muslim faith for 13 years. "God knows all things, but in things there are signs for you to see. I think God has prepared me for this tragedy because without God, where would I be now?"
In the Muslim faith his daughter's name 'Jihad' means holy war. He gave no significant reason for naming her Jihad, but stressed that since she was very young, he has always felt sorry for her.
Paul George McCool has been getting strong support from other inmates and the staff at the maximum security institution. "Prior to the incident I didn't know that prisoners were so humane, but now I realise. So many of them have come up to me and offer their deepest sympathy, shake my hand. I don't think there is such a thing as an irredeemable person because everyone inside here are human beings," said Mr. McCool.
He wants the Correctional Department to grant special privilege for him to attend the funeral of his family. The pint-sized inmate wants his wife to be buried with her children on the same day. "They are all mine ... that is my will," he said.
Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner yesterday, Assistant Commissioner of Police Granville Gause said the deportee, picked up in connection with the St. Thomas murders, is yet to be charged. He also noted that investigators would be speaking with Mr. McCool.
