FEAR GRIPS ST.ANN (JAM) : Brutal murder of JP leaves parish shaken after cruel irony of 82-year-old Justice of the Peace (JP) Colin Corrodus’s violent death

 BY RENAE DIXON Observer staff reporter dixonr@jamaicaobserver.com  Wednesday, January 04, 2017  

OCHO RIOS, St Ann — The cruel irony of 82-year-old Justice of the Peace (JP) Colin Corrodus’s violent death has shocked people in St Ann and created a climate of fear in the parish. “Business people call me, JPs call me [and say] that they are afraid of what is happening because it could be anybody. Everybody is just frightened with what is taking place,” president of the St Ann Justices of the Peace Association Pixley Irons told the

Jamaica Observer yesterday.

Corrodus was reportedly shot in his upper body after four armed men invaded his home in Epworth, St Ann as he played dominoes with friends about 8:45 pm Monday.

Police report that the men demanded his firearm. He resisted and was shot.

Yesterday, the

Observer learnt that his wife, who was also at the house during the invasion, was gun-butted. The blow left her unconscious. The other people were unharmed.

The St Ann police have since taken one man into custody in relation to the killing.

Yesterday, several people expressed shock at the murder of the man who for years operated a retail business in the district of Epworth.

“We are all saddened by the death of Justice Colin Corrodus, who was also a businessman, a long-time businessman of this community,” Irons said.

“We all regret his passing and the way he lost his life. We are calling on the powers that be to do something about these killings. We don’t know what the motive was as yet, [only] that his life was taken by criminals,” said Irons, who is also president of the St Ann Chamber of Commerce.

CORRODUS... killed at his home Monday night.

“This one has frightened everyone – losing a stalwart like that,” Irons added as he expressed hope that things will return to normal soon.

Karl Fuller, senior justice of the peace for St Ann, was among those who remembered Corrodus for his hard work and dedication to the parish.

“From he was appointed he was a very active member of the association, one who attended meetings regularly and always actively participated in meetings,” Fuller said.

“He was approachable; he was indeed an excellent justice of the peace, one who the younger justices of the peace can emulate. It is a great loss. It is a loss to the St Ann Justices of the Peace Association,” he added.

Fuller also called on Jamaicans to unite in the fight against crime. more