Jasmine Ashcroft

Billionaire daughter-in-law confesses to shooting top cop during waterfront ‘massage’: Report

A wealthy socialite has reportedly confessed to fatally shooting a Belize police official after authorities threatened her with a drug possession charge.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Jasmine Hartin was having drinks with her friend Henry Jemmott, a superintendent with the San Pedro police, early Friday morning when Jemmott was fatally shot in the head. Jemmot’s body was found in the water next to a pier. Hartin had remained on the pier, where the two had been sitting, and her clothes and arms were covered in blood, CNN reports.

“A firearm was also seen on the pier that has been retrieved and we have learned that the firearm belonged to the police and was assigned to Mr. Jemmot,” Police Commissioner Chester C. Williams told reporters, according to the Associated Press.

Hartin’s partner Andrew Ashcroft is a real estate developer who owns a popular hotel in Belize. He is the son of British philanthropist Lord Michael Ashcroft. Though Ashcroft has described Hartin as his wife and she sometimes uses his surname, it is unclear if the pair is married, according to CNN.

Hartin was taken into custody on Friday. According to 7 News Belize, Hartin initially told police Jemmott had been shot by someone on a passing boat. She then stopped communicating with police, but began cooperating again after they threatened to charge her with cocaine possession, the New York Post reports.

Williams told 7 News Belize that Hartin provided a “statement under caution,” telling investigators that she was giving Jemmott a massage and when she handed him his service gun, it accidentally discharged. After he was shot, her friend fell on her, Hartin said, and she pushed him off her — when he fell into the water.

Jemmott’s sister Cherry Jemmott, who is an assistant police superintendent, questioned Hartin’s story, reportedly telling the Daily Mail that her brother “had a gunshot behind his ear like an assassination.”

“He was a top cop. I don’t know how he let down his guard to be shot with his own gun,” she said.

According to 7 News Belize, Hartin has been charged with manslaughter by negligence, and could avoid serving any time. If she pleads guilty, the sentence is likely be a fine, according to the report. She is being held without bond.

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[Feature image: Jasmine Hartin/Facebook]