Family still waiting for burial

by PHILLIPPE AIMEY

FRUSTRATION has been added to the grief of a St Michael family that had to postpone the funeral of a loved one on two occasions and may have to again.

The Gill family is mourning the death of their patriarch Clyde Gill who went missing on October 13 at Martin's Bay, St John and was found dead on the shore of Congor Bay, St Philip on October 16.

"We have been waiting on this autopsy for about two weeks and every day they are telling us it is postponed and because of that, we have not been able to bury our father and it is frustrating without any real understanding as to why this is happening," Gill's daughter Juan Gill-Forbes said.

The family is hoping that an autopsy would be done today so that burial can take place on Saturday.

An autopsy, ordered by the coroner, was originally scheduled for October 20, but was postponed to October 27 (Tuesday) and is now set for today.

Eleven members of the Gill family arrived from the United States for the funeral, originally scheduled for last Saturday, October 24, but have all had to rebook their tickets.

"We've already spent money to extend our tickets and some of us work and go to university full time so it is frustrating. There are other family members who wanted to come initially and we prevented them from coming to avoid this. I don't think I can tell my professors I took time to go to a funeral that never happened," Gill-Forbes' husband Canute said.

A source close to the matter told Daily Nation the problem was directly related to the current vacancy for a qualified forensic pathologist along with outstanding payments due to Pathologist, Dr Stephen Jones for autopsies and assessments previously conducted.

When contacted Jones refused comment .

Recently, Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris spoke of the urgency with which she wanted to see a forensic pathologist placed on the island.

Swedish forensic pathologist Dr Carl Winskog who took up the job in February 2007 quit the post last December.

Since then, all autopsies in criminal cases and coroner's inquests have been provided by Jones.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) though not responsible for the matter issued a statement.

"The QEH sympathises with the family of Mr Gill but given the events leading to his death, it was placed under the jurisdiction of a coroner's case (under the Coroner's Act), all enquiries should be directed to the Attorney-General's office. It should also be noted that Mr Gill was taken straight to Two Sons Funeral Home following the discovery of his death," the statement said.