Whatever...and you all know what that means. 🙂

EL, what other forum?

Are you talking about THAT other forum? If so, it is because they never disagree. They do not debate sensitive topics - it is off limits. They are so closely monitored, it hurts. Here, we are allowed to get "dirty", then clean our own selves up. We are grown-ups - with maturity and intelligence to duke it out and then recover and reconnect. I would have it no other way. Cheers to the members of this forum. All in all, this is the most intelligent USVI forum on the web. If you want to know what's really going on, come here. If you simply want a sip of the kool-aid, go elsewhere.

Imagine a forum where only "happy" messages were allowed. Could YOU stand it? I'm thinking Peyton Place or Stepford Wives. No thanks.

Are you still wearing your tie died shirt and your birks? I have some tofu for you. This is, in fact, the intellectual forum. In the words of my favorite Ivy League college, which gets a large chunk of my money every month........Education IS dirty!

Nothing against the people there - as I'm sure they have nothing against us here.

Too-Shay...after 8 years of college..still not sure how it's spelled. LOL. Gotta agree...life is a great thing and it's amazing we can all relate and get along. Sniffffffffff. ooh so sorry.

Ah..sent a sum myself to the Rotary (care of Ronnie) for the Jvon Alfred Scholarship fund for the future of education on STJ.

If we can all help, then do so.

EL, thanks for the tip on this worthwhile cause. Any more detail about it? Maybe you can start a separate thread. Who is Jvon Alfred? Tell us!!!

Bluewater,
I had to get some sleep. To answer some of your questions IMPO. I will take the easy one first! Forensic Crime Lab, most Stateside PD'S do not have a Forensic Crime Lab they(labs) are very expensive and not needed. Regional/State/Federal Labs are available to them for a "fee" (DNA testing is not Cheap) as well as other tests and identification services, so USVI would get a bigger bang for the buck by sending evidence to out of territory Labs. How the evidence is collected and chain of custody is an important factor! I don't know how good they are with that, I'm sure trail lawyers do.

Yes Income tax dollars stay on the Islands with mostly low wage earners paying the lion's share. Part of the income stream comes from Real Estate Tax's (ST John, ST Thomas, St Croix and water island) The territory just did a reval and the real property owners on ST John are crying foul over the appraised value of their land. Who do you think is going to win this battle, residents in an open air shack or the real estate investor's opulent villa.

Duty free means no tax revenue on these items. The States make out very well on these tax's,( USVI don't).The BVI protects the belongers on who owns and sells what. How many business establishment are owned by born and educated on the USVI.

So where does the money go? Some to quality of life programs, some to protective services, some to education, some to tourism, some to infrastructure, some to bad people. So where do you start to make change "THE SCHOOL SYSTEM". Every thing else will follow. Change comes slowly and with pain.

Lizard, thank you for explaining about the crime lab and tax situation. I agree with you about education being Step 1.

I remain confused and concerend about the alleged get-away car and why it was never impounded. Does anyone have any ideas why that wouldn't have happened? Even if the police didn't think to do it at first, there has been so much talk about it and attention to it.....would it hurt to check it out?

Think that maybe the police have to have probable cause and then get a search warrent signed by a judge to search and seize anything ... but only an amateur here. Maybe there is someone here more familiar with criminal law. We don't know what they searched or if they did and they are not about to tell anyone the evidence if they found any.

I have read that the car was still driving around St. John 6-7 weeks after the murder. I know things are at a slower pace down there, but really, that was just rediculous if it's true. If it is true, alot of the evidence, i'm sure, was compromised.

Bluewater and more. I will tell you why my frustration led me to mention the name of the owner/manager of a resturant/bar that I spent the night of my son's murder awaiting a friend to arrive from the states so I would not be alone and serveral, almost everyday, for weeks after jamies' murder waiting for family and friends to arrive and support us. This woman saw me everyday and never ever spoke to me, she would not make eye contact. The bartenders and waiters knew who we were, it was obvious and so did she. They were kind and professional and actually gave us information. She however is a big part of the problem, afraid of what? If STJ is such a safe place why wouldn't she come forward. Opportunity after opportunity she chose to stick her head in the sand. I found out she is related to and lives with an ex female cop of STJ. I was told SHE knew, but did not come forward. She knows the corrupt cops and the good cops and it is just another example of ...... I can't come forward or I would have to move. What the heck is up with that?

I was reading all the postings and got crazy, I should not have posted her name, it was wrong. For me to look into her eyes daily ripped at me, but, I kept my cool. It was reading all this crap that drove, at a weak moment to strike out at a grown woman who is as much a coward as the killers that chased and murdered my son.
She is only interested in protecting herself and does not understand that the only way to get change is to stand up and be counted.
If people like her refuse to come forward STJ will only get worse. So I guess in a way I was trying to force her to do the what I believe is the right thing.
We the People, will not be silenced. I have never revealed the name of a witness that actually came forward, only the coward in the know. So sorry .............. it was a weak moment and I was wrong, still she is MORE wrong than I.

Connie,

Not trying to defend anyone here but you don't know that the police have or have not searched the car and what evidence, if any, they found. We don't even know the resources that are avilable to the police to search for trace evidence. Other than posts on message boards what information is there that this was the actual car that was used to escape from the scene of the murder? I do remember reading that there was a "confrontation" about the car that was spotted in Cruz Bay and CNN attempted to film it but a "chase" of sorts ensued after which the CNN people left the island. There was alot of shouting about a tape too but that seems to have been forgotten. There are a lot of unanswered questions and the Cockanye's deserve all the answers that they want but unfortunately they may have to wait to get some of them.

Yes CShell....that's why i mentioned "if it's true". Maybe it's a rumor, who knows.

What's that about tape? You mean somebody taped this chase as it happened?

I'm going to stick my neck out here.
I believe if someone has seen a person at the scene of a crime, or identified a possible get away
car, that the police can use probable cause to arrest that person, or impound a vehicle to start an investigation.
Doesn't mean the person will stay in jail but, has to go before a judge where the police offer up the reasons for
arrest, and the results of any further subsequent investigation in 48 hrs., allowing the judge to make the decision to
keep that suspect in jail while
more evidence is collected or, a bond be posted or, the suspect released for lack of evidence or witnesses.
Does not mean that they cannot be re-arrested if further evidence is found to implicate guilt, and held until the
person goes to trial.
This is where a lawyer comes in handy.

Sorry guys, it was late, I was not acting responsibly, I was angry, I was wrong. No one should have to come forward if they choose not to. So sorry guys .... good bye ..... this is the last you will hear from jamie's MOM, it is really hard to read such things, that is no excuse. You can all go ahead and debate, I only went on that one night and it was a mistake. I will not make that mistake again, ever.

I'll keep you in my prayers, Mrs. Cockayne.

Mrs Cockayne,

Ignore any attacks you felt on this forum for not being the model mother of a murdered son. There are 1,000 excuses for all that is wrong...except for you - you need to be perfect! (with sarcasm)

Even if you don't have a great deal of support here, you are surely being heard and taken seriously on other forums, especially those in our area. There is a great deal of concern. I see that the local press is picking up, again. Isn't it amazing what one determined mom can do?

Has the Philadelphia Inquire or Daily News yet picked up the story of the botched detention hearing? I was also wondering why Selmo was allowed to go to Antigua to celebrate Carnival after being identified as a murder suspect. Don't the police tell you not to leave town when they interview you as a murder suspect? Why was he allowed to leave the country via the St Thomas airport?

Hang in there and don't beat yourself up for mistakes you make in your grief. Don't be bullied into silence. That might work in some places, but not in your hometown.

Connie, the 'tape" that was discussed is the video surveillance tape from the security camera across from the scene. Mrs Cockayne had been calling for someone to pull the tape and review it for an account of what happened. When you read about the tape, that's the tape being discussed. I think it was across from the bar/police station. Since Mrs Cockayne had been asking for info on exactly where Jamie died, and was denied that info (why, i have no idea!!), I don't know that she knows whether or not the tape would have actually caught the crime as it happened. However, it might have caught the fleeing suspects and maybe the initial chase.

Also, about the debate we had yesterday about the crime stats and questioning how valid they are- I read an article where the former police commissioner of the VIPD was interviewed about the 30% solvency rate and the commissioner admitted to it...then gave some excuses about why...and claimed that the solvency rate is higher where the murderer was a domestic partner or someone with whom the victim ahs a relationship.....but much lower for drug and gang related murders. The VIPD claims to segregate murders into two categories for the sake of reporting - street crimes (drugs, gangs,etc) and non. The US National avergae for crime solvency, around 60%, includes murder solvency, whichi is higher than 60% in the US on average. The article states that homicide has a very high solvency rate, on average. But, in the USVI, the story is very different. The former commissioner implied that the sheer number of murders in the USVI is what drives the VI's crime solvency to the low 30% range. It doesn't sound like the numbers were fudged, since the former police commissioner agreed with them and explained them.

Dear Bluwater,
I can answer part of the questions you posed to Mrs. Cockayne as I live in the greater Philthadelphia region. The ONLY newspaper at present picking up on the Jamie Cockayne bunglefest of the detention hearing is the Bulletin. (See this link: http://www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=18729601&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=6) The Inquirer has not covered Jamie since August 2nd, 2007 which is typical because under new private ownership, it is hard to judge most days what passes for news. Mari A. Schaefer was the last reporter to cover the story and can be reached as per Inquirier website at 610-892-9149 or [email protected]. Here is the staff e-mail list from the paper, have at it: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/about/staff/

The New York Times, People Magazine, Time Magazine, Newsweek, and TV shows like the Today Show and the network news on NBC,CBS,ABC don't seem to give a rat's fanny about this story, although they loved the stories of Natalee Holloway and the groom who disappeared from the cruise ship on his honeymoon. Did I mention it is hard to decide what passes for news these days?
Along those lines read this: http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/8867342.html

Here in Philadelphia, one of the murder capitals of the USA, Jamie is just another statistic - a different spin perhaps on the same issue plaguing folks in the US Virgin Islands.

We can send thousands upon thousands to die in Iraq and elsewhere to protect other countries, but it seems that today, the US has a hard time taking care of it's own people.

Blogs in the Philadelphia area are keeping the story alive as much as humanly possible, but truly, what IS the Federal Government doing?

I didn't know Jamie, but I know this is wrong. A big bag of wrong. And why that Judge Kendall and that prosecutor aren't facing at least sanctions of some sort is appalling. Did they get their law degrees as a prize in the Cracker Jack Box?

Sorry to be a guest who vents. This website should be commeded for it's dedication to this issue. It is a shame the Virgin Island Government doesn't have the same zeal.

There may not be much coverage because there's no new news. Suspects have been arrested and are in custody awaiting the next step in the criminal justice process. Much info will not be disclosed until the trial/trials. The criminal justice system lurches and stumbles forward, which is how it operates most places for the most part.

The family might have benefitted (and still could) by retaining a lawyer from the VI with crininal litigation experience. Such a lawyer would have valuable contacts and would understand how things work in the VI. If i lived in the VI and had a family member in trouble on the mainland, I really wouldn't think it best to get a civil litigator from the VI to be my advocate.

Breck,

I probably wouldn't hire a VI lawyer, given the suspicions that everyone is connected and is potentially being threatened. I doubt if the VI lawyers are any better protected from threats or tampering.....or pressure to conform to the system as it stands (or doesn't) today.

At the conclusion of this case, a VI lawyer still has to return to court ....maybe Kendall's courtroom.

I'd be more comfortable bringing in a lawyer who can do what they have to do, knowing that when this is over they can vanish out of the VI. If the police are openly "chumming it up" with the girlfriend of the accused murderer, in open court, why would anyone believe that the lawyers aren't doing the same. Look at the VI lawyer who was supposed to advocate for We, the People - she forgot to show up.

By the way, Legal Eagles, doesn't the prosecution have to present Discovery prior to the trial...like maybe at the detainment hearing? We keep hearing that things are not being disclosed to Mrs Cockayne or the public due to a chance that release of info will damage the People's case. But, at some point prior to trial, the info is released to Defense and Defense is given the opportunity to prepare Defense against it. If they had collected the video from the surveillance camera, collected DNA from the car, clothing, etc...wouldn't we know by now? I'm just asking - not accusing.

I believe they can say they collected such potential evidence.
Such as, the alleged murder weapon was confiscated. The accused was interrogated, DNA samples were taken. Witnesses were interviewed.
A search warrant was issued. Things of that nature. They do that to reassure the public they are cognizant of
their duties. And boy, they better have done what they say they have done.
This should have been done immediately.