ROSEAU, Dominica, Sept 1, A fourth police officer, Patrick Bethelmie Jr has appeared in a magistrate’s court here, charged in connection with the murder of 16-year old Jerbiah Paul, whose decomposing body was found last month in a village north of here by members of the Barbados-based Regional Security System (RSS) after she had been reported missing since July 24.
The 23 year-old Bethelmie has been charged with perverting the course of justice and possession of ammunition without a valid license.
He is the fourth police officer and the sixth person overall, including two women, to be charged in connection with Paul’s death. He was not required to enter a plea, since this matter is an indictable offence, expected to be tried at the High Court.
On the charge of possession of ammunition, the police officer opted to have the matter tried summarily at the Magistrate’s Court with the prosecution indicating that on August 11, 2026, he had in his possession three rounds of Luger 9mm ammunition without being the holder of a valid firearm licence.
Bethelmie pleaded not guilty to the charge and the state attorney Dana Matthew informed the court that the prosecution intends to oppose any bail application put forward for the accused.
Defence attorney Gina Abraham-Thomas, who along with Wade Norde represents Bethelmie, requested that the bail hearing be deferred to Friday, September 4th. She told the court that Bethelmie and Juliana Naomi James, another person accused of involvement in the murder of the 16-year-old, are charged with the same offences, and that James’ bail application is set for Friday.
The defence attorney therefore asked the court to have both applications heard jointly with the Chief Magistrate Candia Carette-George granted the request. The accused was remanded into custody at the Dominica State Prison pending the hearing.
CMC/fj/ir/2026