US tourist found murdered

Detectives attached to the Montego Bay Freeport Criminal Investigative Branch are now carrying out an intensive investigation into the death of a male tourist, who was discovered with what appeared to stab wounds inside a room of the Hotel Gloriana in Montego Bay, St James, on Wednesday morning.

The deceased has been identified as Pheodore Walling, of a Michigan address in the US.

Reports by the police are that Walling arrived in the island recently and was staying at the hotel located along Godfrey Dyer Boulevard in the tourist capital.

About 9:45 a.m., a female house keeper went to Walling's room to clean it.

On entering the room, she stumbled upon Walling's body, which was lying in a pool of blood on a bed, with multiple wounds to the upper body.

The scene was processed, and the body was later removed to the morgue for a post-mortem.

A source at Hotel Gloriana told THE STAR that Walling was last seen alive on Tuesday afternoon, and it is alleged that he was seen in the company of a male Jamaican.

"I am not familiar with that particular guest but I have seen him going to his room, and we are now hearing that he was last seen in the company of a male Jamaican, but nobody seems to know the identity of that particular person," the source told THE STAR.

When contacted, a senior police officer confirmed the killing, but said that he was not at liberty to comment on the issue, because it was a delicate matter.

"The police are aware of the incident, and have launched an investigation into the death of the American national, but that is all I can say because I am not at liberty to comment on this particular incident," the officer said.