ESTRANGED WIFE: JAMES WAS NOT VIOLENTBy ALEXANDER BRUZAL Friday, August 7 2009
Everyone close to police corporal Sean James, even his estranged wife, is baffled over what drove him to shoot dead his live-in girlfriend and to then kill himself.
To them, James has always been a quiet and loving person.
On Wednesday, James, a policeman for more than 17 years, fatally shot 45-year-old Dorna Noel at the Curepe office of family doctor Wahid Mohammed, before turning the weapon on himself. Noel was Dr Mohammed’s secretary. James, 41, died at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope after undergoing emergency surgery.
It has been reported that James and Noel quarrelled on Tuesday night at their home at Harper Lane, D’Abadie, where they moved into only a few months ago, relatives said yesterday.
They also had a loud argument at the doctor’s office before the fatal shootings.
James’ shocking decision to kill Noel and himself was something his estranged wife Joanne James found hard to believe yesterday.
Joanne and James’ relatives also met the family of Noel at the Forensic Science Centre, St James as they waited for the results of the autopsies on the couple.
Joanne said she and James had been married for 11 years and not once was he ever violent to her, their six-year-old daughter or his 17-year-old daughter from a relationship before their marriage.
“He was always a good person, quiet and kept to himself. He was also a good father to his daughters. I am really shocked at what took place, this is not within his character,” she said.
Although she and James were separated for more than a year, Joanne still spoke well of him.
“If you knew him then you would know this is not even within the concept of who he is. I really don’t know what happened,” she said.
James’ aunt Pamela also described the corporal, who was assigned to the Besson Street Police Station, as a quiet, family person, who was dedicated to his profession. Pamela said she has never known James to be in any trouble. “He was very dedicated to his work, and his two girls. But that work, the kind of focus and determination it takes, it is real stress,” Pamela said.
She made a plea for the police authorities not to let her nephew’s death be in vain, and to take steps to provide help for officers stressed out by their work.
“Let it mean something, or at least let it start something, some type of counselling or psychological programme to help officers deal with the stress of their jobs as well as their own individual lives,” she said.
Officers at the Besson Street Police Station agreed with James’ aunt. Under the condition of anonymity, several officers told Newsday they knew James was having domestic problems with Noel, which he always seemed to shrug off.
“That is the life of police, you would see each other for most of the day, but you wouldn’t know what is going on in their lives at all. Our focus is always on this job and ensuring we do it to our best at whatever the cost, and sometimes that burden is just too much for some to bear. They really do need to put something in place to act as an outlet for the police,” one officer said.
The officers said they too saw no signs of the violence James planned to carry out as he was always a quiet and good natured person. The officers confirmed on the day of the shooting, James signed for a .38 revolver around 11.45 that morning.
“He just said he was going on regular inquiries, nothing more. He was always a cool person, we never saw this coming,” one officer said.
Noel’s relatives were too distraught to give interviews and her mother Jacqueline George gave a brief statement: “This is just a tough time for us. We have been continuously speaking to police and everyone. We just need some time alone to deal with this right now.”
