Barbara Gayle, Staff ReporterThirty-four-year-old Janet Douglas, who murdered her lover's wife, showed no sign of remorse yesterday as Mr. Justice Basil Reid sentenced her to life imprisonment.
The judge described the act committed by the fashion designer of 37 Ziadie Avenue, Ziadie Gardens in St. Andrew, as 'vicious and cruel'. He recommended that Douglas should serve 25 years before she was eligible for parole.
"It is hard put to find any mitigating factor in your case," said Justice Reid as he pondered for several minutes the appropriate sentence to impose. A Home Circuit Court jury had convicted her last month but sentencing was put off until yesterday.
elegantly attired
Douglas, who was elegantly attired in a blue skirt suit, was handcuffed and taken away from the dock after the sentence was handed down.
The prosecutors, in addressing the jury had described Douglas as Mona Lisa and asked the jury not to be fooled by her beauty and appearance. She had given an unsworn statement from the dock denying that she committed the murder.
The judge, before sentencing Douglas who is also called "Edna Arnett," took time out to review the evidence led by Paula Llewellyn, Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, and Chester Crooks, Crown Counsel. The evidence showed that Douglas, who was involved in a love affair with Detective Corporal Glen McGill, befriended his wife with the intention of murdering her. The motive for the murder was jealousy and obsession. Douglas had asked Detective McGill to leave his wife for her.
escaped from custody
The body of Isolyn McGill, 32, dressmaker, of Corn Piece District, Hayes, Clarendon, was found on the night of November 24, 2000, off the Bustamante Highway, Clarendon. The body had 19 stab wounds.
Douglas, who was at Mrs. McGill's house at the time the body was found, was taken into custody that same night. She escaped from custody at the Four Paths Police Station in 2003 and was recaptured six months later. She was sentenced to 18 months for escaping custody.
Defence lawyers Ravil Golding and Tashia McDonald had asked the judge to impose an appropriate sentence that was tempered with mercy. They said she was the mother of six children, three of whom were adopted; the eldest being 18 years and the youngest six years.
