PORTLAND, Jamaica— A woman who is suspected to have been killed due to a domestic dispute on Wednesday, is Portland’s third murder victim of the year.

She is 46-year-old Merylin Whyte, a labourer of Comfort Castle in the parish.

The police are seeking Whyte’s baby’s father Richard Gray, otherwise called ‘Otis’, a farmer of Mill Bank in Portland, who they believe can assist with  their investigations.

It is suspected that the murder took place sometime between 4:00pm and 7:00pm.

Reports are that Donovan Gray, brother of Richard Gray, left for work around 8:00am, leaving his brother at home.

About 7:00pm when he returned home he noticed that the house was in darkness. He used his keys to open the front door, entered and turned on the lights. He then found Whyte’s lifeless body lying down between the kitchen and living room.

His brother Richard was not seen at the house, the police report said.

The police were summoned to the scene where they found Whyte’s body with several stab wounds to the chest and abdomen, the report disclosed.

It added that the living room, bathroom and kitchen had blood, and it appeared that there was some form of struggle between Whyte and the suspect.

Whyte was taken to the Port Antonio Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Her death pushes the parish’s murder count to one more that the corresponding period last year.

The police have launched an investigation into the murder.

-Everard Owen