‘Obeah’ On Bounty? – Court told of ‘powers’ used to keep Pryce away from hearing

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INSTEAD OF SEEKING the assistance of an attorney to aid her against charges of robbery, the helper of popular deejay, Rodney ‘Bounty Killer’ Pryce, put her faith in ‘obeah’, the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court heard yesterday.

Investigating officer Detective Constable C. Feron, says when the accused, 30-year-old Karen Frances, was held on a warrant, a black bag with peculiar contents was seized.

“We found a bottle with a clear substance in the bag with the names of the complainant (Rodney Pryce) and his mother written on the bottle,” Det. Con. Feron told the court.

From other writings on the bottle which appeared to be a cream soda beverage, police suspected that the item was meant to ‘obeah’ Pryce and his mother, to keep them from showing up at court. Ironically, the court was informed that Pryce would not be appearing in court as he was in Montego Bay, St. James on business. The absence of both Bounty and his mother, (who may be appearing as a material witness), led some to whisper of the obeah’s success.

Not only were the powers of ‘obeah’ invoked against the appearances of the complainant, but was also used to ensure her freedom, as ‘Mus Free’ was also written on one of the bottles.

The charges against Frances, stemmed from a complaint by Pryce in May, that large sums of money were taken from his home. Allegations say between 9 a.m. on May 17, and 4 p.m. on May 18, 2006, money amounting to US$9,000 and JA$30,000 was removed from a black duffel bag located in the complainant’s bedroom.

RM Desiree Alleyne, after hearing strong evidence presented against Frances, ordered that she be remanded in custody. The strongest evidence presented by police, was bank records from an account opened by Frances at the Jamaica National Building Society in Linstead.

The records revealed that funds similar in amount to the stolen money, had been being deposited to the account.

Frances told the court that the money deposited was given to her by her sister, who received it from abroad. The sister, who appeared in her defence, may have implicated herself on money laundering charges, as she explained how she got some money from abroad, by suspicious and illegal means.

“Mi carry down a bottle a powder fi somebody, an long afta mi have it somebody call me an tel mi seh money in it,” explained the sister.

But gaps were soon revealed in their story, as the sister claimed she gave her JA$9,000, when in fact deposits were more equivalent to US$9,000 (amount reported stolen from Bounty).

A mention date for July 4, was set.

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Tags: bounty killer, bounty killer helper, court hearing, obeah, rodney pryce