Businessman loses second wife to murder

The people of Eastern Portland, particularly Port Antonio, are struggling to come to grips with the murder of the wife of a prominent businessman.

On Monday, the partially burned body of 31-year-old Tonia McDonald was discovered in a car at Sherwood Forest in the parish, shortly before 9 p.m. The body was found with the throat slashed inside her vehicle, which was badly burnt.

Her husband, Everton McDonald, now has to bury another spouse, as 11 years ago, his first wife, Merlene, was shot and killed outside her gate at Boundbrook, near the entrance to Spring Bank road.

Merlene was shot multiple times in the head after she reportedly exited her SUV to collect her grandson, who was sitting in the rear of the vehicle.

Tonia, who lived in Dolphin Bay, was last seen alive about noon by close friends in the Port Antonio area.

"I heard the siren and saw the fire truck driving by at top speed, "said Maxine Smith, a bartender at Folly Road in Port Antonio. "It was raining heavily and I was wondering where the fire brigade was going in that kind of weather. It wasn't until about midnight that I received a call from a friend that Tonia's body was found burned and with the throat cut. I cried myself to sleep, because she was such a quiet girl. It is so sad."

Police sources, who were summoned to the scene shortly after 9 p.m., have since revealed that the woman's body was burnt severely from the shoulder down.

Police have theorised that she may have been abducted and taken to the isolated area of Sherwood Forest, which is densely populated by trees and other forms of vegetation.

Firefighters who responded to a call from residents in that area, managed to carry out cooling-down operations on Tonia's vehicle.

The police have not yet ruled out robbery as the motive for the killing, but have maintained that they are also exploring other motives.