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Bishop Blair
14.103.
Bishop Blair testified that, on Thursday, 27 May, while he was on a
separate visit to Tivoli Gardens, he saw a truck driving on Spanish Town Road
“towards the Cemetery and I saw 8 or 9 coffins on the vehicle”. He later
reported this to the Chief of Defence Staff, Commissioner of Police and the Prime
Minister, and none of them knew what was happening. He said -
“I was fearful that burials were taking place and the PM
instructed the CoP to halt it. I later learnt that the body
count at the morgue had increased.”
14.104.
When the Bishop went to Madden’s he counted “about 45 bodies
stacked up in a heap one on top of the other”. He heard that another 9 bodies
were to be picked up. He said he went back to Vale Royal to report to the Prime
Minister. He said –
“I was concerned that there were so many bodies in the
morgue and so few weapons had been collected. Some of
the bodies were not the men I saw on 25 May. Most of the
men I saw on Wednesday were young men. I could not say
that the men I saw were wearing any distinctive clothing.”
14.105.
Bishop Blair was “sure” that when he reported to Mr. Golding,
CDS Saunders and CoP Ellington were present.
Madden’s Funeral Home Evidence
14.106.
Mr. Ferdinand Madden, director and shareholder of Madden’s
Funeral Supplies Ltd. gave evidence on 11 February 2016. His two witness
statements set forth on a day to day basis, the treatment of the bodies brought
to Madden’s and the contractual arrangements between Madden’s and the GoJ.
14.107.
The contractual arrangements required Madden’s, at the request of
the JCF, to collect bodies of persons who had died or were left in public places
and whose families had not arranged for their removal. Madden’s was, in effect,