By Matthew Falloon, Staff Reporter
Law enforcement officers package up evidence they removed from the car which John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo were in when police arrested them at a rest stop near Myersville, Maryland yesterday. - Reuters
THE MINISTRY of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade released a statement yesterday evening stating that a "Lee Boyd Malvo" was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on February 18, 1985 to Una James, of St. Elizabeth, and Leslie Samuel Malvo, of St. Andrew.
According to investigations by the Ministry, a Lee Malvo attended high school in Jamaica before emigrating at age 13 years to another, unidentified, Caribbean island.
"Local school records show no evidence of disruptive behaviour and point to the attainment of an academic standard that was satisfactory," the release stated.
However, conflicting reports from police sources and media stated Malvo had left Jamaica in 1989. His mother, who is apparently in the United States, is believed to have been the link in the relationship between Muhammad and Malvo. Jamaican officials in Washington, D.C., are still trying to determine whether the Malvo arrested in Maryland is of Jamaican descent.
"We are still in the process of determining that the person we have identified as Lee Boyd Malvo is in fact the same John Lee Malvo," Oneil Hamilton, Chief Information Officer at the Jamaican Embassy in Washington, said last night. "A lot of information shows we are treading in the same direction."
He said that a decision should be made by today when K.D. Knight, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, is set to meet with Sue Cobb, the US Ambassador to Jamaica, to discuss the matter.
Lee Boyd Malvo's half-brother, Rohan, a 33-year-old Kingston carpenter and joiner, told The Gleaner last night that he was feeling the pressure of intense media attention.
"It's stressful because I don't know how to explain myself," he said. "Yes, he's (Lee Boyd Malvo) my brother and he will always be my brother. If he's the person? I am not sure as yet, I don't see the news as yet, I'm just hearing, I can't confirm."
"He's not a bad person," he said. "He's not a violent person, we grew up together, he's not a violent person."
Rohan remembered fondly watching his half-brother grow up before Lee emigrated with his mother at age 13, and could determine nothing in what he saw then that would manifest itself into his alleged recent activities.
"It's been a long time now," he said. "He was a nice person. We used to play a lot. He loved to read and I would usually help him with schoolwork. Rohan said that although his half-brother did not have many friends "he wasn't like a mixed-up person. "He was just from school to home.
The external media spotlight on the family has been difficult to bear, he said. "I was with my dad earlier and he look a little shaken up about all the issues on and it all on CNN. I just try and hold up because he is our blood and we just try to stand together."
