0:06

This is White Devil. Please do

0:08

enjoy. Police

0:11

superintendent Henry Jamont was a father of

0:14

five and a law enforcement veteran. His

0:16

friends and family say they are stunned

0:18

by his sudden death and equally shocked

0:21

that a police officer could die this

0:23

way. Police in this Central American country

0:25

confirmed Jamont did not die in the

0:28

line of duty, but instead

0:30

in what they describe as an

0:32

incident, the details disclosed that

0:34

Jamont and a woman were drinking,

0:36

alone on the pier, and both

0:38

were fully clothed. Details

0:40

beyond that are scant. The

0:46

exact truth of what happened in Belize on

0:49

May 28, 2021, isn't knowable in any objective way.

0:54

There were two people there, alone on an

0:57

isolated pier, and only one

0:59

survived to talk about it. There

1:01

were no witnesses, no cameras.

1:04

And as the saying goes, a dead

1:06

man tells no tales. So

1:10

with that in mind, here's what we know. Sometime

1:13

around 1230 a.m., a security guard

1:15

outside of some luxury condos on Ambergas

1:17

Key, the largest island off the coast

1:19

of Belize, heard a gunshot.

1:23

These condos are adjacent to a brand

1:25

new luxury resort called Alaya, on

1:27

the outskirts of the town of San Pedro. If

1:31

you've been to Belize, you've probably stayed in San

1:33

Pedro. It's a party town,

1:35

which fronts the region's largest coral reef, so

1:37

it's filled with bachelors and bachelorettes, as

1:40

well as fishermen and scuba divers. It's

1:42

noisy and can be crowded, as tourists

1:45

and golf carts buzz around its narrow

1:47

dirt lanes, dodging Belizean selling t-shirts and

1:49

coconuts. But on this night,

1:52

it was very quiet. This was

1:54

pandemic times. When

1:57

the guards who heard that gunshot got to the pier,

1:59

they found just one person, a

2:01

woman they knew well, a young blonde

2:03

Canadian who lived in the condos they were protecting.

2:06

She was in a panicked state, covered in blood,

2:09

and muttering about an accident. Bobbing

2:12

in the sea just off the pier was the

2:14

body of a large black man who turned out

2:17

to be a cop named Henry Jamaat. And

2:19

not just any cop either. Henry Jamaat

2:22

was a boss, a superintendent. At

2:24

one time, the second ranking police officer on

2:26

the island. And there was

2:28

no doubt about this part. Henry

2:31

Jamaat was dead. After

2:36

seven months of being a murder-free island,

2:38

San Pedro Town was rocked by the

2:40

news of the death of its former

2:42

police commander. Just after one, Superintendent Henry

2:45

Jamaat was fatally shot, reportedly with his

2:47

own weapon. Questions are swirling

2:49

this morning. A high-ranking police officer

2:51

dead, a woman connected to a

2:53

billionaire family alone on the pier

2:55

when he died. This morning, calls

2:58

for justice. Police

3:01

Commissioner Chester Williams, Belize's highest-ranking police officer,

3:03

spoke to the press a half day

3:06

later, on the afternoon of May 29,

3:09

to update the country on his initial findings

3:11

in this incredible case of the rich white

3:13

woman and the dead black cop. Upon

3:17

investigating, police

3:19

found the female on

3:22

a pier. She

3:24

had what appeared to be blood on

3:27

her arms and on her clothing. A

3:31

firearm was also seen on the pier. That

3:35

firearm has been retrieved, and we

3:38

have learned that the firearm belonged

3:40

to the police. When

3:42

inside the waters right

3:45

near the pier, police

3:47

recovered the lifeless body of

3:50

Mr. Jamaat with one

3:52

apparent gunshot wound behind

3:55

the right ear. Behind

3:58

the right ear. It's.

4:00

Exactly where you would put a bullet if you're

4:02

trying to execute a man. But.

4:04

The only plausible executioner here was a

4:06

young woman with no criminal record and

4:08

a very high profile around town. Her

4:11

name was Jasmine. Harden Jasmine. hard

4:14

to as. Also I have a selling

4:16

a police for science has been helpful

4:18

in their hands. Behind bars are Jasmine

4:20

Heartening was arrested and charged and can

4:22

access to this and seventy. Suit he.

4:28

Doesn't Harden was taken into custody and

4:30

put in a cell. They looked bad

4:32

but the way things worked in believes

4:35

everybody figure that this reds well connected

4:37

access which is by your way out

4:39

of it in this case. Everybody.

4:42

Was wrong. From

4:51

Camp Site Media This is White Devil

4:54

and I'm just team. And

4:56

Episode one, Paradise Lost.

5:04

I. Don't typically read the New York Post, but

5:06

a friend of mine does and he sometimes sends

5:08

me links for a laugh. And.

5:10

Back in June, Twenty Twenty one. He flagged a

5:13

story about a suspicious killing and bullies and ask

5:15

me to read it. There's. Way more

5:17

to this he said than even the baseline story.

5:19

But. Some rich white lady and killed a black

5:21

cop and bullies. I.

5:23

Didn't have an inkling at the time the this email

5:26

was about to open a wormhole and my life. That

5:29

would drag us to five countries

5:31

on two continents and spark a

5:33

fascination with Illuminati level conspiracy theory

5:35

plus global tax havens and a

5:37

dying embers of the British Empire.

5:40

The first day I was just curious. I

5:43

made some calls. Just

5:47

seems sorting or that it works

5:50

well I'm glad to if is

5:52

nice to meet is a been

5:54

covering the storm sells it happened

5:56

last week friday Mississippi Lido Novello

5:58

A bullies and. who works

6:00

for a local news outfit called Love FM. He

6:03

covers breaking news for TV, radio, and online.

6:06

Just to keep tabs on the story, I

6:08

checked in with Hippolyto frequently over those first

6:10

few weeks, as things unfolded. He explained

6:12

how it all went down that first day, when

6:14

news of the shooting broke. Early in the morning, I

6:17

received a message saying that there was a shooting in San

6:19

Pedro. Not on the surface,

6:21

a huge thing. Belize is

6:23

a violent place. Only four countries in the

6:26

world have higher murder rates. It was ordinary

6:28

news. I mean, it happens. And

6:30

then I received another message saying that it was a

6:32

police officer, one of the commanding officers

6:34

in the police department. So I said,

6:37

okay, so a police officer being shot

6:39

and killed is already a huge

6:42

news for Belize here. Which makes sense. Shootings

6:46

are relatively common. Shootings of

6:48

cops are not. So as

6:50

the minutes went by, then we heard that it was

6:52

a foreigner, a female, a white

6:54

woman, who shot and killed this police officer.

6:57

And the media, we know Henry Jamaat.

7:01

Jamaat was an ambitious and respected,

7:03

even revered cop, whose career was

7:05

on the ascent. Belize

7:07

is a small place, and people

7:09

are engaged with the news. Senior public

7:12

figures tend to be well known. So

7:14

we knew this was a big deal. This

7:16

was a big case. Then we got information

7:18

that this person was the daughter-in-law of Michael

7:20

Ashkra, the Michael Ashkra, for him to be.

7:23

And everyone in Belize knows of Michael Ashkra.

7:27

Jasmine Hardin isn't actually Michael

7:29

Ashkra's daughter-in-law, although many people think

7:31

of her that way. She and Michael's son Andrew never

7:33

married, but she is the mother of his twins. So

7:37

her kid's grandfather is one of the most

7:39

influential men in Belize. So

7:43

the story exploded. Now

7:46

to that mystery in paradise. The

7:48

partner of a British billionaire son charged

7:50

with killing a top police officer... ...for longtime

7:53

partner With whom she has two

7:55

children. Andrew Ashcroft is the son

7:57

of British billionaire and political power

7:59

player Lord. Michael As Cross,

8:01

a billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft.

8:03

Sort of lord my to us

8:05

from to British billionaires and the

8:07

most powerful man in beliefs. Name

8:14

Michael Ashcroft Thirty Lord Michael Ashcroft

8:16

may not mean much to an

8:18

American. I have ever heard of

8:20

the Spectacle seventy something brand before

8:22

I stumbled on the story, but

8:24

it's quite well known to people

8:26

from the Uk is a billionaire

8:28

businessman who had been a very

8:30

prominent supporter of the Conservative party.

8:32

The Com Tories are there. That's

8:35

the party overseas to nag Boris

8:37

Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron.

8:39

Tories have led the Uk government

8:41

the last fourteen years, and Ashcroft

8:43

cast a very large. Shadow in

8:45

that crowd. People in believe? Definitely

8:47

no Ashcroft. His net worth of

8:49

two point two billion dollars is

8:51

larger than the country's entire Gdp,

8:53

and he has passports from both

8:55

countries. He spent three years of

8:58

his childhood and now quite a

9:00

bit of his adulthood and bullies.

9:02

Ashcroft is heavily involved in politics,

9:04

business, and banking, even served as

9:06

believes his representatives, the United Nations.

9:08

From Nineteen Ninety Eight to Two

9:10

thousand, there's literally no one more

9:13

famous or powerful. And Billy's. To

9:15

put it the center of a sensational case like this.

9:19

The. So this is one of the biggest his

9:21

have covered. One of the biggest kissing as

9:23

up anybody's in terms of foreign press attention

9:26

to that it did. A country is. It

9:28

was so much more than a story

9:30

about a cop killed under mysterious circumstances.

9:33

Even on the first day, the investigation

9:35

was raising more questions than answers. Here's.

9:38

Commissioner Chester Williams again after is just

9:40

publicly name Jasmine heartened for the first

9:42

time. From when she was

9:44

detained last night see was not

9:46

Cooper reading see from requested that

9:48

she needed to have thrown thrown

9:50

in prison in order for her

9:52

to see what see nice to

9:54

see and is a part of

9:56

our rights by virtue of the

9:58

constitution but again. That raises

10:01

some. It said arm ice

10:03

storm. Why she would

10:05

not cover it? Because it or not you have

10:07

not committed a crime, then you should be more

10:09

than willing to want to call for it. This.

10:12

Is of course when a cop would

10:15

say. If you're innocent, he should

10:17

talk. But. We all know there are

10:19

plenty of reasons not to talk to cops in

10:21

the aftermath of an incident. One.

10:23

Of the biggest reasons. In. A panic

10:25

You may say something you regret.

10:28

Is to Division is such that

10:30

it says on his permission for.

10:34

Us. It's

10:44

aren't aren't using logic And yet

10:47

on a surface there was no

10:49

reasonable explanation for what seemed at

10:51

first glance like a murder. By.

10:54

All accounts Patreon Jazz and we're friends.

10:56

And fact, he was friendly with her whole

10:58

family and it didn't appear to be some

11:00

entanglement gone wrong. Heart and didn't

11:03

mention an attack and wasn't claiming self

11:05

defense. So. assuming.

11:07

Jasmine Harden was the killer Hear

11:10

the person who fired the gun.

11:12

Why? What had happened between know.

11:14

Why were they even on that pier? And.

11:16

In what ways could jasmine extraordinarily powerful

11:19

family have been linked to this case?

11:24

Regulations. And

11:31

replace them as have a very clear that

11:33

just it has a very wealthy family as

11:35

involved as that's homes. how the schools as

11:37

will handle send the cold as balls fully

11:40

investigate at the gym it's actual family as

11:42

well as his police department family and only

11:44

hope that the cop will get what he

11:46

managed to give to so many families. During

11:49

his career on the force, a

11:51

passionate commitment to just. Nobody

11:56

disputed the fact that Henry Jamaat was

11:58

shot. Almost. There. They killed by this

12:01

woman. Jasmine Harden was being held in the

12:03

San Pedro Police station without bail. Police

12:06

said they would be a full investigation. And.

12:08

Yet. There was just a feeling

12:10

and believe that just as wouldn't prevail. That

12:13

it would all just fade away. Misses.

12:16

A white woman was a lot of money so

12:18

the public that them it was that she's gonna

12:20

get away with it. Is. No Justice

12:22

justice will let me seven discuss. Let's.

12:28

Back up a couple steps, Bullies.

12:31

Is a fascinating country that doesn't make

12:33

them of new. If you're looking for

12:36

on a map is where did the

12:38

southern tip of Mexico between Guatemala and

12:40

the Atlantic. It's relatively tiny would just

12:43

over four hundred thousand residents, but that

12:45

small population is also a racially diverse

12:47

one to find indigenous Mayans, a large

12:50

black and creole contingents, people of European

12:52

descent, and growing communities of immigrants from

12:54

all over the world. It has always

12:56

been and continues to be a melting

12:59

pot. About.

13:01

Half of Believe the citizens live below the

13:03

poverty line and it can be violent. So

13:05

much of this is gang related and centered

13:08

and Believe City which used to be the

13:10

capital until a hurricane flattened the place back

13:12

in Nineteen sixty one. That's when leaders decided

13:14

to relocate the government's to bomb of have

13:17

a much smaller city in our England in

13:19

the jungle. For visitors, don't tend to spend

13:21

much time in the city because Believes is

13:23

a place blessed with white sandy beaches. Circle

13:26

is waters, ancient ruins, desolate rain forests and

13:28

one of the best preserved coral reefs left

13:30

on earth. Ever

13:34

to as that services police the heads to

13:36

Sun Federal because of the meat is because

13:38

of his see because of the resort says

13:40

and auto there. It

13:42

was it. One of those resorts on

13:44

him Burgers key were Jasmine Harden was

13:46

hanging out with Hundred Tomorrow? Sadness suppose.

13:49

Resource. have a strip of a hothouse

13:51

along the beach studies and sewage hotel spit

13:53

out as a cook i have a wonderful

13:55

is that added as people as go the

13:58

i'm not necessary local this is is they've

14:00

built the tourists who have the money. He

14:03

means the southern end of the strip, where things

14:05

are a bit quieter, where Henry and Jasmine were

14:07

sitting on a pier with no other people in

14:09

sight. This is after midnight. There's

14:12

no light. And the

14:14

cameras at the hotel can't

14:16

catch that angle. One,

14:19

because it was dark, and

14:21

two, it's because of a little distance. So

14:23

the hotel is far removed

14:26

from the center of town. It's

14:30

also worth noting here that Belize was in the

14:32

middle of a serious COVID wave, and there was

14:34

an active curfew in place, but there

14:36

were other people nearby. The

14:38

first person on the scene was a security guard

14:40

who saw Jasmine pacing up and down the pier.

14:44

This guard worked for a man named

14:46

Gene Lopez, an ex-cop whose security firm

14:48

was looking after Mata Rox, the resort

14:50

next door. Lopez

14:52

is one of the very few people to speak to the

14:54

press in the days after the shooting, and

14:56

he shared his story with a reporter from the Daily Mail. Um,

14:59

I showed up, and

15:02

I eventually saw her there,

15:07

and I was told that somebody was in the

15:09

water. Made her find out

15:11

that there was too much, and she was

15:13

that cute person. Lopez told his

15:15

guard to call the police and rushed to the

15:18

scene himself. He saw a

15:20

white woman with blood on her clothing and her hands

15:22

on her head, as if in shock. But

15:25

as he got closer, Lopez realized that

15:27

he knew this woman, too. San

15:30

Pedro is a tight-knit community. The locals all

15:32

know each other, and Lopez

15:34

also owns a bar where Jasmine Harden

15:36

often came with friends, including cops. She

15:39

was just about the last person Gene Lopez

15:42

expected to find in a shooting scene. It

15:45

was kind of hard to believe, knowing

15:48

that she does love freedom, and

15:51

knowing that if you do commit such

15:53

an offense or such a crime, you

15:56

will be arrested and be knocked away for a

15:58

very long time for the rest of the United States. Nothing

16:04

about this made any sense, and

16:07

there was no reliable way to get to the bottom of it. More

16:10

after the break. On

16:29

a summer night, Douglas Wagg Jr.

16:32

lay motionless across a strip of

16:34

railroad tracks before being struck by

16:36

an oncoming train. I'm investigative journalist

16:38

Delia D'Ambra, and my investigation into

16:40

exactly how Doug died took me

16:42

into the depths of a bizarre

16:45

mystery. It was really hard to

16:47

understand what was fact and what

16:50

wasn't. A mystery that

16:52

has led me from one suspicious

16:54

death to another. Listen to Counterclock

16:56

Now wherever you listen to podcasts.

16:59

On a summer night, Douglas Wagg

17:01

Jr. lay motionless across a strip

17:03

of railroad tracks before being struck

17:05

by an oncoming train. I'm investigative

17:08

journalist Delia D'Ambra, and my investigation

17:10

into exactly how Doug died took

17:12

me into the depths of a

17:14

bizarre mystery. It was

17:16

really hard to understand what was

17:18

fact and what wasn't. A

17:21

mystery that has led me from

17:23

one suspicious death to another. Listen

17:25

to Counterclock Now wherever you listen

17:27

to podcasts. You're

17:31

listening to White Devil from

17:33

Campside Media. Before

17:35

the incident in May of 2021, the Canadian

17:38

expat Jasmine Harton was not a household

17:40

name in Belize. She's in

17:42

her early 30s. She's petite, pretty, and

17:45

confident, well known and liked by locals

17:47

and a fixture around Alia, the resort

17:49

that she and Andrew Ashcroft has spent

17:51

years building. It had just opened to the

17:54

public less than a month prior. As

17:56

you might expect from someone in the hospitality industry,

17:58

Jasmine has a reputation as a someone who

18:00

likes to have a good time. People on the

18:02

island in San Pedro, locals, who she would have

18:05

mingle with or go to bars with or drink

18:07

with, or her close friend

18:09

or Andrew's close friend would have

18:11

known who she is. But

18:13

prior to this incident, the

18:15

country had no idea who

18:17

Justin Harton was. Henry

18:19

Jamaat then was probably the better known of the

18:21

two of them. Jamaat

18:23

was 42 when he died. He

18:26

was born in dangriga, a small town in the

18:28

South of Belize on the Caribbean coast, where

18:30

much of his family are still based. He

18:33

was the youngest child of a family with 19 kids

18:36

and the only boy. His

18:38

family and close friends called him King and

18:41

Henry had five children of his own, a boy

18:43

and four girls. In

18:45

the wake of Henry's death, people described him as

18:48

a family man who loved music and fishing. He

18:50

held various roles in a career that spanned more

18:52

than two decades with the police prior

18:55

to his death. He had just been moved

18:57

from the top job in San Ignacio in the jungle

18:59

near the Guatemalan border to precinct two in

19:02

Belize City, a difficult post in

19:04

an area notorious for gang violence. Jamaat,

19:06

he has been a police officer

19:08

for many years and he rose up

19:11

the ranks. Jamaat was

19:13

known to work along with the community to

19:16

forge a relationship with community members and

19:19

to read out criminals there. I've

19:21

met Jamaat a couple of times and he's

19:23

actually very nice. And even though

19:25

he's very short and a big fella

19:28

and very intimidating physically, he really was.

19:30

Henry weighed over 300 pounds. He

19:33

was very caring and he's very respectful. A

19:36

lot of people in San Pedro have

19:38

a lot of respect for Henry. Jamaat's

19:46

funeral was national news. A

19:48

30-minute tribute played live on Channel 7, one

19:51

of the biggest stations in Belize, but it was

19:53

covered by all the country's major outlets. Numerous

19:56

friends, family members, and VIPs were

19:58

there to pay tribute. It's

20:01

heartbreaking because

20:04

we have lost a good soldier. We

20:07

have lost a good police

20:09

officer. We have lost a warrior.

20:11

In granting him, in his DNA,

20:13

he was always a protector. That

20:15

man protected me for years, like

20:17

from school, from school, from bullies,

20:19

straight up to today, the

20:21

last Thursday, no? He

20:23

looked forward to his career. He looked forward to

20:26

family and looked forward to life.

20:28

That was Henry J. Moore. Of

20:32

course, this isn't the full story. A

20:34

eulogy rarely is. Henry was

20:36

at times controversial. The rumors around

20:39

believes that he had close relationships with gang

20:41

members and clashed with colleagues, including

20:43

his one-time boss on San Pedro, over his

20:45

approach to policing, which some described

20:47

as forceful. But

20:50

perhaps none of this is surprising for a man

20:52

in this profession, in this place. As

20:54

a cop, you make enemies when you do your job well. And

20:57

on the day of Henry's funeral, the overall feeling

21:00

was of a country grieving for a much loved

21:02

and respected figure, tragically lost

21:04

far too soon. My

21:07

brother loved life. He

21:09

loved life. He had

21:12

passion for his work. He

21:14

did his work with integrity. He

21:18

did his work with a passion, and

21:20

that's the way he loved his family as well. My

21:24

brother loves people. This

21:26

is Henry's sister, Cherry. She's

21:29

also a police officer and had become the

21:31

official spokesperson for the family. Belize,

21:34

as I said, is incredibly small. So

21:36

Henry's death, under such public circumstances, was

21:39

a tragedy for the whole country. But

21:42

also, Henry was a professional. According to

21:44

his close friends, not the kind of

21:46

guy who lived recklessly. Here's Cherry speaking

21:49

to Hippolyta Station. Love FM. I

21:51

believe he was killed. I believe

21:53

he was killed. The investigation

21:55

can tell me otherwise, but I believe he

21:57

was killed. Killed. —

22:00

And not by accident, as Jasmine had claimed.

22:02

— The family is not accepting that story,

22:04

they call it bullshit. They

22:08

say they don't know what happened, but that

22:10

accident, fury, they say they don't believe it.

22:12

We've also spoken to a couple of friends who

22:15

know that he has always been careful with his weapon.

22:20

— The family was out there beating this drum. They

22:23

didn't believe Jasmine Harton. They

22:25

were certain that this killing was intentional. —

22:28

This did seem to be the consensus around Belize,

22:30

too. Few people were willing to

22:32

accept that this was an accident. — They

22:34

wanted her to rot in jail. They wanted

22:36

her to be in jail that same every

22:38

day. They wanted her to

22:41

face justice. — Remember how Chester Williams

22:43

described her? — From

22:46

when she was detained last night,

22:48

she was not cooperating. —

22:53

Jasmine did eventually speak to the police. —

22:55

In the days after the shooting, reports emerged that

22:58

Jasmine had told cops in the immediate aftermath

23:00

that Henry was shot by someone who came

23:02

by in a boat. And

23:05

then she quickly recanted that story. Her

23:08

official statement, known in Belize as a caution

23:10

statement, was leaked to reporters. It

23:13

told a story of a terrible but innocent

23:15

accident. The Jamaat's Glock 17

23:17

service weapon misfired as he was teaching

23:19

Jasmine how to handle it. And

23:21

this is the story that Jasmine has stuck with

23:23

to this day. I asked

23:25

Tepelita what he thought, a few days after the story

23:28

broke. — Do you think her version has the

23:30

truth? — I

23:32

mean, she didn't mention that he

23:34

was teaching her how to handle a

23:37

firearm because of an incident that happened

23:39

in Cuyo a few

23:41

weeks ago. — Cuyo is a district

23:43

in Central Belize in the rainforest. That

23:46

incident, in short. Jasmine went to

23:48

a party and found herself in a scary situation.

23:51

Feeling unsafe, she'd called Henry, a senior cop

23:53

who she knew, and who was working

23:55

in that area to come get her. —

23:57

He advised her to get

23:59

her... her own firearm and that

24:01

he would teach her. And apparently that is

24:04

what they were doing on the pier, you

24:06

know, boozing, drinking, and

24:09

the gun went off. This

24:12

was the story that Jasmine settled on. That

24:15

Jamat, her friend, and a man with

24:17

a sworn duty to protect, was teaching her

24:20

how to defend herself, how to safely

24:22

load and handle a gun, when it

24:24

just went off. If

24:28

it was truly an accident, it was extremely

24:30

bad luck. For

24:32

that bullet to hit Henry in

24:35

the head at

24:37

the back of the ear, and he's a

24:40

huge individual. How do you shoot

24:42

someone behind the ear? And

24:44

you call it an accident. Henry

24:48

was a large man, so there's a good

24:50

chance he survives a single shot from a

24:52

handgun that hits almost anywhere on his body.

24:55

Except his brain. And

25:01

three days later, Jasmine was indeed charged for

25:03

Jamat's death, but not with murder.

25:07

Late this evening, 32-year-old Jasmine Harton

25:09

was arraigned in the San Pedro

25:11

Magishrut's court for the charge of

25:13

manslaughter by negligence for the shooting

25:16

death of Superintendent Henry Jamat. The

25:18

charge was levied following a direct-

25:20

Manflutter by negligence. The kind

25:23

of lesser charge that people expected this privileged

25:25

woman to get. But

25:28

there's another way to look at it. That the

25:30

police didn't have enough evidence, based on findings

25:32

at the scene and their subsequent investigation, to

25:35

refute Harton's story. That the shooting

25:37

was exactly as she said, just

25:39

a terrible accident. To

25:42

an ex-cop like Jean Lopez, the bar owner who

25:44

spoke to the Daily Mail, this

25:46

made perfect sense. If you

25:48

cannot prove The truth, But

26:07

the negligence is a kind of asterisks. And.

26:09

A portion of blame. And even assuming

26:11

this was an accident, there are a lot

26:13

of unanswered questions. Over

26:17

and. Get

26:23

a proper conviction, For dismissal the

26:25

question. Is how we

26:27

got here. A prominent, well known

26:29

and well loved police officer. father

26:31

size and man in a committed

26:33

relationship socializing after curfew hours with

26:35

a woman who also had a

26:38

partner. the family. However, his ruling

26:40

out the idea of suicide to

26:42

my sister says it is not

26:44

a thought. They were even entertain

26:46

as he was aiming to one

26:48

day become the police. Commissioner. What

26:53

were the wealthy young mother in a police

26:55

officer in a committed relationship with another woman

26:57

doing on appear in the middle of the

26:59

night? And why with

27:01

is decorated Cobb A man. His friends

27:03

say he took his duties and his

27:06

weapon very seriously. Him that weapon to

27:08

a civilian while drinking. When

27:11

the store was posted on

27:13

Facebook, their rumor mill the

27:16

to if such tricks just

27:18

begun exploiting. You

27:22

know your had Islanders, thousands of

27:24

lesions putting their two cents as

27:26

we call it on what happened

27:28

and why it happened cause least

27:30

two persons to. It's either. Facebook

27:32

may be a town square for

27:35

crackpots an old people in the

27:37

Us but I'm believes is the

27:39

country's gathering place. It's how information

27:41

and news travel. Every major station

27:43

uses it to broadcast stories and

27:45

scoops and then in comments people

27:47

argue out their opinions. I mean

27:49

it's absence of Fox via. His

27:51

room for us attorneys and so of

27:54

the destroyer boop there's no are a

27:56

lot of of course on rumors. That.

28:00

When and Henry were lovers that

28:02

because of Henry's and job on

28:04

his reputation than who he was

28:06

an island but yet a lot

28:09

of enemies and people wanted to

28:11

kill him. They are also this

28:13

other. New in that

28:15

hundred new things of what other high

28:17

ranking police officers in a police department

28:20

for base and to kill him as

28:22

it's is is gotten. Korea's in terms

28:24

of this whirlwind of to it's. I

28:29

sat down with Job or my producer to go

28:31

through some of the many theories posted on social

28:33

media. There was a notion

28:35

that Henry was killed as part of the cover of. Of

28:38

what. Unclear Some good Linden Lopez

28:40

says. I think he knew something that I

28:42

didn't want anyone to know about. So they

28:45

got rid of him or the dangerous Cross,

28:47

Learned of an affair between them and had

28:49

Jamaat eliminate husband have someone bump and off.

28:52

His clothes. I think it's worth noting that

28:54

some of the speculation makes complete sense. Things

28:57

about the case, at least as reported in

28:59

the media did seem fish and behind the

29:01

a headshot sounds more like professional hit to

29:03

me, but some of it just wild speculation

29:06

probably related to the plane that landed in

29:08

the see. That

29:10

said, a few the theories came up more often.

29:13

And some of them did seem possible.

29:15

Like. That this was some lovers Bad. Yeah.

29:18

That was one of the first rumors that

29:20

went around. The day where

29:22

I would one degree and mouse and white

29:24

people had issues believe in the first so

29:26

on because that's. Been abused

29:29

enemies. This was a commoner buddle. I've

29:31

heard the love affair angle. That.

29:33

They were just and unlikely couple. But.

29:36

Certainly didn't help that hundred allegedly changed his

29:38

facebook profile to single the night before he

29:40

was killed. Person's. An

29:42

immediate had no idea that there

29:45

was any sort of british between

29:47

Andrea and Jasmine. That

29:49

would lead them to be hanging

29:51

around, drinking, socializing on appear. At

29:54

and those hours. Another

30:00

theory was that there was actually someone

30:02

else there that night. This one had

30:05

a lot of versions died. They were

30:07

saying that there was a third person

30:09

and affair and a lot of people

30:11

came at a might have been Andrew

30:14

because Adidas following day a nascar has

30:16

less the country as in escape the

30:18

scene and the authorities months it was

30:20

his other brotherhood of the country the

30:23

to follow it it was an Andrew

30:25

would gave credence even a little to

30:27

the both story. The idea of a

30:29

third person. Was a growing rumor

30:31

that Henry had enemies? Might have liked

30:33

him? Dead criminals, yes, but also possibly

30:36

some within his own police force. When

30:40

you pull some pictures of him

30:42

once and and news outlets and

30:44

facebook. You. Have one or two comments saying

30:46

that holds a month. Was. A body.

30:49

A man the cell next to Jasmine on her

30:51

first night in jail was one of those people

30:53

fueling these rumors. Here's what he

30:56

told Channel Seven In my heart,

30:58

I wasn't the Sovereign Harvest as

31:00

I'm I was so happy that

31:02

I applaud her like all season

31:04

long night in here in San

31:06

Pedro. Why? Because on the media

31:08

dumb he he abused us, me

31:10

or any and I am physically

31:12

and mentally. Of

31:16

course, a man sitting in a jail cell probably

31:18

would say this about a copied run into before.

31:21

People. Will never be satisfied as person

31:23

bunnies. people with them have doubts and

31:25

but should have been under good at

31:27

night. But.

31:30

What happened that night is only one small

31:32

part of the story. Put.

31:34

Into that after the break. You

31:41

are listening to White Devil from

31:44

Capsized Media. Jasmine.

31:46

Harden had advantages that most citizens

31:48

of are adopted country couldn't imagine.

31:51

She. Had access to capital and connections as

31:53

dressed in believes in terms. All the

31:55

way to the top. There. Was no

31:57

way of denying this aspect of the stuff.

32:00

The immediate reaction from Belizeans was

32:03

that because of who she is,

32:05

that she would basically be untouchable. That

32:08

was the first sense on

32:10

that day from the public. To

32:12

put this into some sort of context,

32:14

there's widespread disillusionment with the effectiveness of

32:16

Belizeans police at the best of times.

32:19

The conviction rate for murder is less than one

32:21

in 10. And that's before you take into account

32:23

the kinds of lawyers a woman like Jasmine Harton

32:25

could afford. For instance, a

32:29

young black boy on the streets of

32:31

Belize City would be

32:33

arrested, charged, immediately taken to

32:35

court for possession of

32:38

a little amount of weed. And

32:40

he would be remanded to prison

32:43

immediately. Quick fast and hurry. Now,

32:46

if you're a Belizean and you have some sort

32:48

of influence in the public, or

32:50

you're a public figure, or you have

32:52

money, you will pull strings.

32:55

And the police officers here will sort

32:57

of think twice before they even arrest you or

32:59

try to charge you because of who you are.

33:02

So the justice system is not

33:04

balanced. It's basically in favor

33:06

of the rich and wealthy and unknown,

33:09

against the poor, less fortunate, and

33:11

the nobodies. The public knows this

33:13

is how the justice system works.

33:18

Rich, wealthy, known. Those

33:21

are adjectives that describe Jasmine's people. The

33:23

Ash Cross, the ruling class. And

33:27

if leaks could be believed, she wasn't even disputing

33:29

the fact that she killed a man. Even

33:32

if it really was an accident, if a

33:34

regular Belizean citizen killed a cop, you've got to

33:36

figure they'd be facing serious jail time. But

33:39

in this case, it just seemed like

33:41

a thing people were accepting. That

33:43

Jasmine Harton would get special treatment. I

33:49

learned pretty fast that Hippolyto seems to

33:51

know everyone in Belize. He's regularly on

33:53

the phone to politicians, lawyers, business people,

33:55

the cops. It's a small country, and

33:57

this is how things seem to work. People

34:00

use media relationships to speak to the public, to

34:02

get a message out. But

34:04

that's not how things were playing out here. Nobody

34:07

was saying a word. In previous

34:09

cases, you know, our sources would talk

34:11

to us, give us details. But in

34:13

this case, no one wanted to talk.

34:15

They were scared or afraid or given

34:17

directives not to talk. It was ridiculous.

34:21

Something about this case was different. Normally

34:24

reliable sources seemed muzzled. And

34:26

there was one very obvious counterintuitive thing

34:28

at work here. A

34:30

powerful woman like Jaz and Harton would normally expect

34:32

to just slip away from this. But

34:35

the pressure, the unusually widespread scrutiny,

34:37

changed the math for authorities. If

34:40

they can't successfully persecute this

34:42

case, the public will

34:44

condemn police officers. The public will

34:46

condemn the investigators. So

34:49

it's in their best interest to

34:51

try, I guess, find ways to

34:53

successfully persecute this case because, as

34:56

I mentioned, Jazmyn

34:58

is the only living person who knows

35:00

what happened there on that

35:02

pier. And it's basically her

35:05

statement as the promise was of

35:07

remnants. So

35:11

the only witness was also the

35:13

only suspect. And

35:15

she wasn't talking to anyone. Not

35:18

at first, anyway. I

35:21

didn't know what was going on. It was like a

35:24

bad dream. And I guess

35:26

he forgot that he had something in

35:28

the top of the gun. And that's when

35:30

the gun just went off. And

35:33

then all of a sudden, they were taping it off, and

35:35

it was swarming with police. And

35:37

next thing I know, I'm brought down to the

35:39

station for processing. And then they kept

35:41

me for two days. And then they brought

35:44

me out of the police station, walked

35:46

me across the street, and redetained me.

35:50

And then I was told by my lawyer that they

35:52

were going to charge me for manslaughter by negligence, and

35:54

that I would pay a fine, and

35:56

that everything would be done. Pay

36:03

a fine for killing a cop? It

36:06

seems absurd. But that's what

36:08

basically everybody thought. In the

36:10

context of Belize's broken, corrupt system, nobody

36:13

doubted that the rich lady would just walk free.

36:16

It's been happening for generations. Except,

36:19

it turned out to be way more complicated than that.

36:22

And more diabolical than we possibly could have

36:24

imagined. This

36:27

morning, as island socialite turned accused

36:29

prisoner Jasmine Harton, who yesterday was

36:31

denied bail, was set to be

36:34

transferred to the Colby Foundation's Belize

36:36

Central Prison. Prison CEO

36:38

Virgilio Murillo told us that the

36:40

32-year-old, who will be dealt with

36:42

like any other untried prisoner, will

36:44

become the only Caucasian among 1,041

36:46

inmates. That's

36:50

next week on White Devil. Is

36:52

there anything you want to say for Jasmine and me,

36:55

ma'am? Sorry. White

37:14

Devil is a production of Campsite Media

37:16

in association with Olive Ridge Entertainment. The

37:19

show was written and reported by me, Josh

37:21

Dean, with the series producer, Joe Barrett. The

37:26

story editor and sound designer is Mark

37:28

McAdam, who also provided original music. Additional

37:31

sound design by Joe Barrett. Studio

37:35

Engineering by Ewan Lytrumewin. Our

37:37

closing theme is Under the Shade I

37:40

Flourished by Chris Halton and New Manhattan,

37:42

including Eli Karvahal, Ava Karvahal, and Louis

37:44

Chernyovsky. This episode was fact-checked

37:46

by Sarah Ivery. Additional research

37:49

by Emma Semenoff and reporting in

37:51

Belize by Hippolyto Novello. Artwork

37:53

by Anthony Garace. A special

37:55

thanks to our operations team. Doug Flaywin,

37:58

Ashley Warren, Sabina Mara, and Emma

38:00

Semenov, Destiny Dingell, and David Eichler.

38:03

Campsite Media's executive producers are

38:05

Vanessa Gregoriatus, Adam Hoff, Matt

38:07

Cher, and me, Josh Deener.

38:10

At Olive Bridge, the executive producer is Will

38:12

Gluck. If you enjoyed our show,

38:14

please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or

38:17

wherever you're listening. It really does help

38:19

other people find the show. And here's a thought. Maybe

38:21

tell a friend to check out White Devil while you're

38:23

at it. Anyway, thanks for

38:25

listening. We'll see you next time. On

38:36

a summer night, Douglas Wagg Jr.

38:38

lay motionless across a strip of

38:41

railroad tracks before being struck by

38:43

an oncoming train. I'm investigative journalist,

38:45

Delia D'Ambra, and my investigation into

38:47

exactly how Doug Guide took me

38:49

into the depths of a bizarre

38:51

mystery. It was really

38:54

hard to understand what was fact

38:56

and what wasn't. A

38:58

mystery that has led me from one

39:00

suspicious death to another. Listen

39:02

to Counterclock now, wherever you listen to

39:04

podcasts.