Mon 14 Sep 2009 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Police in Jamaica are denying the violent murder of a gay New Zealander there was an anti-gay hate crime. Wanted: Police photo released in murder hunt "I don't think it is a homophobic attack, although it's been run in the UK press. It isn't consistent with the information that we have. It is unlikely," a police commissioner told the Jamaica Observor. 65-year-old diplomat John Terry was battered to death and found naked with a cord wrapped around his neck just outside his home in Montego Bay last week. A note beside the body said "This is what happen to ALL gays," included the Jamaican slang word for gay men "batty-man", and was signed "Gay-Man," British media reported. At the weekend, Jamaican police released a sketch of the man they are looking for in their murder inquiry. The UK's Telegraph newspaper now reports that Terry "was understood to have been bi-sexual and a young black man was seen with him shortly before his death and – say neighbours – running from his home on Tuesday night. "While Mr Terry may have been a victim of Jamaica's aggressively homophobic culture, police sources - perhaps mindful of the damaging effect on a tourism industry already suffering from the island's high level of violent crime - are now playing down that possibility." Terry's friends have told journalists that he was part of a well-heeled group of older white men in Jamaica who enjoyed the company of young black men, says the Telegraph.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Monday, 14th September 2009 - 11:06am