THE rustic farming district of Rowlandsfield in the hills of eastern St Thomas has been thrown into mourning following the execution-style murders of two brothers at their farm on Monday.
The brothers have been identified as 43-year-old farmer and pastor of the Full Gospel Pentecostal Church, Herman Rowe and Norman Rowe, 52.The brothers are known to undertake a daily routine of walking about three miles to their farm just after dawn each day and tending to their produce. When they did not return at their accustomed time, their relatives became concerned and made several attempts to contact them.However, calls to their cellphones went unanswered and relatives, along with a group of citizens, took the long trek up to the farm in search of the two prominent community members. It was then that they stumbled on a Toyota van which the brothers owned. Soon after they made the gruesome discovery of the bullet-riddled bodies of the two men lying face down close to each other.Herman was shot in the face, the upper right side of his chest and his right arm. He was clutching a machete.His brother was shot in the back and neck. He was clutching a knife.At one section of the farm two pairs of water boots and two machetes were seen. The Rowes’ relatives said the boots and tools belonged to the slain brothers.Yesterday, Scene of Crime detectives revisited the area and rummaged through the heavy brush and a field of sweet potatoes where the brothers were found, in a bid to unearth more clues.Earlier, the police had recovered several 9mm spent shells from the scene.Head of the St Thomas Police Division Superintendent Merrick Watson was visibly perturbed about the brutal slayings, said it was unusual for crimes of that nature to take place in that section of the parish.“Perhaps the first time a police vehicle has come up here was yesterday (Monday). We will have to retrace their steps and turn over every stone. Sometimes murder emanates from some very simple things,” Watson said.A nephew of the slain brothers could not come to terms with the reality that both his uncles were taken out in such a brutal fashion as none of them were known to be wrongdoers or involved in any conflict with anyone.“They have been farmers since they were teenagers. Them don’t work for people. All they know is farming,” the man said.As the police searched and grieving residents milled abut the farm, Margarine Francis, a sister of the slain men, stood several feet away with a confused look on her face.“Ah boy it rough. You never can tell what going happen to you in life,” Francis said as she fought back tears.The farm is about 10 acres and is located close to the border of St Thomas and Portland and is filled with mounds of sweet potatoes, yams, ginger, pumpkins and dasheen. The road leading to the farm is treacherous at best and the farm is located just over seven kilometres from the Golden Grove main road in a very remote area.“No one would have heard the shots and the killer could have made his escape easily without detection through the bushes. It seems their killer or killers knew them as it appears when they fell the killer went over them and shot them in the head to make sure they were dead,” a policeman on the scene said.The police said last night that they had stepped up their probe into the double killing but had not yet established a motive.Water boots and machetes, which residents said belonged to the slain brothers.Crime scene detectives and other officers lead relatives and friends of the slain brothers to the spot where the murders occurred. (PHOTOS: LIONEL ROOKWOOD)Herman Rowe (right) and his brother Norman Rowe who were killed on their farm in Rowlandsfield, St Thomas, on Monday.View the original article here
St Thomas brothers meet brutal death
