‘We have to move on’

A coroner’s inquest into the death of Mandeville businessman Jason Neil ended yesterday with the jury unable to determine what led to the death of the entrepreneur. He was initially believed to have taken his own life as he sat in a bathroom at his home.

Neil was killed seven years ago and, after numerous delays, and alleged destruction of evidence, among other setbacks, a seven-member jury at the Mandeville Parish Court delivered an open verdict, noting that there was not enough evidence to conclude whether the gunshot wound that ended his life came from an act of murder or suicide.

If further evidence becomes available, however, the case can be reopened.

Neil, 33, was the proprietor of Neil Auto on Ward Avenue in the parish, and lived in the upscale community of Ingleside with his wife when he was found with a bullet wound to the head. He was 33 years old.

Despite the inordinate wait and the inconclusive verdict, Neil’s father, Bonny Neil, who has been adamant his son did not take his own life, was still smiling at the end of it.

For him, there was comfort in that the inquest failed to prove that his son had committed suicide, an act he described as preposterous, given his budding future.

He is convinced that his son was indeed murdered but, he acknowledged, without a suspect, there is little to go on with regard to reopening the trial.

“I could pursue it further, but, you know, I just let it go on. So we just have to pick up the pieces and move on,” the father said while expressing that he viewed the outcome as a victory.

Bonny Neil said that, in upcoming weeks, the family will be making construction enhancements to his son’s grave, in celebration of his life.

Yesterday, attorney Christopher Honeywell, who represented Jason Neil’s wife, said he could only accept the jurors’ verdict as contrasting with the evidence provided by the police which would have indicated suicide.

“However, the jury, in their estimation, felt that they did not see enough evidence to convince that it was either suicide or homicide. One of the things that might have borne heavily on their mind is that neither the deceased nor his wife returned any positive traces of firearm residue,” he noted.

“However, if you look at the height that the police experts say that the gun was discharged, it indicated definitively that it would have been someone sitting on the toilet seat or someone stooping beside him,” he added, arguing also that the barrel of the gun left a marking on the victim’s head, which, in his mind, suggested that Neil held the weapon to his head.

Honeywell said he is not convinced that there will be a continuation of the matter, as all the government agencies and the investigations had indicated that Neil’s death was a suicide.

Neil’s widow, who was pregnant at the time, had testified that she was at home and heard an explosion. When she went to investigate, she saw Neil on the bathroom floor of their home. He was bleeding and his licensed firearm was beside him, she said. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“It is clear that [Neil’s wife] and his extended family extended all possible efforts that they could have to try to save Jason’s life, so much so that they made sure the police got there even ahead of any expectation of time, and that, when he was being sent off to hospital, he was still alive and with desperate hope to that he might have lived,” said Honeywell.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com