Mark Beckford, Staff Reporter

In hindsight, Juliet Richardson, the sister of Michael Waldron, the husband of Nurse Carol Waldron, believes she could have prevented Nurse Waldron from killing herself and their children.

In an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, Mrs. Richardson, who resides in the United States, said Nurse Waldron's behaviour was symptomatic of severe depression.

"That is the sad story. We did not pick up on what we were seeing. Now we can put the pieces together to say this is what it was (but), we did not recognise what we were seeing - why she was permanently sad, so withdrawn, so isolated," Mrs. Richardson said. "Nobody recognised how sick she was and that is sad."

However, Mrs. Richardson is left bewildered like the rest of Jamaica at the incident which transpired last Saturday when Nurse Waldron and her two daughters, 14-year-old Kadijah Waldron and three-month-old Ashley Waldron were found dead shortly after 6:00 a.m. in a small hotel in Montego Bay.

Wrists slashed

Nurse Waldron was found with her wrists slashed, while police believe the children were injected with potassium chloride.

Mrs. Richardson said Nurse Waldron had returned to Jamaica two weeks ago after spending four months with the Waldron family in the U.S.

"She just left America from my brother's home where she stayed about four months and had a baby. My family members, my brothers and my sisters, were literally care-givers of this baby."

Mr. Waldron's sister is also painting a different picture from what has been suggested in the media of her brother being an unfaithful and inconsiderate husband who pushed his wife over the edge.

Mrs. Richardson said that while her brother and his wife had marital problems, he was still loving.

"She was loved by my brother. The relationship that they had was like a father to a daughter. He was like a caregiver to her, emotionally. He couldn't understand it either, emotionally. It is like taking care of a child. Even if he wanted to get out of a relationship, he wouldn't leave her. It was a very bizarre relationship; they never connected as a wife and a husband."

Mrs. Richardson also told The Gleaner that her brother was now in an undisclosed location in Jamaica and had to be constantly monitored by family members, as he was now suicidal.

mark.beckford@gleanerjm.com