Jamaica jury finds 89-year-old American botanist guilty of plotting to kill his wife

Jury finds US botanist guilty of murder plot

KINGSTON, Jamaica — A Jamaican jury has convicted a U.S.-born botanist of conspiring to kill his wife on the Caribbean island.

A seven-member jury deliberated for four hours Wednesday before returning a unanimous verdict of conspiracy to murder against George Proctor, an 89-year-old Boston native who has lived in Jamaica for about 60 years.

The wife, whose name has never been released by authorities, was not harmed.

Proctor and his chauffeur, Glenmore Fillington, were both convicted for plotting to murder the 66-year-old woman. Prosecutors said Proctor gave his co-conspirator $90,000 to kill her in April 2006.

The elderly, diabetic botanist, who taught at the University of the West Indies, showed no emotion when the jury foreman read the verdict at the Home Circuit Court in Kingston.

Proctor’s lawyer, Thomas Tavares-Finson, told reporters he would immediately file an appeal.

“Naturally, he was disappointed,” Tavares-Finson said of his client.

Jamaican police arrested Proctor in April 2006 at the Norman Manley International Airport in the capital, Kingston, as he was about to board a plane to the United States.