The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

THE country’s murder count for the year now officially stands at 100 - after police yesterday classified the death of a man, whose family believes was beaten and robbed before he died in hospital last week, as a homicide.

Chief Superintendent Clayton Fernander told The Tribune that police have two persons in custody for questioning in connection with the murder investigation.

Police launched an official investigation into the death of 64-year-old John Henry Frazier on Monday, after he was taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital on August 24 suffering from injuries to the body. He died in hospital on August 26.

Initially police said an autopsy would have to be performed to determine the exact cause of death. They did not immediately classify the death as a homicide.

A relative told The Tribune that Frazier, who also went by the name John Chanler, was assaulted while attempting to repair a flat tyre on his vehicle in the Collins Avenue and Gibbs Corner area.

The relative said the attack happened around 4pm on Tuesday last week, although police have said Mr Frazier arrived at the hospital a day earlier.

A relative of the deceased told The Tribune that on his way to the PMH, Frazier managed to contact his mother, informing her of what had happened to him. Later hospital officials told his mother that he would require an emergency procedure after medical tests showed severe bleeding in his skull, The Tribune was told.

The relative said while in surgery, Frazier’s heart failed and he was pronounced dead a short time later.

The victim’s younger sister, Jackie Frazier, when contacted for comment, claimed the family was forced to piece together small facts gathered through phone calls that relatives had with the victim hours before his death.

“We are struggling to understand this,” she said during a recent interview. “All we know at this time is that he was struck in the head … drove himself to the hospital and that he had to have surgery.”

The country’s murder count so far this year continues to outpace the figure for last year at this point. At the end of August 2014, the country had recorded 84 homicides, according to police statistics.

Last year, the Bahamas did not record 100 murders until the first week of November.

Earlier this week, National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage said the government could not “wave a magic wand” and erase crime, adding that those who expect a quick fix on the problem are in for a “sad awakening.”

He added on Tuesday that crime is not the fault of the government, but of a troubled society.

“The Christie administration is not guilty of anything. What we have is an unstable community at this present time,” he said, responding to questions from the media. “The Christie administration didn’t cause that. We have to face what the facts are – the facts are that we as citizens and parents have been derelict in our duty with our children.”

Last week, Dr Nottage gave a nationally televised address on crime, which was widely panned as not having many new ideas and lacking innovation.

The PLP campaigned on a promise that it had the solutions to crime while the former Ingraham administration did not.

In the face of criticism Dr Nottage has maintained that overall crimes are trending downward, with the exception of murders.

Anyone with information on this latest homicide is asked to contact police at 911 or 919, the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 328-TIPS.