News
JAM | Jan 7, 2023

Family of slain missionary flying to Jamaica for murder trial

/ Our Today

administrator
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Two-week trial to get under way next week

Harold Nichols (left), 53, and Randy Hentzel, 48, missionaries with the Pennsylvania-based TEAMS for Medical Missions were murdered in Jamaica on April 30, 2016. | (Photos: Facebook)

Durrant Pate/Contributor

The family of Randy Hentzel, one of two American missionaries slain in Jamaica back in 2016, is flying to the island to observe the murder trial, which starts next week in the Kingston Home Circuit Court.

The double murder grabbed international headlines and left several people devastated, particularly those who benefited from the kindness of the two American missionaries. Two men, Dwight Henry of Wentworth and Andre Thomas of Port Maria, both in St Mary, are facing trial for the murder of Hentzel, then 48 years old, who was viciously killed along with his colleague, 53-year-old Harold Nichols.

Hentzel, from Ankeny, Iowa in the United States, and Nichols were doing missionary work in the country in 2016 when the former was shot and killed in what the police believe was a gang-related attack. After a six-year wait, the family of Hentzel is no hoping for justice for their departed loved one.

“Really, we’re going down there just to honour Randy, and show them that we still remember, we still think it’s important and that we’re still looking for justice.”

Sara, Randy Hentzel’s widow

The accused men originally confessed but are now claiming that their confessions were coerced. Hentzel’s widow, Sara, who is one of the family members flying into the country, told the American media that she fears the worst since so much time has passed and witnesses have been lost. But she still plans to sit in the courtroom to hear the outcome.

She told the American media: “Really, we’re going down there just to honour Randy, and show them that we still remember, we still think it’s important and that we’re still looking for justice.”

The trial is expected to last two weeks.

Comments

What To Read Next