Orville Purnell
CASTRIES, St. Lucia--The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) placed three officers on interdiction after Orville Purnell, awaiting extradition to St. Lucia to face the courts on a murder charge, escaped.
According to Jamaica media, the three officers were on duty last week when Purnell (27) escaped from the Central Police Station in Kingston and remained on the run.
The Jamaica Observer had reported that the wanted man made an offer of J $3 million (US $19,350) to police personnel and inmates at Kingston Central Police Station to assist in his escape from custody.
But the publication said that came after he forked out J $50,000 (US $322.50) to inmates, who were able to convince their cronies to throw cutting implements inside the yard of the police lock-up so that he could cut his way out of the jail.
Purnell escaped from St. Lucia in 2020 while awaiting a murder trial and fled to Jamaica.
According to a statement from the Royal St. Lucia Police Force (RSLPF), at the time of his escape from the Babonneau police station, Purnell was in a cell with four other prisoners and sawed the bars to get out.
The RSLPF launched a probe into the escape, but a senior officer told St. Lucia Times on Tuesday that the investigation was ongoing.
After he escaped custody at the Babonneau police station here, Purnell fled to his native Jamaica, where police recaptured him on July 14 this year, but he escaped last week.
St. Lucia police had charged Purnell for the murder of Cleus Alfred of Ravine Macock at Trouya, St. Lucia, on August 25, 2020.
Alfred’s body was discovered in a pool of blood on the road at Trouya after residents reported hearing the sound of gunshots. ~ St. Lucia Times ~
