Jamaica’s First Recorded Serial Killer – The “Mad Doctor of Edinburgh”
People in Pedro district, St Ann, Jamaica might not realise that the ruins of an old castle built in the 1700s hold a macabre tale of serial murders and torture.
The stones tell the story of one Lewis Hutchinson, the most evil and hated man of his day.
Hutchinson was born in Scotland in 1733 and studied medicine for a while.
He came to Jamaica in the 1760s to run an estate on which a house known as Edinburgh Castle sat. Not too long after Hutchison’s arrival, numerous travelers disappeared without a trace. Some travelers rested at Edinburgh Castle, the only inhabited spot for miles on the way from St. Ann’s Bay.
Hutchinson killed for sport, all persons were targeted, regardless of their income. He fed off the flow of blood, dismembered victims and left them in sinkholes, for the vultures to carry on where he left off. The hole became known as “Hutchinson’s Hole”. Though the exact number of victims remains unknown, upon searching his home after his arrest, approximately 43 watches and a large amount of clothes were found
Officials were to scared to serve him with a warrant. Eventually, a young English soldier, John Callendar, bravely set out to bring Hutchinson in. Hutchinson calmly shot him on sight. Hutchinson then fled to Old Harbour where he set off by sea. The Royal Navy, commanded by the venerable Admiral Rodney (whose statue now stands in Spanish Town Square) arrested him when he tried to jump overboard his craft.
Edinburgh Castle was searched and belongings of travelers found. The slaves’ accounts of multiple murders were dismissed as hearsay. Their stories were substantiated. Hutchinson had not carried out his evil acts alone and several other plantation owners were condemned to death. Lewis Hutchison was tried, found guilty and condemned to death by hanging in Spanish Town Square in 1773.
By Neo Makeba
Curated from wikipedia
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