Spanish Town man charged with murder, arson
ST CATHERINE, Jamaica — Detectives assigned to the St Catherine North Police Division have arrested and charged one man in connection with a murder in McCooks Pen and an arson on Mansfield Avenue, both in Spanish Town, St Catherine that occurred on September 14.
Charged is 63-year-old Ernest Whyte, a construction worker of a McCooks Pen address.
He was charged on Wednesday with murder, attempted murder, assault at common law, and arson.
Whyte is accused of killing 47-year-old Denise Bright in McCooks Pen then stabbing another woman on Mansfield Avenue before setting her house ablaze.
According to reports from the Spanish Town Police, Whyte and Bright were involved in an argument about 10:00 am, when he used a machete to inflict multiple wounds to her and fled the scene.
Later that day, Whyte reportedly went to house on Mansfield Avenue and got into another dispute with another female, when he used a knife to inflict stab wounds to her then set the house ablaze.
The fire was extinguished and she was assisted to hospital for treatment.