Jury unable to conclude whether businessman Jason Neil was murdered or committed suicide

The Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Manchester businessman Jason Neil ended in an open verdict Thursday, with the jury unable to determine whether his death was a suicide or murder.

King's Counsel KD Knight, who represented Neil’s family, said while the jury’s verdict was inconclusive, it provided some comfort.

“The family was very clear in their mind that there was no reason for him to have committed suicide. So, that the jury didn’t find that he committed suicide is some solace to them,” Knight told The Gleaner.

Attorney Christopher Honeywell, who represented Neil's widow, said the physical evidence from the police "would have indicated that the verdict, we submit, should have been definitively suicide. However, the jury, in their estimation, felt that they did not see enough evidence that would convince them that it was either suicide or homicide," he told The Jamaica Observer.

"We accept the verdict," Honeywell added, before acknowledging that the case could be revisited if new evidence emerges. "It is not in our expectation that there is likely to be anything emerging in the future."

A coroner's inquest is conducted to investigate the cause of death, particularly in circumstances where the death is sudden, unexplained, or where foul play is suspected.

Neil’s death, which occurred on December 4, 2018, had been initially ruled a suicide after the 33-year-old was found with a gunshot wound to the head at his home in Ingleside, Manchester. He operated Neil’s Auto Service in Mandeville.

His widow, who was pregnant at the time, testified that she heard an explosion before discovering her husband bleeding on the bathroom floor with his licensed firearm beside him.

However, the family insisted that Neil did not kill himself.

During the hearings, it was revealed that forensic analysis did not find any gunshot residue on the hands of Neil or his widow. However, it was pointed out that the absence of residue does not necessarily prove that an individual did not fire a gun.

Knight expressed that the outcome leaves the case in a state of uncertainty. “The clerk to the proceedings will no doubt confer with the director of public prosecutions," he said when asked about the possible avenues for the case moving forward. "We'll see where it can go from there," he added.

Several of Neil's family members testified before the seven-member jury at the inquest, which began in December 2023 at the Mandeville Coroner's Court in Manchester.

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