Canadian socialite Jasmine Hartin has pleaded guilty to manslaughter by negligence over the killing of a police superintendent, who was her friend, in Belize.
The 33-year-old entered the plea at Belize City's Supreme Court over the shooting of Henry Jemmott, 42, in May 2021.
The former partner of Conservative grandee Lord Ashcroft's son Andrew said outside the court: "I just want Henry's family to have peace now and I want this whole thing behind all of us so we can heal."
Hartin has accused the Ashcrofts of abandoning her since Jemmott’s killing.
Due to her guilty plea she is now set to receive a fine and may also be ordered to pay compensation to the victim’s family.
When Hartin entered her plea in the afternoon, the judge told her: “Jasmine Hartin, you have pleaded guilty to an indictment charging you with manslaughter by negligence.
“All that remains for me to do is to sentence you, which I will do on May 31 this year.”
Hartin was found on a dock near where the body of Superintendent Jemmott was discovered in the town of San Pedro in May 2021 after reports of a gunshot.
Police Commissioner Chester C Williams told local media that a single gunshot was heard "and upon investigating, police found the female on a pier, and she had what appeared to be blood on her arms and on her clothing".
Hartin's lawyer told reporters his client's main concern "was to not put the family of the victim through the anguish of having to go through a trial proceeding, so she consistently expressed her concern about that".
In Belizean law, a defendant who enters a guilty plea at this stage of a case will not face jail time but a fine.
Speaking in the documentary One Bullet in Belize, the Daily Mail reported how she said she regretted initially lying and claiming the police chief had been shot by a man in a passing boat.
Hartin claimed Supt Jemmott invited her and her partner Andrew, 44, for a drink.
However, her partner, the son of the former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, didn’t go, instead allegedly deciding to have an early night.
Hartin joined the police chief alone for a late-night drink.
She claimed they were just friends, even though her relationship with Andrew had fallen apart.
Hartin said that Supt Jemmot suggested for the second time in a few days that she get acquainted with a gun, following an attack a few weeks prior.
She was handling what she thought was an empty gun when the police chief was shot dead.
Despite her claims of innocence, Supt Jemmott’s sister believes that the Canadian socialite shot her brother “execution style."
Hartin described in the documentary how, when down at the pier alone together, she handled the officer’s gun and loaded and reloaded what she said was an empty ammunition magazine
Whilst she was doing so, she claims that Supt Jemmott had the bullets on the other side of him and she repeatedly stressed that she thought the magazine was empty.
Eventually, officers found the body of the police chief floating in the sea.
