Lovelette Brooks, News Editor

Joel Andem, formerly Jamaica's most wanted man, being escorted by a policeman for his appear-ance in the Gun Court in June 2004. - File

A spattering of houses hugs the edge of a steep incline leading to the heartland of Clarksonville, a small farming district in St Ann. All are humble dwellings, with many in various stages of completion. We turn off the main road and start the climb into the hills in search of Joel Andem's house. The road is narrow, unpaved in patches and is not easy to navigate.

Clarksonville featured prom-inently in the news in May 2004 when Joel Andem, branded then as 'Jamaica's most wanted man' for over four years, was captured from within its bowels.

According to police reports, at the time of his capture, "the 40-year-old fugitive was considered to be a very dangerous individual often armed with an AK-47 rifle and a 9-mm pistol." Based on his modus operandi, the police had upgraded his status, months before his capture, from that of a fugitive to terrorist.

Imprisonment

Andem quietly built a house and settled in Clarksonville, before being captured by the security forces and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. The police have linked him to a number of crimes in the Corporate Area, including murders, robberies, shootings, extortion and abductions. He was the alleged head of the 'Gideon Warriors' gang, whose members lived in the hilly terrain of Landlease, St Andrew, a community overlooking Hope Gardens.

It is Saturday afternoon and the near setting sun has begun to cast long shadows across the Clarksonville community. Balancing a bucket of water set snugly on her head, a young woman inches towards the vehicle to answer our query.

"Who? Whose house. Me don't know anything. Drive further up the road and ask the people up there," she says, pointing to a group of men in conversation by a gate.

We climb further uphill, and take her advice. The men, eyeing us suspiciously, are more eager to talk about the economy and how bad the market is for their crops.

"Clarksonville is quiet. We just need some help with the farming. Once we get that, we all right, because things rough. You don't hear a gunshot or nothing fire up here. Me don't like town (Kingston), and when me have to go now and then to do business, me 'fraid, man," says the self-appointed spokesman for the group.

"What happened here (the capture of Joel Andem) years ago is history," he reasons. "Me don't think it will happen again. So you don't know where you going?. The house is farther down the road, you pass it. Just drive back down and when you see the house on you right, you will know it."

It is a beautifully constructed two-storey pink and white house which stands back from the road on a small plateau. Although considerably more substantial than the other houses, the contrast is not obvious, because Joel Andem did not have very close neighbours. In this district, the houses appear in clusters, with enough space between clusters to offer some measure of privacy.

We enter the yard, and a young woman with a baby greets us. She informs us that Andem's nephew, Omar Mattis, is inside making sweets and that she is his "babymother."

Andem, who former Commissioner of Police Francis Forbes described as an "urban-type guerrilla," did not interact much with his neighbours.

"I saw him only a couple of times, mostly early morning, and we didn't even say good morning. He was quiet, pleasant, and we all think him just come from foreign," says a resident. "The house was built by builders from Kingston and a lot of work went on at nights."

"People never know him name, so if they even see him, they wouldn't know is him name Joel Andem," Mattis' girlfriend confides.

She continues: "Him did not go on the street; him mostly watch TV and sleep. Everybody think is a foreigner live here."

It was only after his capture, it was reported, that residents of Clarksonville started to speculate and show interest in the house.

It consists of six bedrooms, two bathrooms, a spacious living room and a kitchen. At the time of his capture, all four bedrooms on the upper floor were furnished, including the master bedroom, which was white in decor, complete with a four-post bed, over which hung an elaborate chandelier.

The police had the house under surveillance, relates Mattis' girlfriend, who was taken into custody along with Andem's elderly father. surprise

After manoeuvring through the thick fog and rough terrain, the joint police-military team, led by Senior Superintendent Donald Pusey, took Andem by surprise.

"He did not not attempt to escape. We knocked at the door and he came out. He looked the same but seemed to now weigh more than 200 pounds," SSP Pusey reported.

Four years on, The Sunday Gleaner senses fear as we talk with people in the community about Joel Andem. Many refuse to comment, and Andem's next-door neighbour, leader of a Zionist church, asks the news team to leave her premises.

"Please, I am begging you all to come out of the yard. You putting my life in danger by being here. I can't talk with you, I really can't," she pleads.