Ambushed and murdered

A man who killed an elderly woman and then repeatedly tried to use her ATM cards today pleaded guilty to non-capital murder.

When he was arraigned in the No. 2 Supreme Court, Cheriss Ricardo Omar Ince, 43, of Nursery #2, Four Roads, St Philip, admitted murdering 75-year-old Marcelle Smith sometime between October 12 and October 25, 2015.

The plea was accepted by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Alliston Seale.

As part of Ince’s agreement to plead guilty, Seale told the court that Director of Public Prosecutions Donna Babb-Agard had agreed to drop all other charges against him, which included the capital offence.

Attorney-at-law Safiya Moore, who represented Ince as a friend of the court, told Justice Randall Worrell that even after fully explaining to Ince the repercussions of his guilty plea he still maintained his desire to plead guilty.

In giving the facts, Seale said Smith’s disappearance was first reported by a friend on October 14, 2015, two days after she was last seen at #2 Congo Road, St Philip where she had lived with her husband.

The prosecutor outlined that Smith was last seen by her housekeeper on October 12 around 6 p.m.

He said when the housekeeper arrived at Smith’s house early in the morning on October 14, the now deceased woman was not there.

The housekeeper said she noticed her bed was not made up in the usual manner and an iPad and charger were missing, along with a bed sheet. The husband’s car was also not at the house.

Police were subsequently informed and investigations began into her disappearance.

On October 18, 2015, a vehicle of a similar description was found abandoned in Chelston Park, St Michael.

With Smith still missing, police were informed by bank officials from the Royal Bank of Canada and ScotiaBank that her ATM cards were being used to withdraw money.

They then gave police video footage of those withdrawals and as a result, Ince became a person of interest.

On October 23, 2015, Ince went to the District ‘C’ Police Station as part of his High Court bail conditions and while there he was interviewed and arrested.

He was searched and the numbers 4021 and 2041 were found on a piece of paper in his wallet. The numbers were found to be the pin numbers of Smith’s ATM cards.

When he was initially interviewed by police, Ince maintained his innocence, telling officers they had “the wrong man”.

However, on October 24, 2015, Ince broke down in tears and admitted to killing Smith, telling police officers, “I do something foolish again. I don’t know what wrong with me.”

Ince then took police to a gully in Rolling Hills, St George and showed police where he had dumped her body.

In a subsequent statement Ince told police he only went to rob Smith.

He said after ambushing Smith outside her home and tying her up, he searched the house for money but only found $40 in one of her bags.

He told police he got her ATM cards and tried to withdraw money but was unsuccessful.

He said when he returned to Smith’s house, he tried to put her in the trunk of the car but a struggle ensued and “everything went wrong”. He admitted striking Smith several times about her body during that struggle.

Ince said he eventually placed her in the trunk and drove around with her for a while. He said by the time he checked on her he realised she was dead and he dumped her body in the gully.

He said he initially parked the car in the car park at SkyMall but later moved it and drove it to Chelston Park.

Justice Worrell adjourned the matter until December 9 when sentencing submissions will be made.