Killed: Roger Pratt, pictured with wife Margaret [This picture is from the British Daily Mirror; ABC News refused to publish any pictures, and I couldn’t find any pictures of the suspects.]
Re-posted by Nicholas Stix
The World Factbook on St. Lucia.
Comment from ABC News:
Scamuel
St. Lucia has become as bad as Aruba for the murder of tourists! Best advice would be to avoid the whole damn Caribbean bunch of islands which are apparently inhabited by nothing but a bunch of savages!
St. Lucia murder
suspects held after
tourist beaten, found in
water
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Vieux Fort, St. Lucia
January 22, 2014 (CASTRIES, St. Lucia) --
An autopsy found that a British man attacked aboard his yacht anchored in St. Lucia died from asphyxia as a result of being beaten, police said Tuesday.
Authorities said five suspects were in custody and would be charged at a later date. They did not specify when.
The killing of 62-year-old Roger Pratt late Friday surprised many people and raised questions about safety on this island in the eastern Caribbean. His wife, Margaret Pratt, also was beaten and was treated at a hospital for cuts and bruises.
Police said Pratt found her husband's body floating in the water minutes after the attackers fled. She said her husband was not shot, contrary to some media reports.
"There were no knives, no guns, although of course, considerable violence in the attack," Pratt said in a brief interview distributed by the government information service. "We've not felt unsafe in St. Lucia until the events of those final tragic minutes, and have had considerable kindness from very many people."
Police Commissioner Vernon Francois said the Pratts apparently heard noises outside the yacht and were attacked when they went to investigate. He said the attackers demanded money and other items and had used a stolen small boat to get to the yacht.
The Warwickshire couple had been traveling aboard their yacht, the Magnetic Attraction, since June to celebrate her 60th birthday. The attack occurred while the yacht was anchored off the southern town of Vieux Fort.
Pratt said the couple had been in St. Lucia for nearly three weeks and were preparing to leave for Bequia, an island that is part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Chester Nathoniel, part-owner of Action Adventure Divers, said in a phone interview Tuesday with The Associated Press that he met the couple on Jan. 14 and took them diving twice.
"They were quite lovely people," he said. "It is really, really sad news. ... We've had some incidents in the past. It's not something that happens regularly, but it shouldn't happen in the first place."
"I remember telling my wife about the two of them," he added. "I told her, 'I wish we could be like that when we grow up.' They were happy together."
The St. Lucia Tourist Board issued a statement Tuesday saying the prime minister and other high-ranking officials had met with the victim's wife.
"As a country, we collectively condemn this random and heinous act of violence," the board said.
St. Lucia, an island of about 163,000 people, has seen an increase in violent crimes that authorities blame on drug trafficking. However, police reported 34 killings last year, the lowest in four years.
164,000 persons and 34 killings last year. That is an extraordinary amount of death and mayhem!!
ReplyDeleteIt is all about drugs you know. NO, it was about seeing the whitey that had some wealth so he became the target.
ReplyDeleteThat one Jamaican writer in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:
ReplyDelete"I am beginning to believe that African people where ever they live are biologically predisposed to commit murder and mayhem whenever the opportunity presents itself."
The guy is on to something here?
There was decades ago a bunch of serial murders in the American Virgin Islands. The locals [blacks] had some sort of black militant group targeting the whitey American tourist. Caught the bastards but by then a whole lot of damage done.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that the American tourist [whitey] taking a vacation in Jamaica is met at the airport by a bus that shuttles them to the resort which is with a secure area with high fences topped with barbed wire. NONE of the locals other than workers are allowed in the resort area.
ReplyDeleteThese young whitey American women that trips to the islands to sample the local "wildlife" are placing themselves in great danger.
ReplyDeleteThat 34 murders was the LOWEST in four years. So in prior years there was MORE!
ReplyDeleteI was going to say something and changed my mind! Aruba like St.Lucia? NO I don't think so. 2 crimes happened in Aruba is no fault of Aruba! we all live high of the hog and highly educated . we have no need to steel. we are proud to be European citizens. Do your research and educate your selves.
ReplyDelete