One of the three men charged in the murder and kidnapping of Jamaican Member of Parliament Philip Paulwell’s 10-month-old daughter Sarayah Paulwell and her mother 27-year-old Toshyna Patterson has pleaded guilty.
His name is being withheld over safety concerns as he remains in custody.
The accused pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of kidnapping in the Home Circuit Court in Jamaica on Wednesday. He is to return to court on November 15 for sentencing.
The men charged are 30-year-old Roland Lloyd Balfour, the cousin of Leoda Bradshaw, Richard Brown, 31, and 29-year-old Rushane Miller.
Bradshaw, a 34-year-old United States Navy, was a longtime partner of Phillip Paulwell and the mother of his eight-year-old daughter.
It is alleged that Bradshaw hired Balfour to contract men to kidnap and murder Patterson and baby Paulwell. Balford contracted the two men to execute the crime.
The prosecution alleges that she paid the men the equivalent of J$100,000 in United States currency as a down payment for the execution of the crime. The remainder of the funds ($400,000) was to be paid after the completion of the deal.
Patterson and baby Paulwell abducted from their home at Gilmore Drive, Kingston 20, on the morning of September 9.
The burnt bodies of the mother and daughter were allegedly found at a site in Rockfort, East Kingston on October 6. Police confirmed that they were “brutally murdered.”
Bradshaw was charged with two counts each of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to kidnapping, kidnapping, and capital murder. The three men were slapped with charges of conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping.
The United States Navy Criminal Investigative Service has since joined the investigation of the two murders. They confirmed that Bradshaw is a petty officer assigned to a talent acquisition team in Miami.
Phillip Paulwell has said he is “heartbroken” at the tragedy, but not addressed his relationship with Bradshaw.
