Dear Source:
The murder of James Cockayne is a terrible tragedy, and could have been avoided had the violence on St. John been curbed years ago. I speak from experience, as my two nephews were jumped at a local bar by a group of men the last time we visited the island. Both went immediately to the police, to no avail. They begged them to come back to the bar with them so they could identify the assailants, but the police refused. In fact, they let my one nephew, who was hit over the head with a beer bottle and bleeding profusely, fend for himself. (A kind local resident brought him to the clinic for multiple stitches.) Absolutely NO action was taken on the police's part. For all we know, the same people could have gone on to be part of James Cockayne's murder.
These are not isolated incidents.
Jeanne Aufderheide
Carver, Minn.
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