Recently, we brought you the story of Jamie Cockayne.
Last evening on CBS3 there was an update. This afternoon, a terrific story from Lynn Berry at NBC10. His family is seeking answers, closure, peace, and justice. It does not seem to us that they are on a crusade against the Virgin Islands, or the people who reside there. Put yourselves in their weary shoes for a minute: this family lost a son, a brother, a cousin. He was a young man with his whole life ahead of him.
Can it be considered it would behoove the island government down there to solve this crime, this murder because seriously, common sense dictates that the longer this goes unsolved and a family's questions go unanswered, the worse it is in the long run for tourism? How long before people really DO start boycotting another paradise vacation destination? Should people start boycotting St. John's Virgin Islands NOW?
Here's the news story and an excerpt of an e-mail received via the family that came with the message "Please forward to any and all that you think might be able to help."
New Hope Family Hopes For Answers In Island Death
(CBS 3) NEW HOPE, Pa. 21-Year-old Jamie Cockayne's voyage to paradise ended with his funeral.
"Jamie was stabbed and beaten and left to die," victim's mother Jeanie Cockayne said.
From inside their New Hope home Jamie's family has been busy going over the evidence trying to figure out who killed him in the early morning hours of June 19th on the Island of St. John.
"Jamie was stabbed multiple times, stabbed seven times from what we learned it looks like he was attacked twice. He was attacked he got away and they attacked him again," victim's brother Jeff Cockayne said.
The 2005 New Hope Salisbury High School graduate was a certified sailing instructor and was on St. John waiting for a job opportunity as well as to help his mom look for a retirement home.
"It's unbearable really. You can only take so much at one time," Jeff said.
More than a month after the murder Jamie's family has grown fed up with the Virgin Islands Police force which they claim has not been helpful and is incompetent.
"I have no real idea as to what state the investigation is in. There's really been literally no communication with us, his parents, or his family," victim's father Bill Cockayne said.
A month later, no arrests in murder case
By RILEY YATES
phillyBurbs.com
It has been more than a month since 21-year-old Jamie Cockayne was stabbed to death on a street in St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
For his New Hope family, it has been a harrowing time, as they've pushed for justice for their son despite what they charge is a lack of interest from police.
Last week, fears culminated when they fled the island after the landlord at their rental house told them they could be in danger.
“Tonight, I found out that we are being forced out of the home we are staying [in] because the murderers are looking for us and our landlord fears for his property and our lives,” mother Jeanie Cockayne wrote in an open letter to the Gov. John deJongh Jr. dated July 19.
“This is not over,” Jeanie Cockayne said in the letter, published Monday in St. John Tradewinds, a local weekly. “If I have to return to the states because this is a war zone, do not think for a New York minute that this is over.”
And finally, the e-mail we were asked to pass along:
Jamie was murdered on June 19th between 12:15 - 12:30(just after midnight). Within 90 minutes and before detectives could arrive, the local police ordered that the scene be hosed off. Jamie was wearing a baseball cap. According to witnesses, the baseball cap was discarded because the police were out of evidence
bags. The local newspaper, The Tradewinds, routinely posts articles discussing law enforcement's inability to solve any crimes. After Jamie was murdered, one witness fled the islands in fear of his/her safety -- he/she was afraid of the perpetrators and the police. After the murder, we were candidly told by others that were victimized on the island that if you want the crime to be solved, you will have to do it yourself.
In addition, government officials have refused to provide any information to the family. After we repeatedly requested a face to face meeting to discuss the progress of the case, local officials told us they would meet. Ironically, they never agreed to meet until a day after the family left the island. When we agreed to participate in a meeting telephonically, they cancelled the meeting 45 minutes after it was supposed to begin. The meeting was supposed to begin at 9:30 am. Having not received a call by 9:45am, the family attorney called and was told they were running late. Still not receiving a call by 10:00am, the family attorney called again and was told they were running late. At 10:15am, they called the family attorney and said that they were canceling the meeting without any explanation. Subsequently, we found out
that Agent Schmidt (from the FBI) did not even know about the meeting -- yet, he was supposed to be present for the meeting.
With this background, we were faced with the unfortunate reality that the police were not going to solve this crime and we employed a private investigator. This was done at a great expense to the family. We received the final report along with tape recorded interviews from key witnesses on this past Wednesday, July 25, 2007. Our original plan was to turn this report over to the local police in a meeting. We requested a meeting and requested that the U.S. attorney's office and Agent Schmidt be present. Candidly, it was our hope that the federal government get involved. On Thursday, our private
investigator received a telephone call from one of our key witnesses. That witness was told that his/her story concerning a key piece of evidence must change or else. This witness lives on St. John and, quite obviously, cannot rely on local law enforcement for protection. Our private investigators had this witness' statement and the witness also disclosed the same information to the police. Our investigators did not release the statement so we logically assumed that the police released the information. The information was very specific and not information that could be spread by innuendo or rumor.
With this information concerning threatening a witness, we felt a moral obligation to change plans and immediately turn the entire private investigation report over to federal authorities. We were already working with Senator Specter's office in an attempt to get federal authorities involved. We sent the entire report to Specter's office with a plea that he turn the matter over to federal authorities. Because we
fear further witness intimidation, we will not be turning the report over to local authorities. We are confident that Senator Specter will deliver the report to the appropriate authorities.
The following is information from the report that we could release. We have agreed not to identify anyone by name and after the threat described above, we are being very careful not to disclose any information that could inadvertently identify a witness (thus, the he/she above).
Jamie was at the Front Yard bar which is immediately adjacent to the police station. There is a video camera facing the police station but across the street. At the Front Yard, two locals were upset with Jamie and accused him of kicking a girlfriend's car. We are not sure if Jamie knew what they were talking about but Jamie was told to leave. The two locals began to follow Jamie out of the bar and broke pool
cues to use as weapons. The two locals were slowed own by a person in the bar for a second but eventually left the bar running after Jamie. The person that attempted to slow down the two locals immediately found a police officer in front of the police station and told that officer that there was going to be a fight. A witness saw one of the locals pick up a two by four. Another witness simultaneously said something like they are hurting the white boy up the street. We don't know how long it took the police
to get there but the officer eventually drove the 150 feet without lights on. One witness estimated that it took the police five minutes to get there. The drive takes fifteen seconds if you are driving the speed limit - 15mph.
The murder happened approximately 150 feet from the police station. The witnesses have identified the two locals that ran after Jamie by their street name. Keep in mind that St. John has a population of a large high school (about 5,000 )and the population is generally broken down 50/50 by locals (West Indian) and non-locals. The perpetrators are males and relatively young. The point is that the police would obviously know who the perpetrators are -- their options are relatively limited. Our investigators
have identified one by his given name.
By all accounts, Jamie was killed within minutes after he left the Front Yard. A witness that saw the altercation described the perpetrator. The perpetrator, not surprisingly, fit the description of one of the two locals that chased Jamie from the Front Yard. That perpetrator ran from Jamie to the passenger seat of a car and left the area.
The witnesses that disclosed this information to the police have specifically stated that they are afraid to be witnesses. One witness called the police (subsequent to the murder) to tell the police that he/she could see a key piece of evidence involved in the murder. (We cannot disclose the specific piece of evidence because it would reveal the witness' identity. This is the same witness that was already threatened.) Not surprisingly, the police stated that they were too busy and could not do anything at that time concerning the critical evidence. Apparently, they couldn't do anything later either because they never followed up. On other occasions, the same witness called the police and no one answered.
All of the key witnesses told our investigators that they were interviewed within approximately three days of the murder. In short, the police had the same information that we now have and have had that information for over a month while murderers run loose on St. John.
Everyone should email any media outlet that they think might be interested in this story. We need to keep the pressure and spotlight on local law enforcement.
NBC10 Lynn Berry:Mother Seeks Justice In Son's Virgin Islands Slaying
Family Claims Police Corruption
POSTED: 4:20 pm EDT July 30, 2007
UPDATED: 6:24 pm EDT July 30, 2007
NEW HOPE, Pa. -- A mother is seeking justice for the killing of her son, Jamie Cockayne.
He was killed in the U.S. Virgin Islands and they don't feel enough is being done to solve the crime.
It has been nearly a month and a half since Cockayne was slain outside a popular St. John bar.
NBC 10's Lynn Berry interviewed the family Monday in their home in New Hope, Bucks County.
The Cockaynes were speaking out in what they say is a case of police corruption, hoping to find justice for the young man, who had just turned 21 and planned to begin working on St. John at a yacht club.
His family was on the island at the time looking for a home to which they could retire. Instead, they are looking for people they say killed their son.
"What was Jaime like? He was warm, caring, effervescent," said Jeanie Cockayne, who along with her husband, Bill, said they are seeking justice in the July 19 slaying.
"'Please, won't somebody please show me where my son died?' and she just said, 'Well, you'll have to talk to the supervisor.' And I said, 'Well, here's my name, and here's my number,' and of course no one called me," Jeanie Cockayne said.
That was when the family hired a private investigator, who they said obtained witness accounts of that night...."He was hit in the head with a two-by-four twice. You know, he was stabbed seven times," said Jeff Cockayne, the victim's brother.
Police were only 150 feet away, the family said.
"He told police officer, 'You better hurry and get up there. There's going to be some trouble. There's some guys after a white boy,'" Jeanie Cockayne said.
But reports said police didn't arrive until five minutes after the killing.
The family said the crime scene was then hosed-off before detectives arrived, leaving many questions unanswered.
"Every time they told us we had to talk to somebody else, we'd ask the same question and they'd say, 'You have to talk to somebody else.' They just wouldn't take us," said Jeanie Cockayne.
At the end of June, the family's private investigation got them into trouble of their own, getting a phone call recommending they leave the island.
"I don't think I can put it into words. It's an impossible situation, and you can't even begin to grieve because you know they're still walking around," said Jeanie Cockayne, the mother....
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Please read this letter written by Jamie's mother to a Virgin Islands Newspaper:
It is also interesting to note that a message board on trip advisor on St. John's has had the thread about Jamie deleted...was a nerve struck?
Comments like this were posted:
Other blobs are picking up the story other than us and PhillyFuture:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=1589430&blogID=291186022
http://virgin-islands-news-source.blamfluie.com/2007/07/23/will-there-be-justice-for-jamie-cockayne-2704995.html
http://casamafrazz.livejournal.com/19344.html
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permalinktrouble for www.tripadvisor.com - just picked up this thread on another forum - we are cross prosting in entirety like poster requests of folks:
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permalinkI did some research and it's interesting to note that Trip Advisor is owned by Expedia. Expedia is owened primarily by a group called Liberty Media LLC as well as other names. I'm not business major (Communication/Media analysis and Journalism) but from what I compiled the stock of Expedia has been increasing steadily. It seems as if Expedia is afraid of getting bad press while their stock is beginning to rise.
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permalinkLocation: Ardmore, PA
Website: [Link]
Blog: [Link]
If it's Trip Advisor's own site, then it's pretty much within their rights to remove any thread that they like. Now, I haven't seen the thread in question. Was it off topic? Was the poster trying to cause problems or start drama? These are all valid reasons to remove a thread, regardless of actual subject content.
Remember that private property rights work both ways. If we can remove off-topic threads and problem users from this website, Trip Advisor can do the same on their website.
-- Doug
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permalinkHi Doug - we actually did research and pulled up some of the posts on a cache that were eventually scrubbed out of existence, as well as seeing some of them BEFORE they were removed.
What we saw were family members posting to basically very politely ask anyone that moght have knowledge to contact them via e-mail - tripadvisor's VI forums are very active.
There was no real drama. Pretty much just the facts.
What else did we notice? OTHER posts in other forums on the site that concerned crime in various locales that people take vacations that were much worse.
We concur with your reasoning, but after snooping around (including on other travel websites with forums and posting), we concur that tripadvisor removing the posts was odd - after all, look at it this way - people like to know as much as possible before visiting a new place - and posts about crime won't necesarilly deter someone from visiting someplace, but it MIGHT help them make well rounded decisions on how to plan their itineraries, etc. Other travel websites have let the posts remain....
Just a thought
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permalinkHi guys, I live on a charter boat doing trips between St Thomas and St John, USVI; and often to Tortola and Virgin Gorda, BVI for fun... First of all let me say I am very shocked and upset about what happened on St John. My mother lives there and i walk by that bar and up the street where it all went down all the time. I have lived here almost 7 years, from Morgantown, WV near Pittsburgh, PA. I have seen it all. But not on STJ. Its just not like that. I even met Jamie at 'Woody's' one afternoon and he was with some other guys. They all seemed nice, and like the normal boatie guys around here. Boaties usually stick together here. My mom writes for some of the papers here and online and I wanted to pass on the LATEST story, she just published today, because there have been major developments in the case and I think that is AWESOME! My prayers and wishes are with you, the community, and the family, as it all seems so senseless.
here's the article:
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-2960--0-0--.html
I love these waters, these islands. And so did he. But healing takes time.
Kris
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