WESTERN BUREAU:
A TENSE fear has gripped the community of Brighton in Westmoreland following the gruesome death of one of their own last week.
Thirty nine-year-old Violet McFarlane was attacked at her home and chopped to death early last Thursday morning. Residents in the area are adamant that Ms. McFarlane's death is connected to an ongoing land dispute in the community.
Last weekend, the police detained two men in connection with the killing, but up to Wednesday afternoon they had not yet been charged. Since the incident, some residents have fled the area, while those who remain fear for their lives.
WHITE MAN
According to the residents, their problems began early last year, when 'a white man' claimed ownership of the land. The land in question is prime seafront property outside of the resort town of Negril, said to span hundreds of acres. A resident, who has lived on the land for 17 years, said it was owned by another white man, who died about ten years ago, and bequeathed the land to them. He said it was just last year that another man came to claim the land, and began threatening the residents there.
"Right now me scared fi stay round here... it no safe here a night time again," said one resident.
The residents said they had brought their concerns to Dr. Wykeham McNeill, the Member of Parliament for the area, but got little comfort from him. Several attempts to reach Dr. McNeill, who was said to be in his constituency on Wednesday, were unsuccessful.
The Gleaner was informed that Ms. McFarlane, the mother of three children, was assisting the residents in ascertaining the validity of the alleged land owner's claim when she was killed. Two residents, who did not want their names published, say 'V' as Ms. McFarlane was called, had gone to court the day before she was killed to settle the dispute surrounding the ownership of the land, and was to return to court on the day of her death.
' IS A GOOD WOMAN'
"The woman a fight fi everybody fi make dem have a piece of the land," one of the residents said. "Is a good woman. Me jus' love how she rest, me wish every woman did stay like she."
Ms. McFarlane was at home between 12:30 and 2 a.m., when she heard someone trying to tear down the back door of the house. She escaped through another door of the house and was reportedly chased by her attackers and chopped all over her body. Ms. McFarlane received chops to the left side of her neck, the left shoulder, back and right wrist.
