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A New Zealander who was honorary consul to the British High Commission in Jamaica has been found murdered at his Montego Bay home.
John Terry, 65, was born in New Zealand and appointed a Member of the British Empire by the Queen in 1992.
He was reportedly found with a
cord and an item of clothing tied around his neck outside his house in Mount Carey, Montego Bay, on Wednesday local time.
The UK Foreign Office has confirmed the death.
UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband described Mr Terry as a "key player" who had served as honorary consul for 13 years.
"I, and all his colleagues, were deeply saddened to hear of the death of John Terry," Mr Miliband said.
"Honorary consuls like John play a valuable role in our work overseas and this was especially true of John who helped many, many British visitors to Jamaica over the years.
"My thoughts are with his wife and children. He will be greatly missed too by colleagues and all those who knew him.
"We are following the Jamaican authorities' investigation closely," Mr Miliband said.
A spokeswoman for the Minstry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Wellington said it had not been advised of a New Zealander's involvement and said the British authorities would be dealing with the case.
Mr Terry was last seen on Tuesday night after he drove home.
Police said he appeared to have been badly beaten and strangled.
A note was left on his bed but detectives declined to disclose the details.
Detectives said they were still seeking a motive for the killing of Mr Terry, who had worked in the tourism sector for more than 30 years.
At the time of his death he was working as the maintenance manager of the Half Moon Hotel, a luxury resort in Montego Bay.
Detective Superintendent Michael Garrick, of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, said there had been no forced entry to the home and blood stains close to the body showed Mr Terry had suffered a savage beating.
He added that the note left on the bed might be linked to the killing but said investigations were still continuing.
The brutal nature of the killing will be a further blow to Jamaica's tourism industry, which has struggled for several years to dispel concerns about the country's high crime rate.
A key part of Mr Terry's role as honorary consul to the British High Commission in the capital, Kingston, was to offer advice and help to Britons who had fallen victim to attackers.
Mr Terry had lived for at least a decade in the Mount Carey area of Montego Bay, a well-heeled neighbourhood which has been rocked in recent years by a spree of gangland-style murders.
There were more than 236 murders in the area in 2007 and 2008 as rival drug gangs fought out a turf war.
Another New Zealander, Tiki Hunia, was killed in Jamaica in July.
Mr Hunia, 27, was shot twice in the chest as he tried to protect his wife, who had been pistol-whipped by an armed robber as they sat in the garden of their guest house in Kingston.
- NZ HERALD STAFF, INDEPENDENT
