Parents appeal to islanders in slaying

I just want to say this is a horrible incident, but I hope it doesn't deter people from visiting St. John. There have only been 2 murders in the last year and before that, St. John went four years with no homicides. It's sad what happend, but with such a safe place, I'm sure he had to do more than stand outside and be attacked. Things like that don't just happen in a place like St. John.

I've lived in st. john for years and it is a very dangerous and racist island. THINGS LIKE THIS DO HAPPEN>

well i live in new hope, and i knew him. and st. john is a very dangerous and horrible place. and i hope justice is served. and i beg people to NEVER go there again. its very unsafe.

To Tammy- You don't know what you're talking about. St John is a beautiful island and a wonderful place to visit, but of the last 99 crimes commited on St John, only 3 have been solved. Coincidence? I think not! It IS a dangerous place and full of racism against whites!

Jamie was my sweet cousin. He was like a brother to his cousins and we all miss him more than you can imagine. For someone to say that "he had to do more than stand outside and be attacked" is absolutely a horrific statemtent. You don't know the facts! Until you know the facts, don't insinuate that Jamie deserved what happened to him. He didn't deserve to be stabbed in his neck, ribs, abdomen, chest and thigh. He was butchered to death by thugs!

Get your facts right before making a statement that like!!!

Tammy wrote:

I just want to say this is a horrible incident, but I hope it doesn't deter people from visiting St. John. There have only been 2 murders in the last year and before that, St. John went four years with no homicides. It's sad what happend, but with such a safe place, I'm sure he had to do more than stand outside and be attacked. Things like that don't just happen in a place like St. John.

Things like that do happen and they did happen. My son was butchered and whether or not he was drinking or not will never change the fact that he is dead. Jamie was never the kind of boy that would start a fight. He never came home with a black eye etc. However he was not the kind of boy that would back down if he felt he was being pushed around. Furthermore as his frinds will attest he was always there for his friends and would stick up for them always. He just never spent time with people that would murder you over a stupid argument either. Tammy before you speak you should get the facts. This was a hate crime pure and simple. Those thugs thought Jamie din't belong because he was white and he was out numbered. They followed him up the street and as he was getting in his car they hit him over the head with a 2by 4 and then stabbed him in the back, the femoral artery, the neck the chest ( twice). So tell me Tammy what did he do to provoke that?

My heart goes out to the Cockayne family and I have a similar story. Last August (2006), I was attacked by 4 kids (13 to 17) in the same location. They wielded a long handled, round point shovel. They hit me in the head multiple times resulting in a night spent in the medical clinic, suturing my cuts. I had never seen or interacted with these criminals until their unprovoked attack. Although I could describe their appearance and attire in detail, the crime went unsolved. Now rumors of "there is more to the story" have justified the community's lack of concern or involvement. My thoughts and prayers are with your family and please let me know if I may be of any assistance.

by the way www.tripadvisor.com is removing ALL messages pertaining to this murder - this istheir excuse, please post on other VI sites so people know they can't be trusted to tell travellers the truth:

Dear TripAdvisor Member,

Our forums are intended as a place where members can share information
on a wide variety of travel subjects in a friendly and constructive environment.
We specifically ask that forums members stay on-topic and post respectfully when
writing messages to be published on the forums. We will remove messages that
contain descriptions of injuries or death by criminal act or accidents; these
messages are not considered family-friendly or travel-related.

Discussions about safety at a destination are considered travel-related, but we will
remove all messages that include racist or culturally-insensitive remarks, calls for
boycott of the destination, attempts to use our site to organize protests
against the local political system or social infra-structure, or calls for US or
any other nation's intervention into criminal investigations.

Sincerely,
Jane
TripAdvisor Support Team

For there to be absolutely no response from governmental authorities to this murder is an outrage. It is time to get together and demand a response, preferably an arrest, from the bureacrats. If they voluntarily will not undertake the very human approach of speaking to the parents of this slain boy and updating them about the status of this case, then perhaps they only choice is to seek worldwide press coverage annotating their every move.

STJ is a small island; everyone knows everyone else. The bar where this incident started is small. There is zero possibility that the police do not know who caused this murder.

The total lack of responsibility from the authorities is arrogant and outrageous. I, too, feel this is a hate crime and as such should be investigated by the FBI. This boy was killed because he was white and displeased the local boys. If Jamie were black and this happened on the mainland, there would be nonstop coverage of the event. Where in America would this be tolerated? No where... and we cannot allow this to happen in the USVI.

US tourists visiting the Caribbean are sold a bill of goods that STT and STJ are safer than other islands. This is patently NOT true. How many of you vacationing with your family would be so patient as the Cockayne's if your child was murdered on island while out for a night?

This is an outrage. More people need to get involved. Email Gretta Van Sustern, Geraldo Rivera and Nancy Grace and get them onto the island to push microphones into the faces of those who are withholding justice. This approach succeeded in Aruba insofar as no one on the planet is unaware of who Natalee Holloway is. I would be willing to bet that only a small fraction of people can say the same about Jamie Cockayne. I, for one, who am a fequent visitor to STJ was totally unaware this had happened until seeing Ms. Cockayne on FOX with Greta. At the time, she asked what she could do ... well, let's all get together and tell her what she can do. Get on a plane, go to STT/STJ and expose the bureacrats as corrupt egomaniacs who feel they are above the law.

Let's get together and put some pressure on the arrogant bureaucracy that "governs" this place. The behavior exhibited to date is unacceptable and needs to be brought into the light of day.

Write to President Bush, the FBI, Senator Arlen Spector, the news media ... keep up the pressure. Do not let this fade away as other "unsolved" crimes on these islands.

And, if all else fails, I'm sad to say ... the only other choice is to hit them in the pocketbook. And boycott ...

People of the United States stop coming to the US Virgin Islands until the US government takes back control of the islands. The government here is corrupt and inept and the police force even more so. Don't believe people who say there is no murder here. Just within the last three weeks there have been two high profile murders on the islands. One was the murder of a security guard changing out the money at an ATM and the other the assistant to the Governor who was found shot and stuffed into the truck of his car. The car was found in Peterborg, which is one of the best areas to live on in St. Thomas. St. John is safer than St. Thomas but it is not that far away and people come and go daily. The Virgin Islands is a dangerous, dirty, trashy, and poverty stricken place and I would never waste my money to vacation here. Just wait, the Governor or someone else on his staff will be murdered. The reason they are targets is because recently the Governor took away the driving privileges of most of the government employees who would take home the government vehicles on the weekends. That is how these people think. Do not come here. Call your senators and push them to look into the corrupt and dangerous Virgin Islands. It could be a paradise here but it is not right now. It is a dangerous slum with a few nice places to stay but most of the place is a cesspool. And beyond the crime the local public schools here are a joke.

Paradise lost.

I am shocked that this crime has not received the attention that it sounds like it deserves. My son lives and works there and I have seen very little reference to it on TV or in the news. He tells me there is racism every where down there against white people. You have to bribe people in offices to get your personal business taken care of in a timely manner. Otherwise,it could be months before your application for jobs, apartments, or official paperwork is complete.
He parked the car at a local business and when he came out, two tires had been slashed. He only knows a few people there. Why would anyone do such a thing?
The US government should be looking into the happenings on this and any other US possession. Do they not have the same laws and consequences for crimes as a state would in the US?

I used to work with Jamie back in New Hope, I knew him for 5 years and i can tell u he was a really good.
I was just reading that Jamie's murderer was arrested and that this kid is only 18 yars old which got me really thinking about the whole "paradise" thing.
I hope that this kid Kammal Thomas AKA "six pack"(Jamie's killer) gets life in prison because we dont need this kind of people in our society.
WE ALL MISS U JAMIE....

A second man was arrested this morning and charged with witness tampering, but has since been released without paying any bail. The judge on the case seems to be pretty corrupt. If you Google his name Judge Leon Kendall, you'll see many articles about his rulings and how he lets murderers, rapists and other major criminals just leave on their own recognicence (sp?).

In fact, yesterday during the arraignment for Sixpack, Judge Kendall was actually about to let him go without bail. Can you believe that? With all the evidence we have, he was still going to let him go. The prosecutor already knew his practices and was prepared for this to happen. Thankfully, he was held and given 3 days until his next court appearance.

We keep hitting roadblocks like this with the USVI government and authorities. They are all corrupt! Hopefully, we'll see another arrest soon for the second murderer. Apparently, he is nowhere to be found. Imagine that ... the police have known his identity for 6 weeks. You think he would stick around and wait to be arrested? They should have acted immediately instead of waiting until they no longer had any choice because we were going to the media. Please keep watching and spreading the word. We won't let this go away!

The USVI police have not only been turning their heads, but actually fueling the violence and it has been getting progressively worse. But then, they have gotten away with it for years. I, too, was under the illusion that St. John is a safe, quaint little island. My family found out the hard way the last time we visited when my two young nephews were violenty "jumped" at a bar downtown. They went to the police, who would do absolutely nothing (even with my 19 yr. old nephew bleeding from a beer bottle being hit over his head from behind). The same group of assailants were sitting around the very same bar the next day.

I’ve lived in the USVI for going on two decades. It is the most racist place against whites I’ve ever seen or heard of. I’ve lived in culturally diverse areas of the US and have visited countries around the world but nothing compares. If your thinking of visiting, DON’T! Go somewhere you can be safe, please. Law enforcement and government is extremely corrupt and many involved in illegal activity and murder. Very serious crimes are covered up to protect each other or their relatives / friends. Most whites are refused gun permits to protect their homes while “others” are given permits to carry and are known drug dealers and serious criminals. Street criminals openly discuss how they are going to “bash” tourist. Tourist are easy targets as they don’t stick around to testify. Please, there are many beautiful and peaceful places in the world, why take a chance risking your life here. USA please take control of these possessions before more are killed.

My prayers and thoughts go out to the family. God bless.

To BORN AND RAISED IN VI,

OK, I guess the Cockaynes should just say "well, coulda happened anywhere" and go home. The VI isn't just anywhere. The VI markets itself as a tourist mecca. As a result, it has the responsibility to look after the safety and security of the people it encourages to come there to feed the island economy. I have yet to see a toursim advertisement that says "Come to the VI...and remember, you could get killed anywhere."

It seems that a lot of the virgin island residents are like townies in a college town - they want our money, in this case tourist dollars, but they don't want us to harp on basic necessities like safety.

St. John might be beautiful but it has a very corrupt underbelly. And maybe Jamie's death has a bigger picture thing to look at: it will raise awareness to the many problems that tourists and residents ALIKE suffer at the hand of obviously corrupt government, crazy judges, and inept police?

My prediction? This too shall NOT pass...NOT this time. VI Tourism is undoubtedly taking a hit. I saw a comment about America's paradise/America's Paradox...found it very insightful

If USVI tourism wants to save their reputation, then surely they have lobbyists in Washington that can get Justice for Jamie and federal government attention to the USVI. And people need to also google JudicialWatch.org and their complaint against USVI judge or judges...very compelling and telling...

I'm glad the people in the VI have jobs outside of the tourist trade. They're going to need them. By the way, how much did you pay to get your job?

tsk tsk tsk ...this whole thing is useless.