WESTERN BUREAU

Three men have been murdered in separate incidents in St James since the start of the week.

Dead are Wayne Alexander Melbourne, 34, of Lilliput, St James, and Hatfield in Westmoreland; Carl Smith, 35-year-old taxi driver, of Rosemount, St James, and a man known only as 'Home Alone', of Glendevon, also in St James.

In the first incident, the police reported that about 7:00 a.m. Monday, passers-by discovered Melbourne's body lying in a drain in the Lilliput community. The police were summoned and on their arrival, they discovered that the victim had been shot in the head and abdomen.

Melbourne is believed to have been shot elsewhere in the community and his body dumped at the location. No motive has yet been established for the murder.

Continued walking

About midnight, Carl Smith, alias 'Grub', drove his taxi home and was approached by a group of men, who were robbing another taxi driver nearby. The robbers called out to Smith, but he ignored them and continued walking towards his house. One of the gunmen opened fire, hitting him in the neck. He was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.

At 9:30 yesterday morning, 'Home Alone' was walking along the Sun Valley main road in Glendevon, when, on reaching the intersection of the Johnson Hill and Sun Valley roads, a car reportedly drove up and men alighted and shot him several times.

The police say he received approximately nine shots. The men escaped. No motive has yet been established for the killing.