Royal Park Murder

The Gruesome Murder of Yvonne Jonsson

Yvonne Johnson was 19 when her life ended brutally.

On July 1, 2005, a housemaid climbed the stairs from the 16th to the 19th floor of the Royal Park Condominium Complex in Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka. The time was around 9:30 AM. As she climbed the stairs, she was suddenly shocked to see the body of a girl lying in a pool of blood with her face down. The housemaid then immediately alerted the manager of the apartment complex.

The body looked like that of a doll. I later managed to identify the body as that of Roger Jonsson’s daughter Yvonne. Her jeans had been pulled down to her ankles and wrapped around her neck. — The manager.

After that morning, the news flew like the wind across Sri Lanka, under the title Royal Park Murder. The Royal Park Condominium Complex is a luxury housing complex for the affluent in Colombo. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough security for a girl in such a place.

Yvonne Johnson

Yvonne Jonsson was born on August 15, 1985, to a Sri Lankan mother and a Swedish father. She had a younger sister. Their father first came to Sri Lanka in 1975 as a tourist. Eventually, he settled in Sri Lanka and owned two rubber manufacturing companies in Piliyandala and Horana.

Yvonne and her sister attended the Colombo International School. She then went to the USA to study fashion design.

Childhood Friends Became Lovers

Yvonne and her sister had a mutual friend named Jude Shramantha Anthony Jayamaha. The Jayamaha family was a well-known business family in Colombo. Unfortunately, a year after Jude was born, his parents divorced. Since then, Jude lived with his father.

However, both families were close friends. Therefore, Yvonne, her sister, and Jude were childhood friends. Jude also attended Colombo International School.

Yvonne and Jude were the same age. Yvonne’s sister was two years younger than them. Jude was a rebellious teenager. Despite all those, Yvonne’s sister maintained a romantic relationship with Jude.

Eventually, Jude went to Australia for higher studies.

Although they were childhood friends, Yvonne wasn’t happy about her sisters’ relationship. She thought Jude was not a good match for her sister because of his delinquent behavior.

While Yvonne was studying in the USA, she called their mother and strongly advised her mother not to allow her sister to have an affair with Jude. Yet, they continued their relationship.

A Miserable Night Under Neon Lights

Yvonne and Jude both returned to Sri Lanka during their vacation. On June 30, 2005, they were invited to a party. At 8:30 PM, Yvonne and her sister left their apartment in one of Jonsson’s vehicles. They picked Jude up from his home.

After enjoying the party, the three of them started bar hopping. At one moment, they met a Korean girl who was a friend of Jonsson’s family. She also lived in the Royal Park residence. Then they all went to the Blue Elephant at the Hilton Hotel.

After spending ten minutes at the Hilton Hotel, Yvonne’s sister and Jude started arguing over a boy waving at her. As the argument heated up, she was crying. The tears in sister’s eyes made Yvonne angry with Jude.

Yvonne’s sister wanted to go back home. Yvonne returned to another club from the Hilton with her Korean friend while her sister and Jude went to the Royal Park residence by a Hilton Hotel cab.

Yvonne’s sister and Jude reached the Royal Park at 2:02 AM on July 1. They both went to Jonsson’s home on the 23rd floor and spent about 20 minutes. Jude then called a cab. It was between 2:20 AM and 2:30 AM.

When the sister left Yvonne behind, she didn’t know that the last time she would see Yvonne’s face. Before going to bed, she wrote a note telling Yvonne to wake her up when Yvonne got home.

Yvonne arrived at the Royal Park at 2:50 AM. Yet, she couldn’t make it home alive. From then on, only Yvonne and the killer knew what happened.

Yvonne Vanished Into Thin air

The next day, Yvonne’s mother woke up her younger daughter and asked about Yvonne after confirming that she wasn’t home. Yvonne’s sister got worried and texted Jude that Yvonne still hadn’t come home. His reply was, “She must be still rocking it.” 

Then she called the Korean girl who had gone with Yvonne the night before. She mentioned that she went to another bar while Yvonne stayed.

Subsequently, Yvonne’s mother and sister left the house at 9:30 AM to attend a class. They saw Yvonne’s vehicle parked downstairs. On the way, the mother began to worry about Yvonne’s missing.

Usually, Yvonne didn’t leave home without informing her mother. The mother realized that Yvonne hadn’t come home the last night. The mother asked the driver to drive them back home.

Police Arrived

When Yvonne’s mother and sister returned to the Royal Park, there was a police jeep near the apartment gate. However, Yvonne’s mother went upstairs while Yvonne’s sister stayed in the car.

She met several police officers standing in front of their flat. One of the police officers showed Yvonne’s ID card, asked the mother if she knew Yvonne, and told her the terrible news.

The Prime Suspect was Also Among the Aggrieved Crowd

The CID immediately launched an investigation. They questioned all of Yvonne’s friends and family except Jude. Jude and his family weren’t in Colombo on that day.

Since Jude’s statement was most important to the investigation, CID had informed the Jonsson family to call CID when they reached out to Jude.

On July 2, the CID interrogated a friend of Jude who had come to pick him up from the Royal Park on the morning of July 1. According to his statement, the CID’s suspicions about Jude were growing.

On the same day, Jude came to Yvonne’s funeral at the Royal Park. At that moment, the Johnson family informed the CID of Jude’s arrival, and the CID took him into custody for questioning.

Important Statements

According to Jude’s friend, he received a call from Jude asking him to come to the Royal Park residence on July 1 at 3:03 AM to pick him up. At first, the friend hesitated. However, at Jude’s persistent request, he had agreed to come. The friend hired a taxi to go to the Royal Park residence.

Jude had instructed his friend to come to the car park. The friend couldn’t spot Jude in the car park when the taxi reached the Royal Park residence between 3:25 AM and 3:30 AM. He then went to the lobby and asked Jude to come there.

While the friend was in the lobby, he saw Jude come out of the elevator wearing his boxer shorts and shirt, holding a pair of folded pants. At a glance, the friend had felt a little doubt about seeing Jude in such a state, though he hadn’t questioned Jude then. Next, they proceeded to the taxi.

According to the taxi driver, Jude turned off the hood light shortly after they both got into the taxi. Jude then got off at his house. Later, Jude called his friend to confirm his safe arrival home.

According to Yvonne’s sister, Jude seemed different on the morning of July 1. Even though she usually got a few calls from him, she hadn’t received any calls for one and a half days since the incident.

Detectives Unfolded the Mystery

Evidence suggested that the argument had started between Yvonne and the killer from the 23rd floor. The killer hauled Yvonne to the staircase from the elevator. The attack on Yvonne began on the 23rd-floor stairwell.

A price tag on her sunglasses was on the stairs to the 22nd floor. Her earrings, bangles, and handbag were on the stairs between the 21st and 20th floors, providing evidence of a fight between Yvonne and the killer.

Finally, Yvonne’s body was found lying at the foot of the 19th-floor stairs with her pants tied around her neck. The killer had hit her head on the edge of a step until her face fractured.

The CID was able to find a partial palm print with Yvonne’s blood on the handrail, a few steps above the dead body. The expert witness confirmed that the palm print was made by a person coming down the stairs.

After comparing three images of palm prints, Jude’s fingerprint matched one of them. The CID also raised doubts about the clothes worn by Jude, which mysteriously disappeared after the incident. Apart from that, Jude’s palm prints provided evidence of his existence at the crime scene.

Although Jude denied any involvement in the murder, he confessed that he had taken a bath in the pool at the Royal Park before his friend came to pick him up. Detectives believed that was why the friend couldn’t see blood on Jude’s body or clothes.

Trial and Conviction

After his arrest, Jude was indicted for Yvonne Johnson’s murder and tried before a sitting judge without a jury in the Colombo High Court.

On July 28, 2005, Jude was found guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder based on knowledge. The Colombo High Court sentenced him to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment. In addition, the court fined him 300,000 LKR. (about 2,980 USD at the time).

Two Appeals for Challenging the Sentence

Five years after his imprisonment, Jude appealed against his sentence.

The Attorney General filed another appeal stating that the judgment of conviction of the appellant for culpable homicide not amounting to murder was set aside or reversed to have the accused-appellant convicted for murder and sentenced to death.

Moreover, the Attorney General noted that conviction based on knowledge of the murder was wrong in law. The evidence led at the trial court was sufficient to prove criminal liability and the murderous intention of the accused-appellant beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Case for the Prosecution

The prosecution informed the court of Jude’s condition when his friend came to pick him up. Further, they led palm print evidence to show Jude’s presence at the crime scene.

The prosecution challenged the time interval between the suspect leaving Yvonne’s apartment and his friend arriving to pick him up.

The prosecution version was that the palm print was created not by placing a palm on blood, but by placing a palm with blood on it.

Apart from that, the prosecution focused on the medical evidence. The medical evidence proved that Yvonne Johnson died of head injuries and asphyxia following manual strangulation.

The Case for the Defense

The defense claimed there was no animosity between Yvonne and Jude after Yvonne returned to Sri Lanka. Further, the defense argued that Jude’s fingerprints didn’t exactly match the palm prints found near the body and that none of the items found at the crime scene belonged to Jude.

Also, the defense argued that there was no evidence that the shoes Jude was wearing were connected to the crime scene.

The defense’s version was that after leaving Johnson’s house, Jude went staircase to smoke while walking. As he descended the stairs, he saw Yvonne’s body lying in a pool of blood. He was severely shocked that he didn’t remember what he did or what happened immediately.

The defense called a psychiatrist to testify on Jude’s behalf. The psychiatrist stated that Jude was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after seeing Yvonne’s body.

The defense stated that if the palm print matched Jude, it would have happened when he passed the crime scene.

Further, the defense argued that the sputum sample from the crime scene was forensically inconsistent with Jude. They claimed that Jude was drunk the whole time. The defense argued that there wasn’t direct evidence against Jude and that the entire case was based on circumstantial evidence.

The Final Decision on the Appeal Hearing

The presiding judge noted that not all photographs of the palm print were necessary for comparison with the suspect’s fingerprints. The judge stated that Jude voluntarily handed over his shoes and hadn’t been found by the police.

Furthermore, the judge emphasized that there was no way he could have passed the scene without getting a drop of blood on his person or at least on the soles of the shoes he was wearing at that time.

The evidence of the psychiatrist had been rejected because the psychiatrist didn’t personally interview and examine the suspect. The judge observed that the items found at the crime scene belonged only to Yvonne, and not to Jude or the stranger.

Considering where the sputum sample was found, the judge was of the opinion that the sputum sample did not affect the crime scene. It must have happened because several employees of Royal Park had already visited the crime scene.

The judge pointed out that the behavior and precautions taken by the suspect during and shortly after Yvonne’s murder clearly demonstrated that he was in control and capable of planning his actions well.

Further, the judge emphasized that the evidence provided by the medical witness, the government analyst, and the photos marked in the evidence were sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the crime was committed with murderous intent. The presiding judge had referred many cases to his decision.

Ultimately, the judge found Jude guilty of murder. On July 11, 2012, the judge set aside the term of 12 years of rigorous imprisonment and the fine of 300,000 LKR and sentenced him to death.

Jude once again appealed to the Supreme Court in 2014. That appeal also failed, and the verdict was upheld.

The Dilemma of Presidential Pardons

On November 9, 2019, outgoing President Maithripala Sirisena granted Jude a presidential pardon on the recommendation of Buddhist religious leaders. At that time, the people of Sri Lanka were enraged by that action.

After being released from prison, Jude wrote an open letter to the Jonsson family and the public of Sri Lanka. Yvonne’s sister also spoke out publicly against the pardon.

After four-plus years of pardon, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court overturned the presidential pardon of Jude Shramantha Jayamaha on June 6, 2024, due to a petition.

After being pardoned, Jude left the country. The Supreme Court ordered the Attorney General and the relevant authorities to take necessary action to extradite Jude to Sri Lanka and put him in prison to serve his life sentence.

The Supreme Court also ordered former President Maithripala Sirisena to pay 1,000,000 LKR to the petitioner.

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Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.sundaytimes.lk
http://archives.dailynews
http://courtofappeal.lk
https://www.newsfirst.lk
https://www.sundaytimes.lk