The prominent Belizean cop shot in the head by socialite Jasmine Hartin told a friend he was going on a date the night he was killed, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Police superintendent Henry Jemmott also joked that he would take the identity of the woman ‘to the grave’ with him, when the curious pal probed him for more details on the afternoon of May 27.
Jemmott, 42, had also boasted that he was staying for free at the Grand Colony Villas – a luxury resort operated by Hartin’s husband Andrew Ashcroft, the son of British billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft – in the swank coastal enclave of Ambergris Caye.
The resort is sandwiched between the gleaming new Alaia hotel, a recently-opened Ashcroft property, and the Mata Rocks hotel pier where Jemmott was found dead just a few hours after the conversation took place.
He had been killed by a 9mm bullet which hit him behind his right ear and was fired from his own Glock 17 handgun, which Ms Hartin says went off by accident after he handed it to her to look at.
Aerial photographs show a pool of blood at the end of the wooden jetty and a trail leading into the water.
Police say Jemmott was found floating on his back 30ft from shore, while Ms Hartin was found ‘covered in red substance as that of blood’.
The handgun was nearby, with the empty shell casing that housed the fatal bullet still inside. It was loaded with another live bullet, while a second live round was found on the jetty.
Police chief Henry Jemmott’s blood is seen at the end of the pier where he was shot at Mata Rocks in the island of Belize
Police superintendent Henry Jemmott told a friend he was going on a date the night he was killed by Jasmin Hartin, DailyMail.com can reveal
The blonde socialite spent the past four days holed up in a tiny concrete cell at the stiflingly hot police and magistrates court complex in San Pedro, the tropical resort’s only town. She was pictured behind bars by local media on Monday evening
Jemmott was taken to a clinic and pronounced dead at 3:44am. A post-mortem confirmed the dad-of-five died from a ‘Massive Brain Hemorrhage due to gunshot wound to the head’.
Hartin, 32, is now facing a charge of manslaughter by negligence. She has so-far spent four days holed up in a tiny concrete cell at the stiflingly hot police and magistrates court complex in San Pedro, where she reportedly swore at officers and asked for preferential treatment by being allowed to smoke and take medication.
She will spend at least another week behind bars after a judge scheduled a court appearance for June 9, but will be locked up in a tougher prison – Hattieville – on the Belizean mainland after he denied her request for bail.
Ms Hartin has told police that Jemmott had placed his service weapon on the ground while the pair were drinking in the early hours of Friday, and the she accidentally shot him as she passed the weapon back.
But firearms experts say that type of gun usually has a safety bar over the trigger to stop accidental discharge and that both elements have to be depressed for the weapon to fire.
Michael Van Durme a former cop who now teaches gun safety in America told The Sun: ‘You have to have a firm grip on the trigger and pull it all the way back for it to go off.
‘It has a safety built into the trigger – there’s a lever in the middle of it which also has to be pulled back the whole way in order for it to shoot. If you brush up against it or just hit the edge of it, it won’t fire.’
Hartin, 32, is facing a charge of manslaughter by negligence after she told cops she accidentally opened fire as she passed Jemmott his Glock service revolver
The friend, who asked not to be named, said Jemmott contacted him last week to say he was headed to San Pedro, the main settlement and tourism hub in Ambergris Caye, where he had previously served as a senior officer for three years.
‘I asked him where he was staying and he said Grand Colony. I said, what? You have money then?’ the friend told DailyMail.com.
‘He said, I have stripes with the Ashcrofts, they are my friends. I said, you’re with the rich people now and he laughed.’
The friend said he knew of at least one previous occasions when Jemmott – who has a long-term partner and five children – had stayed at Grand Colony Villas for free.
Hours before he was found dead, Jemmott was in good spirits and was looking forward to meeting a mystery woman, the friend added.
‘He was the happiest cop you’ll ever see but he’s always like that. I said where are you going tonight and he said, I have a date.
‘He called the girl. When I heard the voice I asked who she was. He joked, that’s my secret, this one I’m taking to my grave and he did take it.
‘I’m struggling to cope with what has happened.’
The friend said he didn’t know the Ashcrofts personally but had heard previous accounts of Jasmine partying beyond curfew.
Hartin’s attorney Godfrey Smith said outside the courthouse in downtown Belize City: ‘The matter has been adjourned. The public prosecution filed a short statement, just one sentence saying we object on the basis of flight risk, nothing further.’
But while Hartin’s lawyers argue with the court that the shooting was an accident, an inmate in San Pedro who claims to have spent time in a cell near Ms Hartin claims she told him a very different tale.
The fellow prisoner, who gave his name as Jose, said that Hartin had claimed to him that Jemmott was gunned down by a passing boat.
‘I heard there was a shooting that night but I didn’t know that she committed it,’ Jose told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
‘When I found out I applauded her, I said, you are the first lady here to kill a cop. She just smiled. The rest of the guys applauded her and said you have guts to do something like that.’
Jose, 48, claims he was locked up for merely breaching a Covid curfew in the swank coastal enclave of Ambergris Caye when Hartin was led inside.
He justified his cruel delight at hearing father-of-five Jemmott was dead because the high-flying officer had searched him for drugs and kicked him off the island two years ago.
Jose said he was stunned to see a wealthy, white woman behind bars in Belize but didn’t know she was married to Andrew Ashcroft.
Jemmott joked with the friend that he would take his secret ‘to the grave’ when he asked for details of the mystery women. Jemmott is pictured with his sister
Late on Thursday evening, Hartin left her luxury hotel, Alaia (pictured) and walked a short distance down a beach to a small wooden jetty to meet Jemmott. Jemmott, 42, had also boasted that he was staying for free at a luxury resort operated by Hartin’s husband Andrew Ashcroft
Exclusive DailyMail.com photos showed also revealed Hartin being led away from a police cell in handcuffs Tuesday as authorities transferred her to Belize Central Prison in Hattieville.
Wearing jeans, a red hoodie and black face mask she kept her head bowed in silence as she left the stiflingly hot San Pedro police station and court complex flanked by the fallen officer’s former comrade, clutching only a plastic bag that mostly obscured her handcuffs.
She was put on the back of a golf cart which was driven to a secluded port five minutes from the station before she was placed on a boat bound for the mainland.
Sources believe Hartin will ultimately escape with just a fine for killing Jemmott after authorities opted against a murder or full-fledged manslaughter charge.
She told investigators the shooting was an accident and that she was passing the Glock to her ‘friend’ when it accidentally went off.
Sources predict she will plead guilty within weeks and pay around 20,000 Belizean dollars (around $10,000 in US money) to secure her freedom.
The party-loving hotelier was also caught with a small amount of cocaine in her purse, according to a well-placed source, but has not been charged over it.
Belize Police Commissioner Chester Williams said Wednesday that Hartin could still face additional charges for drugs possession.
‘That is something that, I’m not too sure at this time where that small amount of drugs was found, but it is something that will be looked at,’ he told reporters.
Earlier this week, Jemmott’s sister Cherry, 48 – an assistant superintendent in the Belize Police Department – slammed the decision to charge Hartin with manslaughter by negligence.
‘It’s not right. It’s not right. The family will feel really bad. This is not justice,’ she told DailyMail.com.
‘My brother will have a state funeral on June 12. He gave 24 years to the police. And this is the value they put on his life?’
Lord Ashcroft, 75, is a former deputy chairman and key financial backer of the UK’s ruling Conservative Party.
He also holds Belizean citizenship, has invested heavily in the country and has represented it at the United Nations.
His son, 42-year-old Andrew, is in a long-term relationship with Ms Hartin and the pair have two young children together.
It’s not known whether the couple are currently living in the Alaia or the Grand Colony Villas, or whether Andrew and their two young children are still on Ambergris Caye.
Both properties offer spectacular views of the Caribbean sea, an assortment of swimming pools and luxurious rooms costing hundreds of dollars per night.
Jasmine Hartin was found ‘covered in blood’ as Belizean officer Henry Jemmott’s lifeless body floated 30ft from the shore shortly after she ‘accidentally’ shot him with a 9mm round from his Glock service pistol
Socialite Jasmine Hartin was found with blood on her hands after shooting Superintendent Henry Jemmott dead with a 9mm round, according to a criminal complaint obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com.
A expended shell casing was still inside Jemmott’s Glock 17 service pistol when it was located on a hotel pier last Friday morning along with a magazine and live bullets.
The document states the pair had been ‘socializing’ on the wooden structure for an hour when security heard a ‘loud bang’ and raced to the scene at 12:45am.
They found Canadian mother-of-two Hartin ‘covered in red substance as that of blood’ and Jemmott floating dead on his back 30ft from the shore.
‘The body of Henry Jemmott was later retrieved by the police where one apparent gunshot wound was observed at the back of the right ear,’ it reads.
Officers retrieved ‘(1) Glock 17 Pistol …. Along with (1) magazine containing (1) live 9mm round S&B (1) live 9mm rounds S&B found on the dock and (1) Expended shell S&B found inside the barrel of the pistol.’
Canadian socialite and hotelier Jasmine Hartin was seen Tuesday in exclusive DailyMail.com footage as she was moved to Belize Central Prison from San Pedro Police Station
The 32-year-old socialite pulled her hoodie over her face and carried a plastic bag containing her belongings as she was led to a boat waiting to transport her to prison
A criminal complaint obtained by DailyMail.com reveals Hartin was found covered in the officer’s blood when security guards rushed to the scene of the shooting
Hartin (left) is said to have been drinking with 48-year-old Jemmott (right) before he was shot dead. She has insisted she accidentally shot the officer while handing him his service weapon
Hartin, 32, who is married to Andrew Ashcroft, the son of British billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft, was detained and cautioned ‘pending investigation into the shooting death’ of the popular veteran cop.
‘The clothing of Jasmine which contained red substance as that of blood were retrieved and packaged also her hands which also contained red substance as blood were swabbed,’ the complaint reads.
Jemmott was taken to a clinic and pronounced dead at 3:44am. A post-mortem confirmed the dad-of-five died from a ‘Massive Brain Hemorrhage due to gunshot wound to the head’.
After spending the weekend behind bars on the upscale coastal enclave of Ambergris Caye, Hartin gave a statement in the presence of her attorney, Godfrey Smith.
She was ‘cautioned and remained silent’ when she was later charged with causing Jemmott’s death by negligent manslaughter, according to the complaint.
She will remain behind bars for another week after a Supreme Court judge adjourned her bail request until next week.
Justice Herbert Lord said he wanted a submission from the prosecution by Friday and a reply from Hartin’s team by Monday, ahead of a hearing taking place next Wednesday June 9.
Hartin’s attorney Godfrey Smith said outside the courthouse in downtown Belize City: ‘The matter has been adjourned. The public prosecution filed a short statement, just one sentence saying we object on the basis of flight risk, nothing further.’
Hartin was transferred to the notoriously tough Hattieville prison on the Belizean mainland Tuesday after her high-powered legal team could not persuade a magistrate to grant her bail.
Wearing jeans, a red hoodie and black face mask, the 32-year-old kept her head bowed as she was loaded onto the back of a police vehicle
The criminal complaint revealed Hartin’s clothing, which were also stained with blood, were recovered as evidence and her hands were swabbed
Hartin is expected to appear before Belize’s Supreme Court later Wednesday, where the country’s former attorney general will seek to overturn her bail denial
Belize Police Superintendent Henry Jemmott, who had arrived in San Pedro last week and was staying at a downtown hotel, had been fishing and visiting bars with a friend before he was killed
Prior to that she had spent four days holed up in a tiny concrete cell at the stiflingly hot police and magistrates court complex in San Pedro, the tropical resort’s only town.
An inmate who spent hours behind bars Hartin told DailyMail.com earlier that the socialite had cursed at officers and demanded special treatment when she was thrown in jail early last Friday morning.
The fellow prisoner, who gave his name as Jose, said Hartin had blood on her clothes when she was led into the neighboring cell at the police station.
After throwing a tantrum because jailers wouldn’t let her smoke a cigarette or access her ‘pills’, she offered Jose a radically different version of the fatal shooting of Superintendent Henry Jemmott, claiming the top cop was gunned down by a passing boat, he said.
The account is completely at odds with a formal statement given days later in the presence of Hartin’s attorney, in which the petite hotelier claimed she was handing Jemmott, 42, his service weapon when it accidentally blasted him in the head.
‘I heard there was a shooting that night but I didn’t know that she committed it,’ Jose told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
The document states an expended shell casing was still inside Superintendent Henry Jemmott’s Glock 17 service pistol when it was located on a hotel pier last Friday morning along with a magazine and live bullets
Police believe Jemmott and Hartin had been drinking and toying around with his service weapon before it accidentally fired, hitting him in the head and causing him to topple off a pier (pictured) in the luxury coastal enclave of Ambergris Caye
‘When I found out I applauded her, I said, you are the first lady here to kill a cop. She just smiled. The rest of the guys applauded her and said you have guts to do something like that.’
Jose, 48, claims he was locked up for merely breaching a Covid curfew in the swank coastal enclave of Ambergris Caye when Hartin was led inside.
He justified his cruel delight at hearing father-of-five Jemmott was dead because the high-flying officer had searched him for drugs and kicked him off the island two years ago.
Jose said he was stunned to see a wealthy, white woman behind bars in Belize but didn’t know she was married to Andrew Ashcroft.
Hartin is expected to appear before Belize’s Supreme Court later today, where Godfrey Smith, the country’s former attorney general, will seek to overturn her bail rejection.
The petite blonde is currently holed up in a COVID quarantine cell where she will remain in isolation for 14 days before she is allowed to mingle with the prison’s other inmates.
Exclusive DailyMail.com photos showed her being led away from a police cell in handcuffs Tuesday as authorities transferred her to Belize Central Prison in Hattieville.
Hartin allegedly threw a temper tantrum because she wanted to smoke a cigarette and access her ‘pills’ in her cell at the San Pedro Police Station, a fellow inmate told DailyMail.com
Wearing jeans, a red hoodie and black face mask she kept her head bowed in silence as she left the stiflingly hot San Pedro police station and court complex flanked by the fallen officer’s former comrade, clutching only a plastic bag that mostly obscured her handcuffs.
Fellow inmate Jose, who was in the neighboring cell, told DailyMail.com Hartin cursed at officers and demanded special treatment after she was thrown behind bars last Friday
She was put on the back of a golf cart which was driven to a secluded port five minutes from the station before she was placed on a boat bound for the mainland.
Sources believe Hartin will ultimately escape with just a fine for killing Jemmott after authorities opted against a murder or full-fledged manslaughter charge.
She told investigators the shooting was an accident and that she was passing the Glock to her ‘friend’ when it accidentally went off.
Sources predict she will plead guilty within weeks and pay around 20,000 Belizean dollars (around $10,000 in US money) to secure her freedom.
The party-loving hotelier was also caught with a small amount of cocaine in her purse, according to a well-placed source, but has not been charged over it.
Belize Police Commissioner Chester Williams said Wednesday that Hartin could still face additional charges for drugs possession.
‘That is something that, I’m not too sure at this time where that small amount of drugs was found, but it is something that will be looked at,’ he told reporters.
Hartin, who is charged with manslaughter by negligence over Jemmott’s death, was moved to Belize Central Prison, in Hattieville, the nation’s only jail
Late on Thursday evening, Hartin left her luxury hotel, Alaia (pictured) and walked a short distance down a beach to a small wooden jetty to meet Jemmott
Earlier this week, Jemmott’s sister Cherry, 48 – an assistant superintendent in the Belize Police Department – slammed the decision to charge Hartin with manslaughter by negligence.
‘It’s not right. It’s not right. The family will feel really bad. This is not justice,’ she told DailyMail.com.
‘My brother will have a state funeral on June 12. He gave 24 years to the police. And this is the value they put on his life?’
Lord Ashcroft, 75, is a former deputy chairman and key financial backer of the UK’s ruling Conservative Party.
He also holds Belizean citizenship, has invested heavily in the country and has represented it at the United Nations.
The Ashcrofts’ latest venture – in partnership with hotel giant Marriott – is the gleaming new Alaia resort, which was completed during lockdown and opened just three weeks ago.
It has a rooftop pool and rooms were going for $1,000 a night this week. The Ashcrofts are also building a condominium building on nearby land.