OLD PORT ANTONIO - (PORTIE)

The vast majority of people who can look back at the town of Port Antonio, or Portie as it is intimately called, and conider what it was as Old Port Antonio, are presently in their mid fifties to late sixties and older.     With that in mind, the years we are describing falls within the period covering the mid 1950s to the early1970s.

Where we will start may not be chronologically correct considering that we are drawing from memory and not written resources. We have tried to do the best research we can however, to put the information we have acquired, as closely as possible to the actual time they occured.

THE HEADLES CORPSE

Port Antonio does not make the front page of the Daily Gleaner (the only daily newspaper we had then) very often, but on June 20th 1952 it made the headline.  The discovery of a woman's body without a head was discovered in Anchovy-just outside the city limits of Port Antonio, on the 19th of June.

Needless to say that this was the most heinous crime this area, and possibly the entire Jamica had seen up to that point in time. This event garnerd much attention from the media and law enforcement.  It also became the source of  much fear in the local people.      Fear caused by the abuse of power from the influx of CID detectives and even local policemen-(showing off) as was reported.      But the greatest fear was from the rumors that was the "word" on the street.

Every day life in those days was controlled by the local obeah man or in some instances obeah woman, and the "Daddy" of all obeah persons was known to be the great DeLawrence of Chicago.         Word on the street was that the head of this murdered woman was requested by the above mentioned "Daddy" for experimental purposes, and that at least two more heads were being sought. You can imagine the fear this rumor created in an obeah oriented population.

The primary suspect in the case, as usual, was the husband, who was a local horse cartman. His name was Vincent Silvera but locally called Metro.   He was seen by a number of people, walking with his wife Martha towards Anchovy on the evning of June 15th 1952. She was never seen again and his alibi was that she went "down country" to visit family.

Witnesses claimed that they knew that he was so in love with one Princess Campbell that he told her he was getting rid of his wife so he could marry her.                            Investigators found that he made feeble attempts to cover up his guilt by throwing his wife's clothing in the sea so as to prove she had packed and left town.  Even went as far as having someone mail back a letter he sent them, as proof that his wife wrote to him from St Elizabeth.

The trial of the case of the Headless Corpse again made the headline of the Daily Gleaner on November 9th 1952.  Women from all over the island gathered in and around the court house, demanding that this brute be found guilty or given to them to be "taken care of."

Mr. Silvera "Metro" was well represented by a then young, local lawyer named Owen Dale. But the case against him was so damaging that even the brilliance of this lawyer Dale could not help him.  He was found guilty and quietly hanged in February of 1953.

 Notes of interest about this case  -  It was reported that Mr. Silvera confessed to the murder but his confession was not read in court. He also did not speak to anyone or answered any questions from the day his trial began untill his death. ( This non communicating posture supported the rumor mongers that DeLawrence was involved, and that the "great one" cut off Metro's speech).

This lady Princess Campbell was, some years later, the object of a jealous rage that caused another man to be charged with attempted murder.     Hmmmh, do you think this lady had the stuff or what?

 COMING FEATURES

The burning of the Titchfield Hotel --- was it purely accidental?

Who was responsible for the fire that destroyed THE CASINO DELMAR

Who remembers dances at the Boundbrook Wharf.

How badly did the loss of the Railway damaged the Parish's economy.