Lewis Hutchinson, born in Scotland in 1733, is thought to have trained in medicine before emigrating to Jamaica around 1768. He acquired a property in Saint Ann Parish, building a fortified two-story stone home dubbed “Edinburgh Castle” complete with loophole towers — the highest vantage point in the area. During this period, he also ran a cattle operation, though locals accused him of stealing livestock from neighboring estates.

From the 1760s onward, Hutchinson began shooting travelers for sport—often picking them off from castle towers or luring them into the mansion under false pretenses and murdering them afterward . He either drank their blood, dismembered the bodies himself, or commanded enslaved workers to do so. Remains were discarded in a deep sinkhole that came to be known as Hutchinson’s Hole (approximately 98 meters deep).

The exact count of his victims is unclear—estimated between dozens and possibly over forty. Evidence recovered post-arrest included 43 pocket watches and countless articles of clothing belonging to the missing.

His freedom came crashing down when he shot English soldier John Callendar, who had dared to pursue Hutchinson at the estate. 

This public act forced authorities, enforcing a legal system that had previously turned a blind eye, to respond. Hutchinson fled to Old Harbour and attempted escape by sea, but his red hair gave him away, and Admiral Rodney’s Royal Navy arrested him aboard ship.

He was charged and tried—solely for Callendar’s death, since testimony from enslaved victims held no legal weight. Nevertheless, the recovered goods substantively confirmed his gruesome reputation . He was convicted and hanged on 16 March 1773 in Spanish Town Square. Even at the gallows, he requested a marble epitaph—his own inscription read, “Their sentence, pride, and malice, I defy…”