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Weeks before her death, a woman whose name was written on parchment paper and buried under a staircase in Torrington Park, St Andrew, had 'transformed into a frog', according to a relative.

Rayon*, a cousin of the deceased who he named as Marsha, said her physical features changed and completely resembled the amphibian.

"She go to farrin normal. When she come back, she came back as a frog, that was how her face look. She was literally a frog with the bumps and everything. Mi a seh dis can't real, and no doctor could not tell her how comes she just transform and look like a frog," he said.

Marsha is one of more than a dozen persons who, a woman, Jill*, said she cast "compelling spells" on for them to "leave the house at [address redacted] alone".

Jill said she turned to the spiritual realm in order to keep a house that she was being forced out of. However, she was adamant that despite casting spells, she was not responsible for the deaths of any of those named.

But Rayon and his family remain convinced that the elderly woman only told part of the story. He said that earlier this year, the family took Marsha to a pastor for deliverance, because the doctors were unable to help her.

"The pastor seh, 'Stand up out here suh', and tell her say a one 'white paper' cause all of dis and dat dem bury her name to look like a frog," Rayon said.

"Same time as the woman a talk, a frog drop outta the tree. Dem tell mi madda seh she must burn the frog with newspaper. About a week later, mi cousin get back her nice, clear complexion. But she never live long after dat. She dead and is about two weeks ago we bury har," he said.

In addition to Marsha, Rayon said four other family members also died in recent years.

"Miss Taylor was the first one who dead, then after dat mi cousin, and when we found her body, she was beaten to death inna Torrington Park. After that mi other cousin was killed. A next one also sick and dead and all of that happen in like a four-or five-year period," he said.

Workmen rebuilding a broken staircase in Torrington Park made the chilling discovery of the buried names, sealed in vials last Thursday. Rayon told THE STAR that members of his family were not surprised to learn about the find.

"Growing up people always say she is a obeah worker, so the family never surprise. The only thing that surprise us is that she was close friend with our family. A five grade mi inna when my name go on list, enuh," Rayon said.

A youngster at the time, Rayon said he and three others lived in the house and stated that his family had relocated due to a flare up of violence.

Both Jill and Rayon admitted that a house is at the centre of the spiritually-charged stand-off.

"That particular house that the obeah throw over was located on the other side of the war so the man dem shoot it up because one of we family did involve in the war. We other family member did still live on the building," Rayon said.

"When we leave, we family rent it to another woman but she wasn't paying her rent. When that person want the rent, that was when the woman start the obeah ting because she want the house," he added.

In a previous interview with THE STAR, Jill said she was offered the property for a price of $300,000 and was ready to purchase, but insisted on seeing proper documentation first.

She said she later made checks and found the house was the property of the Ministry of Housing, and was given permission to occupy the premises.

* Names changed to protect identity.