Former Member of Parliament Jolyan Silvera has reportedly confessed to the killing of his wife, Melissa Silvera, in November 2023. However, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter rather than murder.
The ex-St. Mary Western MP admitted guilt on Monday, ahead of his scheduled trial in the Gun Court in Kingston. His specific motivations behind his decision to plead guilty remain unclear. The next big development in the case will be whether the prosecution or the presiding judge, Chief Justice Bryan Sykes, decides to sign off on the manslaughter charge.
More details are expected on Tuesday, according to the Director of Public Prosecutions Claudette Thompson. The DPP highlighted that the matter is ongoing when she declined to respond to the media’s inquiries about the plea.
The 52-year-old businessman was originally slapped with a murder charge in January 2024, More han a month after his wife was found dead. Melissa was killed at their residence in Stony Hill, St Andrew. Her body was discovered unresponsive on November 10.
Initial reports indicated that Melissa might have died in her sleep from natural causes. However, the case was upgraded to murder after the results from the autopsy report returned. According to reports, three bullet fragments were found inside her body during the post-mortem examination that was conducted three weeks after her death.
Police moved in on Silvera on January 18, 2023, placing him under arrest and formally charging him with murder. He did not receive bail, so he remained in jail since his arrest. His legal team currently consists of King’s Counsel Peter C. Peter Champagnie and attorney-at-law Patrice Riley.
The proceedings faced a delay from their initial January date after defence attorneys successfully argued for the examination of key ballistic materials. Reports say this evidence is from the forensic lab that had previously declined to hand it over.