UPDATED: September 19, 2013
This December 28th will be the sixth anniversary of the assassination of retired Barbados Immigration Chief and former Assistant Superintendent of Police Kenrick Hutson. The case is as ‘cold’ as they come with not a squeak from the police or newspapers since Hutson was shot down in front of his family.
We at BFP try not to forget even if our leaders do.
Original story first published June 29, 2008…
Retired Barbados Immigration Chief and former Assistant Superintendent of Police Kenrick Hutson was gunned down in front of his home on Friday December 28, 2007 while his wife and daughter were inside.
That is six months without an arrest and without a further mention of Mr. Hutson in the Barbados news media.
It is as if he never existed at all.
One would have thought that the Royal Barbados Police Force would have moved Heaven and Earth and never rested until those who murdered a colleague were captured or dead. Perhaps there is some large scale task force working diligently but quietly to hunt down Mr. Hutson’s murderers? Perhaps there has been further interest in the Barbados media with many stories – and we at BFP missed them?
Or perhaps, it is as if Kenrick Hutson never existed at all.
There are strange things that happen on this island sometimes – made stranger still by the silence of the “professional” news media.
Further Reading on BFP
Former Barbados Immigration Chief Kenrick Hutson Gunned Down At His Home
Was Kenrick Hutson Murdered …or Assassinated?
Strange Omission By Nation News Online – Murder Of Retired Chief Immigration Officer Not Mentioned
Barbados Underground
Former Chief Immigration Officer Kenrick Hutson Shot In Barbados
Barbados Free Press 
Perhaps poor Mr. Hutson was silenced (like Pele) because he was about to expose a BIG UP drug baron – who knows?
Assassination is a political tool.
It is murder unless it is politically motivated.
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BFP says,
Quite right!
Which is why the main stream media still lives. BFP too often is sensationalist. I am sure that the RBPF is working diligently to investigate Mr. Hutson’s murder as they are working to investigate all unsolved murders. The RBPF does manage to solve well in excess of 95% or murders committed here. We have no evidence that Mr. Hutson’s murder was anything other than murder. Why would you insist on calling it assassination?
okay J
would you care to list the murders over the past five to ten years ( not crimes of passion and low level drug murders ) and tell us which ones were solved by the RBPF and when it was announced to the Public?
Then can you tell us how justice was carried forward with these persons being charged and how justice was seen to be done?
These murders appear to be like the many report prepared by consultants for government and never released only to enrich the legal profession and political hacks.
Its all about accountability and explaining yourselves to the taxpayer
J says “Which is why the main stream media still lives. BFP too often is sensationalist.”
BFP is “sensationalist” because the comatose mainstream media does not provoke discussion or debate.
BFP uses “provocative” introductions and they stimulate discussion.
I REPEAT THERE IS NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT MR. HUTSON WAS ASSISSINATED.
The mainstream media reported on Mr. Hutson’s death and recently published a long family written obit.
The mainstream media has not ignored Mr. Hutson’s death.
The mainstream media from time to time reports on unsolved murders from 30 or 4o years ago.
There is no need to create news, or sensationalist headlines.
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BFP says,
Hi J,
So… you are counting the family-published obituary in January as “media coverage”?
When in the last five months did the media cover Mr. Hutson’s murder? We couldn’t find it, so please let us know the date etc.
J says…”There is no need to create news, or sensationalist headlines.”
speak for yourself J. Some of us may think differently.
More importantly, let us hope that the cold blooded killer does not escape justice.
Execution may have been a better word than Assasination but the result is the same.
The local newspapers use sensationalist and misleading headlines all of the time, or are often a poor use of English.
A RASTAFARIAN CHILD 23 YEARS OLD WAS MURDERED, BY THE POLICE IN BARBADOS, HE WAS PUSHED OFF THE CLIFF OF COVES BAY ST LUCY, BY THE BARBADIAN POLICE. IS THIS THE PLACE WHERE PEOPLE GO ON HOLIDAY. BARBADOS IS A BAD PLACE TO BE. MAY GOD HELP YOU ALL.
A 23 year old is not a child. 23 year old male people are MEN.
The investigation is still on-going.
We do not yet know how he died.
Barbados is NOT a bad place to live or to holiday.
Please tell me if Barbados is such a bad place how come these same bad Barbadians had already helped to create the university and had paid the tuition so that this 23 year old “child” had already graduated with a degree in engineering from the university?
If Barbados is such a bad place how come I’Akobi had already been employed at 2 different places. How come I’Akobi had never been fired?
I am of course sorry to hear that I’Akobi died. The death of any young person is always a heartbreak for the family and a tragedy for the community, but it is not reason to call Barbados a bad place.
Dear Reality Check:
People in Barbados are regularly charged with murder and brought before judges and juries. People regularly come to court to give evidence. Juries acquit or convict. Those acquitted go home. Those found guilty go to prison formerly at Glendairy but now at Dodds.
These cases are reported in great detail by both the Nation and Advocate newspapers.
I am sorry but I cannot give you the details of every murder committed in Barbados over the last many years, and their resolution. But I have often though that that would be an interesting project for a student of sociology or criminology and who has the time and academic support to do the field work.
And why do you seem to want to exclude “crimes of passion” Do you think that it is ok for a man in a passion to kill “his” woman?
People in Barbados are dieing like flies, pollution/oil spills/ cancer/hiv /asma/ and police murders, is this a good place to be. Anyone who calls a 23 year old a child, is a mother, and i am a mother so i feel for that rasta mother whose child was murdered by the Barbados police, my question is, who gave the order to kill another rastafarian……….that is the question.
Kdadija I feel for I’Akobi’s parents too. But is not really true to say that “people in Barbados are dieing like flies” In fact according to the UN Human Development Index Barbados’ life expectancy is 76.6 which is not perfect but pretty good. There are 146 countries in the world with worse life expectancy than Barbados’.
It seems to me you have no clue what is really going on in Bim, It is sad, a God given paradise, and our goverments are playing with our lives, and the future of the nation. We have no laws that protect us. Where is the inviormental law? The oil spill By Shell Netherlands not only distroyed our soil, but our drinking water as well. and shell is scott free. WHY? because we dont have a law that protects us from companies like SHELL. soon we all will suck the salt from the sea.
Khadija you are not really in Barbados are you? You are relying on inaccurate second had information aren’t you?
The company in not Shell Netherlands. It is Shell Antilles. The legal process is not yet finished.
You understand of course that a law cannot prevent a spill. Proper laws can only reduce the likelihood of a spill, and can force clean up and can compel compensation.
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BFP says,
Hello J,
Respectfully, we must disagree with you when you say that “a law cannot prevent a spill”.
Part of the reason that the Shell Barbados jet fuel spill was so devastating is that this country had no anti-pollution law requiring any of the following…
– Daily checking of the pipelines in and out figures to alert operators to a leak. (In other words, everywhere in the civilized world where there is an oil pipeline, the operators are required to measure the product into the pipeline and compare it with the amount coming out the other end. Any large disparity either daily or over time is going into the ground.)
– A requirement for periodic soil samples.
– A requirement to alert government authorities to a spill, no matter how small.
– Control sections of pipe that are examined periodically for the progression of corrosion or cracks.
– Periodic interior inspections of underground pipes.
– Annual environmental audits to ensure that all rules are being followed.
– Posting of substantial bonds to government – especially in areas where a spill would cause significant harm to the environment and tourism.
Had the Barbados government put these measures in place it would have limited the amount of damage and ensured compliance by Shell.
J – you do not realise the value of fairly-enforced laws because you have been brought up in a society that cares nothing for the rule of law.
Sorry J, But you are very wrong, as i have spoken to the directors of shell Netherlands, in THE NETHERLANDS, and i know exactly what i am speaking about. If Shell Netherlands wanted to clean up they oil spill in bim, they had 14 years to do so. Instead they put 2 million Barbados dollars on the table, and expected the poor farmers to accept it, when they know very well, the true cost of a spill of that magnitude, is 2 billion dollars, That spill is causing the lives of all barbadians. Including yours.so what are you doing about that.
Hi There;
All I want to say is that Barbados is a very beautiful country with very beautiful and handsome human beings. I find it interesting and confusing how the locals are treated in that country. I see us whites or the lighter skinned locals are treated better than the darker skinned individuals. I also notice that at customs and immigration, usually only the dark skinned blacks are subjected to searches and during the searches they were being ridiculed and questioned by the baggage checkers. I thought it was odd and should be reported. Barbados you should get it right, treat your people and visitors as you would want to be treated. Its quite obvious why many tourists like myself never return. We were told that it is a place that is free of discrimination and the whole slavery mentality, yet; I didn’t notice. It seems like Houston, Texas in the 70’s. Nevertheless I really enjoyed the scenery and the company of some new friends we met there. I was planning on returning with some friends… one is dark skinned and very successful, but I am afraid of what she might experience, and how our group would react. A simple act of racism can set one back many years, not to mention the emotional wounds that may never heal. I can only imagine, yet it makes me weak and uncomfortable to think about. I just came across this BFP, and thought I would write a note to who ever is reading. Barbados is a gem, no one could say otherwise, but who wants to visit a gem when the people are rude and condescending. Most people especially in the service industry who get the better job because of their skin colour, is what will ruin your country. You have put them on the pedastal for so long, making them think they are first class citizens, now they think they are inevitable. Their customer service skills reflect the hotels and industries they work in, so they are not deserving of any gratuity. To all you beautiful Nubian princes and princess, Kings and Queens, good luck and great power to you. Its unfortunate that even in a country that is predominantly afro-centric…you are still being robbed of your birthright. Tsk Tsk…Is there strength in numbers or colour?
MIK
Don’t be mad at me…just my observation
Mika
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I am from a Caribbean Island myself and love Barbados. The Caribbean in general is facing more ‘global’ adversities lately. The world has gotten to be a much smaller place and bad elements are everywhere.
That is no reason to ‘put down’ the island though. The misdeeds, ignorance and evil of a ‘few’ individuals should not serve as a mantra for the entire island.
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