‘A VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY GIFT’

It was not the birthday gift Wayne Campbell had dreamt of, but for him, yesterday’s conviction of his former son-in-law and three accomplices for the daring daylight contract murder of his daughter six years ago was the best gift.

“Today is my birthday, so it’s a very special birthday gift, and as usual, my daughter always delivers on my birthday. The last birthday, my gift was an iPhone,” said a beaming Campbell, who turned 58.

United States citizen Omar Collymore, 41, businessman; contract killer, Michael Adams, 27; and Dwayne Pink were found guilty of the January 2, 2018, murders of Simone Campbell-Collymore and taxi driver Winston ‘Corey’ Walters.

A unanimous verdict was handed down against all three on two counts each of murder and a count of conspiracy to murder.

The jury, which deliberated for nearly two and a half hours, also found Shaquilla Edwards guilty of conspiracy to murder but not guilty on the murder counts.

Edwards had maintained that he had pulled out of the murder plot after initially trailing the woman days before her murder.

The verdict was welcomed by friends and family of the slain 32-year-old businesswoman and mother of two with joy and tears.

Some form of closure

As they hugged each other and relayed the good news outside the courtroom, Simone’s mother, Karen, was heard saying repeatedly, “My Jesus never fail we yet.”

Wayne, flanked by his wife, Karen, Simone’s best friend Stacey Lue, and friend Tina Lee, all wearing Simone’s favourite colour, royal blue, said: “... This verdict, it won’t bring her back, but we will have some form of closure. At the end of the day, we will have something to say to the kids – ‘this is exactly what transpired and this is the end’.”

He added, “It is an unfortunate situation, but at the same time, in our grief and in spite of everything, we still have to give God thanks, we still have to give God the glory. He knows why He allows it to happen, so we still not leaning on our own understanding. We still trust in God, and He will see us through. He has walked with us throughout this journey.”

The trial heard that Collymore hired Adams to facilitate the murder of his wife and that Edwards and Pink allegedly played a role in surveilling the businesswoman’s movements before her death.

The prosecution’s case was that Collymore engineered his wife’s murder so that he could collect $76 million from her two life insurance policies valued at a total of $100 million.

Before the verdict, the men appeared dispirited, and after the verdict was passed, both Adams and Collymore, who were observed clasping their hands in their laps, were seen fiddling with their moustaches and shaking their heads as if in disbelief.

The victims were killed when men rode up on motorbikes and sprayed them with bullets as they waited to be let inside Campbell-Collymore’s Forest Ridge apartment complex in Red Hills, St Andrew.

The mother of two was shot 19 times and the taxi driver was shot five times.

According to Wayne, the verdict did not come as a surprise.

“Once you walk with God there is never a doubt, and God has been on our side. God favours us,” Wayne said. “This will not heal the wound, but it will help.”

Wayne and his wife, who broke down in tears several days through the four-month trial, said it was a painful experience listening to the lies being spewed by Collymore, who they had welcomed into their home like a son.

“He is a liar. We open our home to him, and as I had said, we used to wear each other clothes, and to hear him paint the family like we were like cats and dogs and that was the way we live … the guy is just a crook,” he said.

Wayne shared that although Collymore had testified that he did not know the day of his wife’s funeral, he had personally called him the night before and given him all the information.

Taken off a plane

Karen said she was also present and told him to tell them if there was anything he wanted to add to the programme.

Collymore, the trial heard, was taken off a plane on the day of his wife’s funeral.

According to Wayne, they were all happy until Omar became wayward in October 2017 because he wanted to carry out his plan and knew he had to get their daughter out of the house for his plan to work.

“If Simone did not move out of that house, she would have been alive today,” he said.

Wayne also alleged that Omar’s plan was to kill more than one member of their family, noting that on the day his daughter was killed, Collymore had called her sister to transport her after removing one of her car tyres.

“Even the Sunday when she was going church and him send the man dem round there, it was my wife that go pick her up. Me nuh know wey him get da devil deh. A di seven devil inna him, so I going mek sure him stay down a GP with the seven devils down deh,” Campbell said further.

In the meantime, Wayne said that although he had not yet forgiven Collymore, he was open to forgiving him and would pray and ask God to save his soul.

Emphasising that God was good and that He never failed, Karen, on the other hand, said she had already forgiven the men and because of God’s grace and mercy, the family could rejoice.

Both parents also thanked the prosecution team, including the police and the member of the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions for the tremendous work done to bring the men to justice.

“In Jamaica, how things are set up, people don’t trust the justice system, but I can stand here as a witness and say if you give the justice system a chance, it can work and will work,” Wayne said

Chue, who had attended the trial every day along with the Campbells, also expressed joy with the verdict.

“Yes, this won’t bring her back, but this will give us some gratification. No bad deed, no evil deed goes unpunished.”

She said she wants persons to remember her best friend as a good person who was kind-hearted, loving, and caring.

“Simone was such a happy person. She was very resourceful. As they said in court, she was the glue that would hold everything together. If you are having a bad day or going through something, talking to Simone would resolve it, and you would feel better.”

Edward’s lawyer, Gnoj McDonald, said she believed that the jury arrived at a fair verdict in the circumstances.

“It is our hope that our client treats this as a lesson and will not find himself in this position moving forward,” she said.

Attorneys-at-law Diane Jobson and Sasha-Kay Shaw represented Collymore. Attorney-at-law Sanjay Smith represented Adams and Earnest Davis represented Pink.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com