THE Belize cop allegedly "shot dead" by socialite Jasmine Hartin is claimed to have told a pal he was going on a date with "a mystery woman" on the night he died.
Henry Jemmott’s body was found floating in the sea near San Pedro, and Hartin, 38, who had "blood on her arms and clothes", was later arrested.
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An anonymous pal told the Daily Mail that he had spoken to Jemmott, 42, before the cop headed out to San Pedro, a tourist mecca and the only town on the popular Caribbean island of Ambergris Caye.
When Jemmott revealed where he was going last Friday, the friend joked "what? You have money then?"
To which the cop allegedly replied: "I have stripes with the Ashcrofts, they are my friends." His pal mocked, "you're with the rich people now", prompting the cop to "laugh", the man said.
Describing Jemmott as one of the "happiest cops you'll ever see", he quizzed the smiling officer about his plans for the evening.
The father-of-five allegedly replied that he was going on a 'date', before phoning the woman in question.
His pal overheard her voice, and tried to get him to reveal her name.
But Jemmott fobbed him off, and replied: "That's my secret, this one I'm taking to my grave."
The pal said that he was now "struggling to cope with what has happened".
Hartin has been charged with manslaughter by negligence, her lawyer, Godfrey Smith, told local media outside court late Monday.
Days ago the dead cop's family was adamant that he was not having an affair with the daughter-in-law of British billionaire Lord Ashcroft.
Jemmott's sister, Marie Jemmott Tzul, told the Daily Mail the cop was shot while "drinking with Lord Ashcroft's daughter-in-law (and allegedly) had a head wound like an assassination".
She added that her brother had known Hartin, but that there was "no romantic relationship at all," the Telegraph reported.
Jemmott also ruled out the possibility that the officer committed suicide, saying: "My brother would never kill himself. He had a passion for life.
"He was a family man and always looked forward to being with his five children and fiancée."
According to 7 News, Hartin said that she was giving the superintendent a shoulder massage when he asked her to hand him his pistol.
She then alleged that the Glock accidentally went off and shot him in the back of the head, according to sources.
Hartin claims Jemmott then fell on her and she pushed him off, leading to his lifeless body falling from the pier in to the water.
However, in another claimed alibi, Hartin suggested to first responders that the shot might have come from a passing boat.
Jemmott suffered a single gunshot wound to the head.
After being deemed a flight risk, the mum-of-two was denied bail on Monday and has spent the days cramped in a tiny concrete cell inside the magistrate's court complex in San Pedro.
An inmate, 'Jose', has now claimed to have seen Hartin with blood on her clothes when she was taken into custody at San Pedro police station last Friday.
Wearing a pink hoodie and a face mask, Hartin was seen being escorted by a policewoman out of the station and put onto the back of a golf cart.
She hid her handcuffs under a plastic bag as she was taken past a memorial erected outside by police to Supt Jemmott, The Times reports.
A Supreme Court judge adjourned her bail request until next week, with a hearing taking place on Wednesday June 9.
Hartin's attorney, Godfrey Smith, told reporters outside the courthouse: "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."
Lord Ashcroft’s long-time lawyer, the nation’s former attorney general Godfrey Smith, was seen visiting the prison last Friday afternoon.
The owner of the swanky local hotel Alaia, which Hartin operates with her husband, Andrew Ashcroft, Hartin has been transferred to one of Central America's toughest prisons.
Known as the "Hattieville Ramada", the facility currently houses 1,041 prisoners in small concrete cell blocks who are subject to strict religious instruction.
Inmates are held at the facility for months and sometimes even years on end while they await trial.
The shooting has stunned islanders who say the Ashcroft family has been part of the fabric of Belize – formally British Honduras – for generations.
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