that Williamson's apartment had been ransacked and a safe removed. However, both friends of Williamson and human rights organisations suggested that – given Williamson's status as an openly gay man – robbery might have been a secondary issue, with homophobia being the main motive behind the crime. J-FLAG expressed its suspicion that the killing was a "hate-related crime", articulating the view that Williamson had been killed because he was a publicly visible gay man. Amnesty International urged police not to dismiss alternative possible motives. Amnesty's Piers Bannister informed press that "We do know that there's a high level of homophobia in Jamaica, so there was a possibility that it was a hate crime. Many hate crime victims are robbed afterward. We're not saying it wasn't a robbery; we just want a full investigation." Schleifer publicly stated that it is "really important to investigate [the crime] thoroughly. Because there are really strong indications that it might have been a homophobic attack". On 11 June, two days after the murder, police arrested their suspect. Hayden provided a confession and subsequently pleaded guilty in court. Hayden's legal representative, Randolph Williams, urged the judge to show leniency because the suspect had shown remorse for his crime from the moment of his arrest. The judge, Justice Basil Reid, sentenced Hayden to life in prison with the possibility of parole after fifteen years. Reaction After his death, the Jamaica Observer described Williamson as "Jamaica's most prominent gay rights activist", while both the BBC and The Independent called him the country's "best-known gay rights activist", and Gary Younge of The Guardian termed him "the public face of gay rights in the country". Tony Hadn, a volunteer for J-FLAG, stated that Williamson was "so courageous. He never stopped to think, 'oh, I might get in trouble for this,' so in that sense he was very selfless." He was succeeded as J-FLAG's leader by Gareth Williams, who informed press that Williamson "was the only out gay person in Jamaica who had the courage to put his face on television, I was very close to him... His murder was really a traumatic loss for our community." One member of J-FLAG stated that "Brian Williamson is our Martin Luther King". Four days later, J-FLAG held a memorial devoted to Williamson, which was attended by almost two hundred people; the memorial involved personal tributes, poetry slams, and lip synching to Whitney Houston