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| Four Murders in
One Week |
| By Sheena Brooks |
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The federation has recorded 4 shooting
deaths in less than one week, one of which was the double
homicide of an elderly couple.
Just 3 days after a popular taxi operator Bradford "Braddy"
Tweed was found dead along the island's main road in
the Canada Estate area, police were called out to a
Half Moon Bay residence on Sunday, April 11th where
they made a gruesome discovery.
According to a police press release, "At approximately
3:55 pm police responded to a report of a foul and suspicious
scent coming from a Half Moon Bay residence.
Investigations revealed that Mildred and James Daniel
of Half Moon Heights were found dead in their residence
in a partly decomposed state."
The Daniels, both originally from Cayon, St. Kitts but
who resided in England for many years, had returned
to their native land for retirement. Both are said to
be in their 70s.
Police have not clarified just how the discovery was
happened upon; some say the couple were scheduled to
travel the previous day and had not done so while others
claim that a fellow church member found the two deceased
during a regular church pick-up.
The officials did say that there were definite signs
of foul play at the scene and began investigating the
deaths as the federation's 11th and 12th homicides for
2010.
On Monday autopsies performed on the couple revealed
that they died as a result of hemorrhage and shock due
to gunshot injuries. The adult children of the Daniels
flew into St. Kitts on Wednesday afternoon to attend
to the interment arrangements.
The Observer spoke with Police PRO Inspector
Vaughan Henderson who would not confirm if robbery was
the suspected motive behind the double homicide. Though
the state of decomposition of the bodies indicated that
the Daniels had met their death at least a couple of
days before their bodies were found Inspector Henderson
said he was not informed that the autopsies provided
police with an estimated time of death.
Police have since taken a suspect into custody who they
say is "assisting in the investigation". No
name was released as the person has not been charged
with any crime, however The Observer was informed
that the suspect was a male who had worked in some capacity
for the deceased couple. Inspector Henderson would not
confirm.
On Tuesday 13th April, the nation was again hit with
news that another murder had occurred, this time in
the Phillips' area of rural St. Kitts.
"At approximately 7:45 pm police officers responded
to a report of a shooting at Phillips' Village. Investigations
revealed that Elvan Warner, 45, of Molineux was found
dead on a dirt road to the west of Davis Street with
what appeared to be gunshot injuries," police reported.
It was also revealed that while processing the crime
scene, officers collected a number of spent shells.
No suspects have been identified in this latest homicide
and police continue to investigate. Popular consensus
abound that Warner, who was recently released from Her
Majesty's Prison, was of "disreputable character".
It was also said that though he was originally from
Molineux, he had recently relocated to Newtown, Basseterre.
Additionally, The Observer has been reliably
informed that a young man was taken into police custody
on Tuesday in connection with the April 8th Tweed murder.
Initial unsubstantiated reports had put Tweed's shooting
as a robbery however more recently The Observer
has learnt of another more disturbing possible motive
for the 78-year-old's killing. While a family member
spoke with this media house and said Tweed's wallet
and money were missing when he was found, other sources
have indicated that his wallet was in his pocket. Most
agreed that Tweed was known to carry quantities of cash
on his person.
As at Wednesday evening, Inspector Henderson said he
had not been informed that a suspect had been taken
into custody for the 10th homicide, however sources
within the police force did alert this media house of
the apprehension of a male Keys' Village resident.
A source told this media house that a bloody knife had
been found at the Tweed murder scene which appeared
to have belonged to the victim. It was said that Tweed
had managed to stab his assailant before being shot
and that the suspect had turned up at a local hospital
for treatment of a stab wound and thus taken into police
custody. Up until press time Inspector Henderson could
not be reached for a comment on these reports.
Residents have bombarded radio talk shows with calls
expressing fear and concern over the federation's homicide
rate. Taking one death by suicide and one police officer
related shooting out of consideration, on average, there
has been a murder every 10 days so far this year. By
comparison, there were also 10 homicides for the corresponding
period in 2009 when the federation had a record-high
27 homicides. |
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