Murder of woman at hotel still a mystery

Eight days have passed since 27-year-old Amelia Ford was discovered dead in a city hotel and police are yet to arrest her murderer.

Ford, popularly known as ‘Skittle Foot’, was found with her throat slit on November 27 in a room of Caesar’s Palace Hotel, Delph Street, Campbellville where she had checked in the previous night with a male companion.

A post-mortem examination revealed that the woman died of a punctured windpipe.

Amelia Ford

Two persons had been arrested in connection with the murder of ‘Skittle foot’ but were released after neither of them was recognized by the hotel’s staff members as the man the woman was last seen with. One of the persons was said to be her reputed husband, with whom she resided, while the other was the father of her three children.

A relative of the woman had previously indicated that a third suspect, reportedly a close friend of the now dead woman, was assisting with investigations at the East La Penitence Police Station but she too has been freed.

The dead woman’s aunt yesterday told this newspaper that the police had indicated that not much investigating could have been conducted during the past week due to the election activities and this she said, is understood by the family.

“The police got to do dey job and we can handle that,” she noted, adding that they were advised to return to the police station on Wednesday to be updated on the matter.

The body remains at the Lykens Funeral Home while arrangements for burial tomorrow are underway.

According to initial reports, Ford boarded a minibus after she left a group of friends at Lisa’s Bar on Sheriff Street around midnight the evening before.

This newspaper was informed by the hotel’s receptionist that ‘Skittle Foot’ along with a “thin-boned” man, who appeared to be in his 40s, booked the room at 1:55 am.

The man was said to have worn an orange jersey.

The receptionist stated that the man left the hotel some time between 3-3:30am and had told her he was leaving to purchase food but failed to return. She noted that no suspicious sounds were heard prior to him leaving.

At 1:45, as a staffer made a check at the room to indicate that the check-out time was approaching; the woman was seen in her underwear with a sheet thrown over her head.

Assuming that the woman was sleeping, the staff member left without “disturbing her”. She was later discovered dead.