A 23-year-old police constable from Dominica’s Bense district, identified as Patrick Bethelmie Jr., has been taken into custody and slapped with two criminal charges: perverting the course of justice, and illegal possession of ammunition without a valid government license.
This development marks Bethelmie as the fourth law enforcement officer to face criminal charges tied to the high-profile killing of Jerbiah Paul, a teenage resident of Portsmouth, Dominica. As the official investigation into Paul’s murder progresses, a total of six suspects remain in custody at the Dominica State Prison awaiting trial. Of these six detainees, four are serving police officers and two are women, all of whom are currently held on remand.
Acting Assistant Superintendent of Police Fixton Henderson, the department’s acting public relations officer, confirmed a key connection between the latest charged officer and one of the two female suspects already in custody: Bethelmie is the boyfriend of Jolie-Ana Naomi James, who was arrested earlier in the probe and faces the exact same two criminal charges as Bethelmie.
The case has drawn widespread public attention across the small Caribbean island nation, as the involvement of multiple sitting police officers in a teen homicide investigation has sparked calls for transparency and accountability from local community leaders. Authorities have not yet released additional details about the timeline for upcoming court proceedings, confirming only that investigative work is still ongoing.