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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Anglican Priest brutally murdered</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Stabbing death sends shock waves throughout Stony Hill community</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>KARYL WALKER, Observer staff reporter
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
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</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Anglicans gather at the rectory where St Jude's rector, Rev Richard Johnson, was slain on Sunday night. Police said the churchman's body had 25 stab wounds. (Photo: Michael Gordon) </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>A pall of gloom hung stubbornly over the century-old St Jude's Anglican Church in Stony Hill yesterday, as church members, their tear-stained faces masked with grief, mourned the brutal stabbing death of their priest, Rev Richard Johnson.<P class=StoryText align=justify>But by nightfall, police had in their custody an alleged suspect in the killing of the Anglican priest, whose demise sent shock waves throughout the Stony Hill community which he served.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The man identified only as 'Bomber', turned himself in to the Constant Spring Police, hours after he was pinpointed as a suspect in the slaying of the 45-year-old rector of the St Jude's Anglican Church and chief cleric of the St Phiilips, St Michael's and Tom's River Anglican churches in West Rural St Andrew.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Father Johnson was found dead with over 25 stab wounds at his residence on Rectory Road in Stony Hill minutes before 10:00 o'clock Sunday night.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=156 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Rev Richard Johnson, whose nude body was found lying on a stairwell at the Anglican church rectory in Stony Hill yesterday.</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>On a still night, Father Johnson's blood curdling screams for help brought a caretaker scurrying to the rectory where the priest lived, about a mile from the Stony Hill square.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The caretaker found the priest dead, his nude body lying on a stairwell at the residence located a short distance from the 119-year-old St Jude's Church, police said. There were no signs of forced entry into the rectory, said police.
But police quickly identified a suspect, a man they said was known to frequent the rectory.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"We have evidence that 'Bomber' was seen running from the premises after the priest was heard crying out for help. We know 'Bomber' was known to pay frequent visits to the priest's dwelling," head of the Criminal Investigation Department, Asst Supt Denver Frater, told the Observer.
As news of Father Johnson's death spread yesterday, grief-stricken members of the Anglican Church community gathered on the grounds of the St Jude's Church, many asking 'why him?'.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"It has been a huge loss. He was like a Mother Teresa to us. I don't understand why someone would take a life like this and they can't give life," moaned senior server and member of the church committee, Dave Dennie. His eyes reddened from crying, Dennie described his priest as a jovial, caring person.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Parishioners recalled that in his last sermon that same Sunday morning, Father Johnson had preached about the Good Samaritan, the biblical figure who assisted a wounded man left for dead at a roadside by bandits, when others had only passed him by. The underlying message was about loving one's nei
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Stabbing death sends shock waves throughout Stony Hill community</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>KARYL WALKER, Observer staff reporter
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=365 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Anglicans gather at the rectory where St Jude's rector, Rev Richard Johnson, was slain on Sunday night. Police said the churchman's body had 25 stab wounds. (Photo: Michael Gordon) </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>A pall of gloom hung stubbornly over the century-old St Jude's Anglican Church in Stony Hill yesterday, as church members, their tear-stained faces masked with grief, mourned the brutal stabbing death of their priest, Rev Richard Johnson.<P class=StoryText align=justify>But by nightfall, police had in their custody an alleged suspect in the killing of the Anglican priest, whose demise sent shock waves throughout the Stony Hill community which he served.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The man identified only as 'Bomber', turned himself in to the Constant Spring Police, hours after he was pinpointed as a suspect in the slaying of the 45-year-old rector of the St Jude's Anglican Church and chief cleric of the St Phiilips, St Michael's and Tom's River Anglican churches in West Rural St Andrew.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Father Johnson was found dead with over 25 stab wounds at his residence on Rectory Road in Stony Hill minutes before 10:00 o'clock Sunday night.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=156 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Rev Richard Johnson, whose nude body was found lying on a stairwell at the Anglican church rectory in Stony Hill yesterday.</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>On a still night, Father Johnson's blood curdling screams for help brought a caretaker scurrying to the rectory where the priest lived, about a mile from the Stony Hill square.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The caretaker found the priest dead, his nude body lying on a stairwell at the residence located a short distance from the 119-year-old St Jude's Church, police said. There were no signs of forced entry into the rectory, said police.But police quickly identified a suspect, a man they said was known to frequent the rectory.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"We have evidence that 'Bomber' was seen running from the premises after the priest was heard crying out for help. We know 'Bomber' was known to pay frequent visits to the priest's dwelling," head of the Criminal Investigation Department, Asst Supt Denver Frater, told the Observer.
As news of Father Johnson's death spread yesterday, grief-stricken members of the Anglican Church community gathered on the grounds of the St Jude's Church, many asking 'why him?'.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"It has been a huge loss. He was like a Mother Teresa to us. I don't understand why someone would take a life like this and they can't give life," moaned senior server and member of the church committee, Dave Dennie. His eyes reddened from crying, Dennie described his priest as a jovial, caring person.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Parishioners recalled that in his last sermon that same Sunday morning, Father Johnson had preached about the Good Samaritan, the biblical figure who assisted a wounded man left for dead at a roadside by bandits, when others had only passed him by. The underlying message was about loving one's nei