VIDN_UnsolvedMurders

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THE VIRGIN ISLANDS DAILY NEWS ■ TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2006

Jaheal Gomez ■ Justine Eudoxie Gumbs ■ G r e g o ry DeSilva ■ Hasani Fitz g e r a l d ■ Juan Cruz ■ F e r l y nH a r r i s ■ Leon Dennis ■ William Hudson-Grimmet ■ Thomas Lusby ■ Ferris Gumbs ■ Angel Felix ■

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COPYRIGHT © 2006 ■ DAILY NEWS PUBLISHING CO.

SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

U n s o l v e d

in the Virgin Islands1999-2006

By JOSEPH TSIDULKODaily News Staff

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SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORT S-3SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS-2

How this report was done

The V.I. murder rate is one of the highest in the nationThe V.I. solved murder rate is one of the lowest in the nation

What’s wr ong her e ?By JOSEPH TSIDULKO

Staff Writer

T he Virgin Islands numbersare grim, and they are on therise.

In 2003, 27 people were murdered. In 2004, 36 people were murdered.In 2005, 42 people were murdered.In 2006, 37 people were murdered

in the first 10 months, putting the ter-ritory on pace for 45 by the end ofthis year.

That establishes the VirginIslands murder rate as one of thehighest under the American flag.

Last year in the territory, 1 per-son was murdered among every2,500 residents — compared to 1 inevery 18,000 throughout the nation.The V.I. murder rate is seven timesthe national average and close to thenation’s notorious “murder capi-tals” such as Chicago, New Orleansand Camden, N.J.

The Virgin Islands also has oneone of the highest unsolved murderrates, per capita, in the nation.

Nationwide, the unsolved murderrate in 2005 was 1 out of 3, accord-ing to Federal Bureau ofInvestigations data.

The Virgin Islands unsolved mur-der rate in 2005 was 2 out of 3.

Specifically, V.I. police and pros-ecutors have solved only 14 of the42 murders committed in 2005.

John Sullivan, a retired chief ofdetectives for the Las VegasMetropolitan Police Departmentand a nationally recognized lawenforcement expert, described theV.I. unsolved murder rate as “gross-ly out of line” with national perfor-mance standards.

The territory’s long-range perfor-mance is just slightly better: 128 outof 220 homicide cases — 3 out of 5cases — were left unsolved in theseven years from 1999 through2005.

Police have made arrests in 92cases, and 52 of those — slightlymore than half — ended in a suc-cessful prosecution: either a guiltyplea or guilty verdict. In many ofthe other cases, charges were ulti-mately dismissed for lack of evi-dence or lack of cooperative wit-n e s s e s .

In the cases that did go to trialand that ended with not guilty ver-dicts, the police were confident theyhad solved the case, but the juryclearly disagreed and acquitted theaccused person.

Experts see a connection betweenthe high number of homicides andthe high number of unsolved cases.

“We have a lot of murdersbecause we ain’t catching murder-ers,” said retired Capt. PeteAnderson, a 23-year veteran of theV.I. Police Department.

“There are no consequences fortheir actions, it appears,” saidAnderson, who headed the depart-ment’s investigations and specialoperations bureaus, and after retir-ing from the force worked nearly 10years as a criminal fraud investiga-tor for the U.S. Inspector General’sO f f i c e .

The data for 2005 show theVirgin Islands near the top of thelist in number of homicides andnumber of unsolved cases, and theraw numbers for 2006 show the ter-ritory is making no progress in stop-ping or solving murders.

National eye on V.I.

The first of those occurred just 19days into the new year.

The victim was 46-year-old BlairShannon, a popular entertainer fromOhio, who frequently visited theVirgin Islands between gigs as aheadliner on cruise ships.

The comedian and his girlfriendwere spending the night in a beach-side suite at a tucked-away resortnear King Airport. An intruderentered through an unlocked doorand demanded money, then fatallyshot Shannon in the chest.

V.I. Police Department leadersfrequently fault the public wheninvestigations fizzle. Police say theycannot make progress unless peoplewith information about a crimecome forward and cooperate.

In the Blair Shannon case, how-ever, they had an eyewitness eagerto help. Shannon’s girlfriend got agood look at the gunman, and shegave police a detailed description.From that they produced a compos-ite portrait.

Shannon, who had performed infront of thousands of cruise shippassengers a night, was well-knownto the entertainment industry and tothe vacationers who prop the econo-my of the Virgin Islands.

Newspapers and television sta-tions across the comedian’s homestate of Ohio ran daily stories aboutthe case — first about the homicideitself and then about the V.I. PoliceDepartment’s lack of progress.

Ohio’s two U.S. senators and anOhio congressman wrote letters toGov. Charles Turnbull, imploringhim to ensure everything was doneto bring the killer to justice.

Now, 10 months after Shannonwas killed, police have not made anarrest or reported any progress in theinvestigation. Police also have notoffered any explanation for the lackof progress.

Stateside media also featured thetragic effect on Blair Shannon’s

child. Shannon was a widower —his wife died of cancer eight yearsago. He was raising their 14-year-old daughter with the help of hergrandmother, and his death has leftthe girl an orphan.

The second murder of 2006, com-mitted three days after the Shannonmurder, also is unsolved, and itbears other similarities to theShannon case.

Murder of a teenager

Aheim Huyghue, 14, a talentedninth grader at Charlotte AmalieHigh School, excelled at martial artsand loved working with computersand playing baseball. He lived withhis grandmother, but on Sundaynight, Jan. 22, he was visiting at hismother’s home in Hospital Ground.Someone entered the first-floorapartment and shot the boy threetimes in the face as his two youngersiblings slept in a nearby room.

In this case, too, police had will-ing witnesses. Neighbors came for-ward and told police that after theshooting they saw a man dressed ina white shirt, white hat and jeansleave the building.

Now, 10 months later, police havenot reported any progress in solvingthe case.

The families of both two homi-cide victims already were familiarwith tragedy. Aheim’s father was

murdered — a still-unsolved case —in 1998, the same year thatShannon’s wife died of cancer.

Both victims’ relatives say that atfirst they had faith that V.I. policewould catch the killers, but theirhopes faded as time went by.

“I don’t think anyone couldbelieve that if we had information tosolve that crime, it would not besolved,” said Police CommissionerElton Lewis, who spent 15 years asa homicide detective.

“My heart goes out to the fami-lies.”

What goes wrong?Last month, when a Superior

Court judge questioned a policeofficer about the lack of evidence ina shooting investigation, the offi-cer’s answer left the judge, in herown words, “dumbfounded.”

The officer said in court that asuspected shooter’s hands were nottested for gunpowder residuebecause “forensics is closed on theweekend.”

That claim is not entirely true,according to the forensics staff — atleast not when it comes to the inves-

V.I. murderf a c t s

January 1999 to present

Homicide totalsSt. Croix ........................121St. John.............................. 2St. Thomas ....................133Virgin Islands..................256

Unsolved murder totals*St. Croix ..........................74St. John.............................. 0St. Thomas ......................75Virgin Islands..................149

Causes of homicide deathShootings ......................202Stabbings ........................24Beating or strangulation ..21Other.................................. 9

Copyright © 2006 ■ Daily News Publishing Co.

“Unsolved Murders in the Virgin Islands – 1999-2006” is a special investigative report produced by The Virgin Islands Daily Newsand distributed as a special section in the newspaper on Tuesday, October 24, 2006.

For this special report, Daily News reporterJoseph Tsidulko examined the V.I. PoliceDepartment’s handling of all homicides fromJanuary 1999 to the present — the almosteight years of the current governmentadministration.

To compile the list of homicide victims forthis report and trace the outcome of eachcase, Tsidulko researched through hundredsof stories in The Daily News archives andexamined all the homicide data thenewspaper has collected since January 1999.The Daily News maintains ongoing andcomprehensive statistics on all crimes that arereported in the newspaper.

Tsidulko created a database using Excelsoftware to track, analyze and compare themurder figures.

He found that in some cases, a suspectwas arrested and the trial is pending; in someothers, he found that an arrest warrant wasissued but the suspect remains at large. In a

few cases, a suspect was acquitted by a juryor the charges were dismissed.

In most of cases, however, the killers werenever identified and the trail has gone cold.

Tsidulko asked the Police and Justicedepartments to fact-check his lists of victimsand suspects to ensure that the informationwas accurate and complete and that thestatus of each investigation was up to date.

Lt. Thomas Hannah, the department’spublic information officer, received the lists onJan. 27, 2006. The V.I. Police Department’spublic relations representative identifiedseveral victims for whom The Daily News didnot have names, but otherwise thedepartment did not comment on the data.

No rank-and-file police detectives or otherofficers would talk on the record for thisreport. Many said they believed they wouldsuffer reprisals at work if they openly assistedThe Daily News.

Tsidulko also compiled a list of defendants

charged with homicide since January 1999and on March 17, 2006, asked the V.I. JusticeDepartment to review it for accuracy andprovide any necessary updates on the statusof the cases. The department did notcomment or contradict the accuracy of thelist. He did receive assistance from SuperiorCourt clerks on St. Croix and St. Thomas inupdating the status of cases.

Tsidulko also interviewed a number of thevictims’ family members and friends. Theyspoke openly about their experiences andfrustration with the V.I. Police Department.

Tsidulko has been a reporter for The VirginIslands Daily News since November 2005.Previously he covered the Los Angeles PoliceDepartment as a reporter for City NewsService, the largest regional news wire in theUnited States. He holds a bachelor’s degreein physics from the University of California atBerkeley and studied in a graduate program atthe London School of Journalism.

Daily News Photo by SEAN McCOY

“Every unpunished murder takes away somethingfrom the security of every man’s life.”

— Daniel Webster

SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

U n s o l v e dM u r d e r sin the Virgin Islands

1999-2006


Police bag up clothing from the scene of a fatal shooting on St. Thomas.

See MURDERS, next page

I N D E XList of all homicides ................6-23List of all unsolved cases......10-23Questions & answers.................... 5Cold case squad ..........................13Family voices..............................6-9Homicides by police....................11

Who workedon this special report

ReporterJoseph TsidulkoProject editorJ. Lowe Davis

Presentation editorJason RobbinsPhotographers

Sean McCoyMichael Potter

Cristian SimescuCopy editorsJames Allison

Matthew Lunders

* – No arrests made in the case.

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Basic information about Virgin Islands murder investigationsWhat are the differencesin “unsolved,” “cleared”and “closed” cases?

A : The FBI uses standard terms when compiling crimestatistics. That allows local jurisdictions to make

accurate comparisons against national data and againsttheir own records.

U N S O L V E D — Nobody has been arrested in the case. C L E A R E D — At least one suspect has been arrested and

charged, or a valid suspect has been identified but thearrest is prevented by exceptional circumstances, such asthe suspect’s death or incarceration in another district. Theterm “solved” does not have as well-established adefinition, but generally is used synonymously with“ c l e a r e d . ”

C L O S E D — A killer has been successfully adjudicated,with guilt being established either through a plea or aconviction in a court of law. Closed case statistics areindicators of the success of the entire law-enforcementapparatus, including the V.I. Justice Department attorneysresponsible for prosecuting criminals.

In murder cases where charges have been dismissed, ora defendant has been found not guilty by a jury, the casetechnically remains open, despite the fact that manyconsider it solved, because justice has not yet been served.

What is the difference betweena ‘homicide’ and a ‘murder’?

A : H O M I C I D E is the killing of one human being byanother. The term assigns no legal culpability.

Some homicides are considered justifiable. Those includedeath penalty executions, military combat, self-defense andlaw-enforcement use of deadly force to protect lives.

Most legal codes in the U.S., including V.I. law, separatecriminal homicides into two statutory offenses:manslaughter and murder. The criteria for distinguishingbetween the two is whether the killer acted with “maliceaforethought,” which means intent to kill.

M A N S L A U G H T E R — The killer did not willfully anddeliberately take life. Manslaughter cases are furtherdivided between those that are involuntary, such as when adriver fatally strikes someone with a vehicle, and those thatare voluntary, such as when a life is taken during a fight.

M U R D E R — The killer intended to kill. The most seriousform of murder — first-degree — is premeditated, meaningthe criminal planned the killing beforehand. In the V.I., aconviction for first-degree murder carries a mandatory lifes e n t e n c e .

While murder is a legal term signifying the intent to takelife, the word commonly is applied to any wrongful killing.

Often in this report, the words homicide and murder areused interchangeably, as is done in common speech.

How many detectives does theV.I. Police Department have assignedto investigate murders?

A : Murders are investigated by the department’s MajorCrimes Unit. Police officials interviewed for this

report refused to specify the number of detectives workingin Major Crimes. Daily News records show five MajorCrimes detectives in the St. Thomas-St. John District.

On St. Croix, homicide cases often are assigned todetectives in the Criminal Investigations Division. It is notclear how many St. Croix detectives take homicidea s s i g n m e n t s .

Do V.I. homicide detectivesreceive specialized training?

A : N o . Detectives become homicide investigators byrising through the ranks of the Police Department’s

Criminal Investigations Division. While they periodicallyreceive classroom instruction and attend training seminars,the department does not have a standardized trainingcourse that teaches detectives the techniques, methodsand best practices for homicide investigations.

Police experts say solid investigative techniques usuallyare learned on the job; therefore good detectives are bredin departments that already enjoy success and are stockedwith expertise.

Some law-enforcement agencies that have poor successrates and a pattern of failure opt to enroll their detectives inspecialized training programs or bring in outside experts.

Does the V.I. Police Departmenthave a “CSI” unit?

A : Y e s . Crime scenes in the Virgin Islands areprocessed by the Crime Scene Identification Unit.

The members of that unit are called Crime SceneInvestigators. Their job is to collect forensic evidence atcrime scenes and either store the evidence or send it tothe appropriate laboratory for analysis.

Evidence can include bullet casings, blood, hair,fingerprints, drugs, chemicals, fibers, shoe prints oranything else left by a criminal.

The V.I. unit has roughly 10 members on St. Croix, St.John and St. Thomas. The unit is short-staffed, with itsdetectives typically working many overtime hours.

Do V.I. Police detectives collectfingerprints when investigating crimes?

A : Y e s . Forensics detectives say they try to collectfingerprints at every crime scene where prints are

available. The Police Department has a fingerprint examinerresponsible for entering prints into a database and makingmatches. The examiner scans ink prints taken from suspects,or latent prints lifted from a crime scene, and checks themagainst a database using a computer system called an AFIS— Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

The V.I. database can be linked to a national FBIdatabase.

Does the V.I. have a crime lab?

A : N o . The territory’s law-enforcement agencies sendall evidence collected from drug, sexual assault and

murder cases to outside labs.Typically, DNA evidence — blood, semen, hair, skin —

goes to an FBI lab on the U.S. mainland. Drug evidencegoes to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement labin Puerto Rico. Gunshot residue kits go to a private lab onthe U.S. mainland.

The FBI does not charge the V.I. government for itslabwork, but DNA evidence often takes a long time toprocess — on average eight months. Territorial cases arenot a high priority for the FBI, especially not after Sept. 11,2001, when the FBI became innundated with nationalterrorism investigations.

Former Attorney General Iver Stridiron estimated whilehe was in office that it would cost roughly $4 million toestablish a crime lab, and at least $200,000 to $300,000annually to fund its employees’ salaries.

V.I. forensics detectives currently have some basic labequipment and can perform a limited degree of analysis.They can look at firing pin marks on bullet shell casings andoften can rule out certain weapons that clearly do notmatch. They can do rudimentary hair classification and canfield test drugs as well.

tigation of a serious assault.

Forensics officers do work week-end shifts and always are on call forhomicide investigations, even whenno one is on duty. But the unit isshort-staffed, and its investigatorsput in many overtime hours. As aresult, the detectives have to strug-gle, at times, to process each crimescene properly.

Once evidence is collected, theinvestigation often stalls whilepolice wait for crime lab results.

The V.I. Police Department doesnot have a lab and therefore mustsend evidence to an FBI facility onthe U.S. mainland.

The FBI’s lab services are inheavy demand — anti-terrorism evi-dence has been paramount sinceSept. 11, 2001 — so V.I. policeoften have to wait more than a yearfor DNA to be examined and madeavailable for trial.

Such delays hamper an investiga-tion, according to retired Miami PoliceLt. Nelson Andreu, a recognizedexpert on homicide investigations.

“The sooner you get some of thisinformation back, the sooner youmay be able to identify a suspectand the sooner you can clear some-one,” said Andreu, who investigatedthousands of cases in his 21 years asa Miami homicide detective.

If the territory had a forensics lab,it would be part of the V.I. JusticeDepartment. Start-up would costabout $4 million and it wouldrequire between $200,000 to$300,000 annually to operate, for-mer Attorney General Iver Stridirontold The Daily News in February2003.

In interviews conducted for thisreport, Police Commissioner Lewissaid that he knows that having aforensics lab in the territory wouldreduce the turnaround time for pro-cessing forensic evidence, but hedoes not think it would increase thenumber of arrests.

Lewis reiterated his oft-statedview: Criminals get away with mur-der because the public will not aidthe investigation and will not testifyin open court.

Sgt. Roberto Lima, who headsMajor Crimes on St. Thomas, put itthis way: “Lack of information com-ing from people who observe andhave knowledge about homicidesthat are committed is one of ourgreatest, greatest problems.”

Lewis and Lima both firmly stat-ed that no other measures — notadditional funding, not training, notmanpower and not a crime lab —would improve the arrest rate.

For their part, witnesses say theyare afraid to inform on a killerbecause family connections here arecomplex and can reach far in thecommunity, including to the PoliceDepartment. Witnesses say that as a

result, they fear that police will notprotect them from retaliation if theytestify.

Law-enforcement experts put theresponsibility back on police. Theysay that a community’s willingnessto cooperate is dependent on thereputation of the department thatasks for their help.

“Witness participation is directlycorrelated with the faith and trustthe community has in their policedepartment,” said Sullivan, the for-mer Las Vegas chief of detectives.

Near the end of 2003, the DailyNews published a special investiga-tive report into the police depart-ment’s use of deadly force, lookingat 100 cases in the past 20 years inwhich a police officer killed orwounded a civilian. A number ofthose cases did not fit the guidelinesfor justifiable use of force.

The Deadly Force report led to aU.S. Justice Department probe ofthe Virgin Islands PoliceDepartment, which is still inprogress.

After publishing Deadly Force,The Daily News asked readers torespond to a standardized survey

examining the public’s attitudetoward the department.

Nearly everyone who responded tothe newspaper’s survey said they didnot trust the V.I. Police Department.Most said they did not believe thatpolice deal with citizens fairly.

The majority of responders alsosaid they are afraid of police, andmore than one-third of the respon-ders said they would not call policeif they were the victims of crime.

If people have so little faith inpolice that they will not reportcrimes against themselves, it isunlikely they will assist in investiga-tions that involve their neighbors.

That kind of public sentimentdoes not abate quickly, according toSullivan.

“It takes some time. Somebodythat’s been exposed to these suspi-cions for years and years and years,it’s going to take an enormousamount of time,” the veteran detec-tive said.

Detectives say that for almost everyhomicide in the V.I., there is someonewho has information that can helppolice solve the case. However, theabsence of such information does not

preclude an investigation leading to anarrest and conviction.

Retired V.I. police captainAnderson, who ran the CriminalInvestigation Bureau on St. Croix,said the department once had a dif-ferent attitude — and a higher suc-cess rate in catching killers.

“In the ‘70s and ‘80s, there wereguys you couldn’t go to and say ‘Icouldn’t find the guy,’ or ‘No onewould tell me who did it.’ That wasunacceptable,” Anderson said.

“We went into every case with theanticipation that we were going tosolve it,” he said.

Anderson does not claim to knowthe methods and approaches oftoday’s V.I. police detectives. H esaid he only knows what onceworked.

He also knows that most killersare sloppy. They tend to act withreckless passion and ill-conceivedbursts of bravado, leaving behindclues and evidence as a result.

Many were arrested for lessercrimes in the past, and their finger-prints, modus operandi and physicaland personal characteristics are doc-umented in the criminal justice sys-

tem.

And there are legal ways of pres-suring some witnesses into cooper-ating, Anderson said.

The associates of murderers oftenare involved in other crimes, andthat can give police leverage to“flip” them against more seriousoffenders. But to take advantage of akiller’s mistakes takes “a full-courtpress” — an intense, extensive andimmediate investigation, Andersonsaid.

“In the first 48 hours, you have tohave a sense of urgency. You’ve gotto get out and knock on doors,develop witnesses,” he said.

That’s not what happens now,according to the families of murdervictims.

For this report, The Daily Newsinterviewed the families of a dozenvictims whose killers are still atlarge. What a number of them saidsheds light on the high rate ofunsolved murders:

They were never questioned byinvestigators.

— Contact Joseph Tsidulko at

774-8772 ext. 332 or e-mail

j t s i d u l k o @ d a i l y n e w s . v i .

MURDERSCONTINUED FROM PAGE S-3

Daily News File Photo

Police collect evidence at the scene of a shooting on St. Thomas. The Police Department has a Crime Scene Identification Unit thatprocesses evidence, then sends it to off-island labs. DNA samples go to an FBI lab in the states.

Murder clearance rate – Virgin Islands compared to U.S.

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

6 9 %U . S .

6 8 %V . I . 6 3 %

U . S .6 2 %V . I .

6 2 %U . S .

4 8 %V . I .

6 3 %U . S .

3 9 %V . I .

6 2 %U . S .

3 3 %V . I .

6 4 %U . S .

3 4 %V . I .

6 2 %U . S .

2 3 %V . I .

“ We have a lot of murdersbecause we ain’t catching murderers.”

— retired V.I. Police Capt. Pete Anderson, former head of the Major Crimes Unit on St. Croix

Q&A

By JOSEPH TSIDULKOStaff Writer

C l o s u r e .For the families of mur-

der victims, the word is sig-nificant, but its meaning elusive.

For those who have not seen jus-tice, closure is an emotional beacon.

Janice Henley’s son was mur-dered in 1998. Just months ago, her14-year-old grandson AheimHuyghue — who was seven whenhe lost his father — also was shotdead in the middle of the night in hismother’s Hospital Ground house.

Raising her grandson was whatkept her going after she lost her son.

“As bad as it was, I still had him.I tried so hard to protect this child,”she said.

Now nothing can ease the grief,but Henley believes an arrest wouldbring her some peace.

“I would be able to rest. It’s real-ly something that’s been botheringme day and night.”

That theme resonates through allthe families of victims of unsolvedm u r d e r s .

Above all, they want answers.

“I want someone to be brought tojustice,” Henley said, “but I need toknow what happened.”

Joycelyn Sonny’s son, KhalidGumbs, was shot in the head in2005 on his 19th birthday as he waswalking with a friend along an OldTutu street on St. Thomas. A manjumped out of the bushes andopened fire on the two.

“A lot goes through my mind,”Sonny said. “I just want to knowwhy — what he could have done.”

Gumbs’ companion was notharmed in the attack and now hasleft the territory.

Sonny, who tattooed her son’sname on her arm, voiced anothercommon refrain: Police don’t keepher informed about the steps takento find the killer and bring him toj u s t i c e .

“If I don’t call, I don’t get noresponse.”

Speaking at a business luncheonin March, V.I Police CommissionerElton Lewis, addressed the issue ofunsolved homicides and empha-sized the need to keep victims’loved ones informed about thei n v e s t i g a t i o n s .

“Some families realize some-thing cannot be solved, but they justwant someone to come back tothem and say ‘here is the situation,’”Lewis said.

But all the victims’ families inter-viewed for this report said they havebeen kept in the dark.

For some, the lack of informationturns to frustration, then anger, thenresolve.

“I’m going to fight,” said KishmaStuart, daughter of Manno’s restau-rant owner Egbert Stuart, 63, whowas stabbed to death in June 2005in his Heritage Hills condo inContant, St. Thomas.

“Somebody’s going to have toanswer me,” Stuart said.

She compared dealing with theV.I. Police Department to “being inthe ‘Twilight Zone.’”

“Things that I’m expecting or Ithought would have been done justwere not,” she said.

Because the medical examinerwas not available after the murder,there is no time of death on herfather’s death certificate.

Her 4-year-old autistic brother,who was in the house when herfather was killed and was foundwith blood on the back of his shirt,was not questioned.

She suggested that detectivesbring in a therapist to work with theboy to see if he could provide infor-

mation, but that never has beend o n e .

Stuart believes the killer leftbehind a wealth of forensic evi-d e n c e .

“The room was just vicious, itwas bloody,” she said.

Donna Bassue’s son, 24-year-oldDan’l Liburd, was shot five timeson his daughter’s first birthday inSeptember 2002. He was on hisway to buy a candle for her birthdaycake in Lindbergh Bay, St. Thomas.

Bassue’s faith keeps her going,she said, and keeps her from hatingthe murderer.

“As a Christian I have to forgivehim,” she said.

“I put my faith in God, and Hehas allowed me to move on. But asa human being you still hurt.”

Bassue passes her son’s graveevery day on her way to work.

“My heart becomes heavy, andthe tears well up inside of me, butwhen that happens I just start topray,” she said.

When Liburd’s now 4-year-olddaughter passes the cemetery, sheyells “Hello” to her daddy. She thenasks why he does not answer.

“Just to hear her say that, itbreaks me down,” Bassue said.

“If I didn’t put my trust in God, Ithink I would have gone crazy. He’swho is sustaining me on a dailyb a s i s .

“... It’s very hard.”

For Bassue, closure means know-



Agony of spiritM u rder victims’ families still wait for justice

JANUARY 1999

5 — Jaheal Gomez , 22, wasdiscovered with gunshot wounds to

the head, his body hanging out of astolen car in the Ralph de Chabert

housing community, St. Croix.

9 — Justine Eudoxie Gumbs , 88,

died more than a week after beingbeaten on Nov. 30, 1998, by a man

who entered her Diamond Ruby, St.Croix home.

9 — I-Nimba Antonio Lopez , 16, wasfatally stabbed in the chest during a

confrontation in the Ralph deChabert housing complex, St. Croix.

2 7 — Gregory DeSilva , 22, was shotdead, and his body was found

slouched over in the driver’s seat ofa car parked partially off the road

between Red Hook and SapphireBeach, St. Thomas.

3 1 — Hasani Fitzgerald , 22, wasfatally stabbed after a series of

altercations inside and outside anightclub in Ville La Reine Shopping

Center, St. Croix.

FEBRUARY 199919 — Reginald Molloy , 25, was

fatally shot in the chest hours after

his Estate Concordia, St. Croix,house and his car were set on fire.

APRIL 19991 0 — Juan Cruz , 24, was fatally

struck in the face with a pool cueinside a bar on Company Street in

Christiansted, St. Croix.

1 1 — Yathera Corona , 19, was

strangled and her nude body wasdiscovered slumped on the porch of

a Tutu Park Mall muffler shop on St.T h o m a s .

2 7 — Ferlyn Harris , 26, was fatally

shot once in the back of the head

amid a crowd of people gathered inSt. Thomas’ Carnival Village,

including dozens of police officers.

M AY 19992 9 — Juan Pierre Batista w a s

stabbed to death during an

altercation with another man inMarket Square, St. Thomas.

3 1 — Leon Dennis , 60, was fatally

shot once in the head as he got outof his car near the V.I. Water and

Power Authority tanks in Sub Base,

St. Thomas.

J U LY 19997 — Keshawn Daly , 14, was fatally

wounded in a shooting during a July

4 celebration at the festival villageon St. John.

1 8 — William Hudson-Grimmet , 41,

was found dead, floating in hisEstate Mafolie, St. Thomas

swimming pool.

J U LY 19992 7 — Adolph Hyman , 48, was shot

dead while walking with his son andanother person on St. Thomas.

AUGUST 19994 — Thomas “Randy” Lusby , 60, a

patron at the Toad and Tart pub inSmith Bay, St. Thomas, was shot

dead by an armed robber at the pub.

1 8 — Merlin Wescott , 57, was beatenand stabbed to death in his house in

Estate Thomas, St. Thomas.

SEPTEMBER 19991 6 — Ferris Gumbs was shot in the

back and in the mouth and his body

was found near the Michelle Motelin Contant, St. Thomas.

OCTOBER 19999 — Patricia Haumacher , 30, was

strangled to death and buried in herbackyard in Estate Two Brothers, St.

C r o i x .

2 2 — Kareem McIntosh , 19, died of asingle stab wound in the center of

his chest suffered during a fight onthe Central High School campus, St.

C r o i x .

NOVEMBER 19994 — Duvalier Basquin , 42, a Haitian

gypsy taxi driver, was stabbed to

death beside a road in Bolongo Bay,St. Thomas.

7 — Miguel Crispin , 19, was shot and

killed during a fight at the NationalPark Service construction project on

St. Croix.

7 — Alfredo Barrott , 45, was fatallyshot by a police officer on the Red

Hook ferry dock in St. Thomas.

7 — Perry Brathwaite , 20, was shotin the back of the head at a birthday

party at the Anna’s RetreatCommunity Center on St. Thomas.

DECEMBER 19991 1 — Angel Felix , 26, was shot in the

head, shoulder, back and foot in theBarren Spot area of St. Croix.

2 8 — Rahim Donastorg , 20, was

fatally shot in the head in the SugarEstate area of St. Thomas.

2 8 — Tomosito Ledesma , 16, was

fatally shot near Ludvig HarriganCourt housing community in

Frederiksted, St. Croix, after goinginto an abandoned building with

some friends.

JANUARY 20005 — Melford Silkridge , 27, was

fatally shot once in the chest while

in the driveway of a friend’s home inMon Bijou, St. Croix.

1 3 — Boniface Clement , 37, was

shot twice in Contant, St. Thomas,and died in his wife’s arms on front

steps of his home.

V.I. HOMICIDESAll homicides in the Virgin Islands

from January 1999 to the present

See HOMICIDES, next page See HOMICIDES, next page

“I just wantto know why

– what hecould have

done.”— Joycelyn Sonny,whose son, Khalid

Gumbs, was shot inthe head on his 19th

b i r t h d a y


Joycelyn Sonny has had the name of her slain son, Khalid Gumbs, tattooed on her forearm.

Khalid Gumbs

“I want someoneto be brought to justice,

but I need to knowwhat happened.”

— Janice Henley, grandmotherof Aheim Huyghue, 14, who was shot deadin his mother’s house in Hospital Ground

See VICTIMS, page S-8

Daily News Photos by SEAN McCOY

Relatives of slain 14-year-old Aheim Huyghue gather at his grandparents’ home to look at photos and remember the boy.

Janice Henley, right, displays a photograph of herslain grandson, Aheim Huyghue, above, and a trophythat he won in a martial arts tournament.



When Dan’l Liburd’s now4-year-old daughter passes

the cemetery, she yells, “Hello!”to her daddy. She then asks why

he does not answer.



JANUARY 20002 5 — Ian Grey , 25, was intentionally

run down by a car after a verbalconfrontation near the Barren SpotVillage Mall, St. Croix.

2 7 — Kareem Satorie , 19, was fatallyshot in the head while sitting in thedriver’s seat of a parked car inMandahl, St. Thomas.

FEBRUARY 20002 1 — Mario Daniel , 45, had been

missing for months when hisremains were found by a manwalking his dog near the CampoRico Beach, St. Croix. Daniel died oftrauma to the head, and was buriedin a shallow grave.

APRIL 20003 — Anthony Petersen , 40, was

beaten on the head with a piece ofwood and was discovered bleedingprofusely near his home in

downtown Christiansted, St. Croix.1 0 — Ellis Blyden was killed in a

drive-by shooting while placing a callat a phone booth near theHometown Convenience Store inAnna’s Retreat, St. Thomas.

1 2 — Eustace Cerio , 21, was shotfive times while walking with hisgirlfriend behind a car wash inContant, St. Thomas.

2 2 — George Hodge , 36, was shotthree times near a bar on the westend of Coki Beach, St. Thomas.

M AY 20005 — Jason Carroll , an 18-year-old

University of the Virgin Islandsstudent, was shot and killed onMain Street, St. Thomas.

JUNE 20009 — Aaron Stedman , a native of

Dominica who had been on St.Thomas for a couple of weeks, wasshot dead near the Blue Corner Barin Contant, St. Thomas.

J U LY 20006 — Solomon Durand , 36, was shot

and killed by a security guard at theSunny Isle Kmart, St. Croix, during a

fight inside the store.2 0 — Raphael Callwood was fatally

shot three times in the shoulders andback near Jane E. Tuitt ElementarySchool in Savan, St. Thomas.

SEPTEMBER 20005 — Pierre Leopold Magras Jr. , 49,

was shot to death by a gunman whoopened fire shortly after midnight atthe Fireman’s Bar on Kronprindsen’sGade, St. Thomas.

OCTOBER 20003 — Mannix Phillips , 33, was shot

dead while trying to break up a fightat a housing community on St. Croix.

OCTOBER 20002 9 — Anthony Warner , 32, was shot

in the back and in the mouth after

he burst into someone’s room in theCentral Guest House on St. Thomas

and struggled with a man inside.

NOVEMBER 20004 — Crispin La Franque , 23, was

shot by the owner of an Estate

Profit bar he attempted to rob, andhis body was found near the U.S.

Department of Agriculture grounds

in Estate Bethlehem, St. Croix.

5 — George Glasgow , 56, was beatento death after a traffic accident on

Queen Mary Highway, St. Croix,escalated into a fight in which

Glasgow brandished a machete.

DECEMBER 20006 — Macali Wheatley , 22, was

gunned down near the Red Ball

Grocery in Savan, St. Thomas.

1 8 — James Nesbitt Jr. , 25, was fatallyshot once in the chest by an off-duty

police officer at a St. Croix bar.

3 1 — Adassa Rolle , 18, was shotdead while she was in a parked car

with her former boyfriend on a roadin Green Cay Plantation,

Frenchman’s Bay, St. Thomas.

JANUARY 20013 — Bryan Beaton , 37, of Guyana

was stabbed to death at a Bellview,

St. Thomas construction site.

6 — Llewelyn Forde , 48, of MonBijou, St. Croix, was shot to death

by a man witnesses said hethreatened with a machette.

1 9 — Kenville Mills , 20, was shot to

death on Hill Street in Christiansted,St. Croix.

FEBRUARY 20014 — Ernestine Vanterpool , 51, was

found in her car at Lindqvist Beach,

St. Thomas, fatally shot in thes t o m a c h .

MARCH 20015 — Dale Jeffers , 32, was shot to

death near Bergs Home, St.Thomas, and his body was found

the next morning in a gut.

2 3 — James “Scala” Furlong , 25,died after being shot several times

on Vester Gade, St. Thomas.

APRIL 20012 5 — Carlos Colon , 22, was found

fatally shot in a bullet-riddled car

parked on a road on CrownMountain, St. Thomas.

3 0 — Craig Bess , 30, was found in

the back of a pickup truck, dead of agunshot wound to the head after a

drive-by shooting near the basketballcourt on Commandant Gade, St.

T h o m a s .


ing her son’s death was not in vain:That as a result of Liburd’s slaying,a dangerous man will not “makeanother mother go through whatI’m going through.”

That has yet to happen.

A man turned himself in justbefore Liburd died from the gun-shot wounds. The man was chargedwith murder, but after a witnessrefused to testify, the V.I. JusticeDepartment dropped the case.

Bassue describes herself as a per-son who goes on with her daily life,making jokes, laughing and merry— on the surface.

“But deep down that pain is there.It’s a pain you can’t understandunless you go through it.”

Yoki Hanley knows that pain.

Her common-law husband, 44-year-old Francisco Martinez, wasgunned down in April 2004 afterreturning to St. Croix from a fishingtrip with two friends.

Martinez was accosted by gun-men when he went outside hisfriend’s Estate La Reine home tocheck on some equipment.

The shotgun-wielding assailantsfired at Martinez’ legs to stop himfrom running away. Then they fin-ished him off with a high-caliberhandgun, Hanley said.

“This is a family that was

destroyed,” she said. “My daughterhas to grow up learning about herfather from her siblings.”

Hanley has heard many rumorsabout Martinez’s death, includingthat he was soon to testify in courtabout a robbery he had witnessed.

Hanley does not know anythingabout that. She was pregnant at thetime and thinks her husband did notwant to burden her with that infor-m a t i o n .

“Every day, I walk on the streetand I’m wondering if this is the per-son that killed him,” Hanley said.

Police have provided very little

information about the investigationor Martinez’s involvement in othercases, she said. She described herefforts to stay informed as a “publicbattle” with the police commission-e r .

Someday, she will have to tell herchildren — including the 2-year-oldgirl who never got to meet her father— what happened to Martinez.

“At least when that time comes,there won’t be an ending that’smissing to that sad story,” she said.

“It’s not going to bring him back,but at least it would bring me somedegree of peace.”

Evelyn Jackson also seeks thatkind of peace.

Most Sundays after church, shestops to visit her son Leon’s grave.

Jackson knows nothing will bringher beloved son — who was mur-dered in 1998 — back to her, butshe prays for justice.

The detective handling the casetold her that the authorities knowwho murdered Leon Jackson, butthey cannot prosecute the killer

because witnesses are unwilling tot e s t i f y .

Jackson still believes justice willc o m e .

“Blood is very heavy,” Jacksonsaid.

The sister of 21-year-old homi-cide victim Throphilus Breedy sawjustice, but not in the way she hadhoped.

Decima Ettienne was devastated

when her brother’s best friend wasacquitted of murdering him in coldblood at a Smith Bay nightclub.

But the defendant, RichardFahie Jr., did not stay a free manfor long.

A month after a jury found Fahienot guilty of first-degree murder,he shot another man 10 times, per-manently paralyzing him.

The testimony of the wheelchair-

bound victim helped convict Fahieof attempted murder, and Fahie wassentenced to 30 years in prison.

The circumstances of that casestir mixed emotions for Breedy’sf a m i l y .

“We didn’t get justice for mybrother,” Ettienne said, reflectingon Fahie’s verdicts.

She then added, “I’m just happynow he’s off the street.”

VICTIMSCONTINUED FROM PAGE S-6

VICTIMSCONTINUED FROM PAGE S-8

Daily News Photo by MICHAEL POTTER

Nekisha Isaac cherishes photos of her slain brother at her home in Oswald Harris Court housing community. Ashsha Isaac, 20,was found dead of a single gunshot to the head near his OHC home on Nov. 3, 2004.

Jamall Richards was slain in broaddaylight on J’ouvert morning in 2005. Atleft, his brother, Colin Harvey; mother,Parima Harvey; and sister, Lesa Warner,try to cope with news of his death.Daily News Photo by SEAN McCOYSee VICTIMS, next page


The cousin of murder victim Hakem Salem, 27, learns of his shooting death on Commandant Gade in May 2001.





“Every day, I walk on the streetand I’m wondering if this

is the person that killed him.”— Yoki Hanley, widow of Francisco Martinez

S - 1 1C y a nM a g e n t aY e l l o wB l a c kS - 1 0C y a nM a g e n t aY e l l o wB l a c k


M AY 2001

1 0 — Morris Dion Benjamin , 33, wasambushed and shot multiple times

at close range while in the driver’sseat of a car in Estate Profit, St.

C r o i x .

2 2 — Hakem Salem , 27, was shot todeath on Commandant Gade, St.

T h o m a s .

JUNE 2001

3 — Jessie Rogers , 17, was fatally

shot by police in his St. Croixbedroom after he refused to drop a

kitchen knife he had used tothreaten his mother.

1 2 — Eduardo Marrerro , 28, wasfatally shot by a masked gunman in

broad daylight while sitting in the

passenger seat of a car parked inCastle Coakley, St. Croix.

2 8 — Shelton Bess , 24, was shot todeath after three different

encounters with a rival during anafternoon fracas on the street in

Campo Rico, St. Croix.

J U LY 2001

1 4 — Raphael Santana , 21, was

fatally shot by an off-duty V.I. PortAuthority police officer on St.

Thomas after Santana caught theofficer with his ex-girlfriend.

2 8 — Jan Mary Hooper , 39, was

bludgeoned to death in her ex-husband’s Catherine’s Hope estate

on St. Croix.

AUGUST 2001

5 — Hilton Johnson , 25, was pushed

through a Kmart window inFredricksted, St. Croix, then fatally

beaten and stabbed.

2 6 — Kaunda Bryan , 25, the son of

Sen. Adelbert Bryan, was shot todeath after an argument during a

horse race in Betty’s Hope, St. Croix.

SEPTEMBER 2001

8 — Miguel Lebron , 27, was stabbed

to death with a shank in the V.I.prison at Golden Grove, St. Croix.

2 6 — Malik Callwood , 19, was found

shot to death in the passenger seatof a rented car parked Frydenhoj, St.

T h o m a s .

2 8 — David Eric Medina Diaz w a s

shot and killed by a police officer whochased him from Estate La Reine to

Kingshill Cemetery in St. Croix.

OCTOBER 2001

1 5 — A newborn baby was found

suffocated in a clothes hamper inPaul M. Pearson Gardens housing

community, St. Thomas.

OCTOBER 20011 9 — Dimitri Schlessinger , 45, was

found fatally shot after someonebroke in to his home in Mandahl,

St. Thomas.

NOVEMBER 20012 — Alphonso Blyden III , 12, was shot

dead in the St. Joseph and Rosendal,St. Thomas, home of a woman who

was a friend of his mother’s.

1 2 — Marlon Lambertis , 18, waskilled in a drive-by shooting on a

street in Contant Knolls, St. Thomas.

1 3 — Leander Smith , 32, was

gunned down outside CharlesHarwood Clinic, St. Croix.

1 7 — Maria Victoria Santos , 28, was

shot to death at Marley housingcommunity, St. Croix.

2 8 — Nashaun Van Holten was shot

to death at his home on Goat Street,St. Thomas.

DECEMBER 20017 — Egbert Francis , 24, was shot

dead outside his Hospital Ground,

St. Thomas home.

1 5 — Clement Smith , 20, wasstabbed to death in the neck during

a brawl with another man in EmileGriffith Park, St. Thomas.

1 9 — Rasheem Todman , 2, waskicked to death in his mother’s Tutu

Hi-Rise apartment on St. Thomas.

2 6 — Kenrick Mason , 26, a securityguard, was shot dead outside the

Cost-U-Less on St. Thomas.

3 0 — Rudolph Fleming , 20, was shotto death while driving through

S a v a n .

JANUARY 20022 4 — Kirby Charles , 21, was fatally

shot by a police officer after hewandered into the officer’s yard on

St. Croix.

FEBRUARY 20027 — Ignatius Charles , 32, was killed

in a drive-by shooting after giving hisco-worker a ride to her home in

Estate Nazareth, St. Thomas.

9 — Darien “Oots” Gumbs , 23, wasfatally shot amid a group of men in a

home on Lower KronprindsensGade, St. Thomas.

1 1 — Ray Seales , 47, was killed in adrive-by shooting near a Diamond

Crest gas station on St. Croix.

1 1 — Julian Kline was fatally shotonce in the chest by a lone gunman

who burst into his home in HospitalGround, St. Thomas.

2 0 — Donald Lewis , 31, was fatally

shot while playing video gamesoutside the Harbour View housing

community, St. Croix.


, 22, was shot in the head onJan. 5, and he later died of his wounds.

Gomez was in a coma when investigatorsfound him hanging out of a stolen car in theRalph de Chabert housing community of St.Croix. He was wearing a stocking mask and bul-letproof vest.

No weapons were found on Gomez or in thevehicle, but other evidence suggested anexchange of gunfire. Police suspect Gomez wasplanning on carrying out a drive-by shooting justbefore he was gunned down.

A 22-year-old man was caught in the crossfireand was wounded but survived.

No one has been arrested or charged. ■ ■ ■

, 88, died Jan. 9,after being beaten on Nov. 30, 1998, in herDiamond Ruby home.

A 33-year-old man was arrested that eveningand charged with hitting Gumbs with a cane,injuring her head and eyes. Prosecutors later dis-missed the case.

No one else has been arrested or charged.■ ■ ■

, 22, was shot dead on Jan.27. His body was found slouched over in the dri-ver’s seat of a car parked partially off the roadbetween Red Hook and Sapphire Beach on St.T h o m a s .

He was struck by at least four bullets to thehead, neck and forearm.

No one has been arrested or charged.■ ■ ■

, 22, was fatally stabbedJan. 31 after a series of altercations inside andoutside a nightclub in Ville La Reine ShoppingCenter on St. Croix.

Police arrested Shane Valmont and chargedhim with stabbing Fitzgerald, who was abystander trying to calm another young maninvolved in the fight.

Charges against Valmont were dropped before

his case went to trial. No one else has been arrested or charged.

■ ■ ■

, 24, was fatally struck in the facewith a pool cue on April 10 inside the MilagrosaBar on Company Street in Christiansted.

Cruz, a resident of the John F. Kennedy hous-ing community, fell into a coma after the 11 p.m.attack. He died the next day.


was fatally shot once in theback of the head amid a crowd of people cele-brating Carnival the morning of April 27.

Dozens of police officers were in the vicinityof Carnival Village when gunmen opened firejust 18 feet from the stage where a band wasp l a y i n g .

Two other men were wounded in the shooting.Two suspects were questioned, released, then

arrested a year later. The charges were droppedbefore trial.

A third man was named in an arrest warrant,but remains at large.

No one else has been arrested or charged.■ ■ ■

, 60, died from a single gunshotwound to the head just past midnight on May 31in Sub Base, St. Thomas.

Dennis was shot after he got out of a vehiclethat he parked near V.I. Water and PowerAuthority tanks. A woman who stayed inside thecar reported that she heard two gunshots.


, 41, was founddead on July 18, floating in his Estate Mafolie, St.Thomas swimming pool.

After an autopsy revealed Hudson-Grimmet’sinjuries were inconsistent with a fall, the deathwas reclassified as a homicide.


, 60, was shotdead on Aug. 4 during an armed robbery at theToad and Tart pub in Smith Bay on St. Thomas.

Lusby was a patron in the bar when twoteenagers entered, walked to the bartender and,showing a pistol, demanded cash.

The two got $300 and as they headed backtoward the door, Lusby accidentally touched oneof them. The robber turned and shot Lusby in thechest, then ran out and jumped into a waiting carand sped away.


was killed before midnight onSept. 16 near the derelict Michelle Motel, a for-mer government-run residence in Contant, St.Thomas, for the mentally ill.

Gumbs had been shot twice, once in the backand once in the mouth.


, 26, was shot in the head, shoul-der, back and foot on Dec. 11 in the Barren Spotarea of St. Croix.

An unidentified man drove Felix to LuisHospital in the back of a pickup truck and lefthim there.

Felix, a resident of Ralph de Chabert housingcommunity, was pronounced dead at the hospital.


, 20, was shot in the headDec. 28 in the Sugar Estate neighborhood on St.Thomas. He later died in the intensive care unitof Schneider Hospital while friends and familygathered outside the emergency room.

Donastorg, a graduate of Charlotte AmalieHigh School, had been working as a lineman forthe V.I. Water and Power Authority.

A minor was arrested and charged as an adult,then the charges were dismissed.

No one else has been arrested or charged.

, 45, had been missing sinceFeb. 21 when a man walking his dog on June12 found Daniel’s remains in a shallow gravenear the Campo Rico Beach on St. Croix.

Daniel, 45, was last seen at the Pier 69Restaurant in Frederiksted. Three days later,his rented Ford Taurus was found burned onCreque Dam Road in Mount Victory. Policesearched for Daniel primarily in the dam area,speculating he might have been killed anddumped into the reservoir’s deep, murkyw a t e r s .

An analysis of Daniel’s skull revealed hesuffered trauma to the head.


, 40, was discoveredbleeding profusely from the head on April 3near his home in downtown Christiansted, St.Croix, and he died from the head wounds.

Investigators found a two-by-four section ofwood broken in two in Petersen’s apartment.One of the pieces of wood was stained withb l o o d .


was shot three times

in the shoulders and back on July 20 near JaneE. Tuitt Elementary School in Savan on St.T h o m a s .

Emergency workers and police foundCallwood lying face down in a pool of blood onthe basketball court near the school. They tookCallwood to Schneider Hospital. He later diedat the hospital, but a lack of communicationbetween hospital administrators and police ledinvestigators to believe he survived the attackand to classify the incident as an assault.


was gunneddown by a man who opened fire shortly aftermidnight on Sept. 5 at the Fireman’s Bar onKronprindsen’s Gade, St. Thomas. Anotherman was wounded in the attack.

The two victims were in a group of peopleinside the bar when rapid gunfire rang out fromthe doorway, prompting patrons to drop to thef l o o r .

Magras was shot in his stomach, leg andupper thigh. He died at Schneider Hospital.


was killed Oct. 29 at the

Central Guest House on St. Thomas.

Warner, armed with two guns, broke into aroom and began fighting with a man who wasthere with a woman. That man may havewrested a gun from Warner and shot him.Another man was wounded by a stray bulletfired during the fight.

Warner recently had been acquitted of mur-der but convicted on weapons charges. He wasscheduled to be sentenced the day after he waskilled.


was fatally shot near theRed Ball Grocery in Savan, St. Thomas onDec. 6.

Wheatley, 22, who had lived nearly all ofhis life with his grandmother on GyllingsStreet, died after undergoing emergencysurgery at Schneider Hospital.

Police investigating a report of gunshotsnear General Gade found Wheatley lying onthe ground with a single bullet wound to hisa b d o m e n .

No one has been arrested or charged.

■ ■ ■

was killed in the earlymorning hours of Jan. 27 in a quiet Mandahl, St.Thomas, neighborhood.

About 1 a.m., Satorie’s neighbor drove up tohis home and found a strange car in the drive-way. Someone in the car started yelling at himto get out of the way. Then a man on the pas-senger side got out of the car and began shoot-ing at him. Satorie ran down the hill and called911. When police arrived, they found Satorie,19, slumped in the driver’s seat of that car. He

had been shot in the head.

Satorie underwent surgery but never regainedconsciousness and died 10 hours after thea t t a c k .

Nearby residents said they heard eight to 10shots fired.


was walking with his girl-friend behind a car wash in Contant, St.Thomas, on April 12 when gunfire rang out.

Cerio, 21, was shot five times in the leg andtorso. He died just before reaching SchneiderH o s p i t a l .

No one has been arrested or charged.

■ ■ ■

was shot dead on Dec. 31while sitting with her former boyfriend, IanTracy, in a car parked on a road at Green CayPlantation, St. Thomas. Tracy, who was homefrom college on a break, became the prime sus-pect in the case.

Murder charges against the former AntillesSchool senior class president later were dis-missed after DNA evidence processed by theFBI indicated the presence of another person atthe crime scene.

No one else has been arrested or charged inthe crime.

See Unsolved in 2000, next page

UNSOLVED IN 2000CONTINUED FROM PAGE S-10

T he definition of homicide is one personkilling another. Some homicides areconsidered justifiable — meaning that

the person who used deadly force did so legal-ly, as in a case of self-defense.

Law enforcement officers — on-duty oroff-duty — sometimes are forced to kill thosewho threaten them, their fellow officers, or thepublic. Other times they recklessly abuse theirpower. In some instances, they commit mur-d e r .

In reviewing homicides by police, investi-gators must determine:

• Whether the officers acted within thedepartment’s standard procedures and poli-c i e s .

• Whether the officers made mistakes thatled to an unnecessary death.

• Whether the officers were justified in tak-ing a life.

The following are homicides by police dur-ing the seven years since January 1999.

The Police Department has refused to iden-tify most of the officers who committed thehomicides. No officers have been chargedwith homicide.

1 9 9 9, 45, was fatally shot by a

police officer on the Red Hook ferry dock onSt. Thomas on Nov. 7. Police describedBarrott as a “known mental patient.” The offi-cer, whom police refuse to name, fired sevenbullets into Barrott after Barrott fired a flaregun at the officer. Attorney General IverStridiron rebuked the officer for using “poortactics” but did not prosecute him. Barrott wasa victim of police use of deadly force 10 yearsearlier, in 1989, when a police officer shot himin the stomach in Stridiron’s private lawoffice.

2 0 0 0, 25, was fatally shot

once in the chest on Dec. 18 by an off-duty offi-cer at a St. Croix bar. Police said Nesbitt left thebar after an argument with a woman, went tohis car and returned with a sword. He cut theofficer’s hand, prompting the officer to fire.

2 0 0 1, 21, was fatally shot on

St. Thomas on July 14 by an off-duty V.I. PortAuthority police officer. Santana had caughtthe officer with his ex-girlfriend before thes h o o t i n g .

■ ■ ■

, 17, was fatally shot bypolice in his St. Croix bedroom on June 3 after

he refused to drop a kitchen knife that he hadused to threaten his mother. She called police,and when officers arrived, Rogers came atthem with the knife, police said.

■ ■ ■

was shot andkilled by a police officer who chased him fromEstate La Reine to Kingshill Cemetery in St.Croix on Sept. 28. The officer said that Diaz,who was unarmed, lunged at him while hishands were obscured by a jacket and that hethought Diaz might have had a weapon.

2 0 0 2, a 21-year-old mentally ill

man, wandered into the St. Croix backyard ofpolice Sgt. Ricky Hernandez on Jan. 24, andHernandez shot and killed him. Hernandezsaid he approached Charles with his gundrawn and a struggle ensued. Charles’ familydisputes that version of events.

■ ■ ■

, 31, was nude andunarmed on April 26 when Police OfficerAlfredo Cruz shot him to death on DorschBeach in Frederiksted. Heywood had beenswimming naked at the beach, and a touristcomplained to police. Cruz said that Heywoodemerged from the water and advanced on him.The officer shot Heywood five times. Publicdemonstrations demanded prosecution of theofficer, but Attorney General Iver Stridirondecided not to charge Cruz, leading to furtherpublic outcry and protests.

2 0 0 3, 49, was shot and killed

by a police officer on Jan. 17 after he got intoan unlocked patrol car, and, police said, droveit at officers who were investigating a report ofan activated burglar alarm at a house in NorthStar Village, St. Thomas.

■ ■ ■

, 26, died at Vendors Plaza,

St. Thomas, in a hail of police gunfire thatwounded another officer on March 8.Witnesses said officers surrounded Diaz, whowas wielding a knife, in the middle of the plazajust a few yards away from children practicingfor a Carnival parade. Witnesses said severalofficers fired at Diaz after they surrounded him.

■ ■ ■

, 41, a well-known automechanic, was shot and killed by PoliceOfficer George Greene in Lockhart’s home onRaphune Hill on Aug. 12. Police said Lockharthad gotten into an argument with his wife, whocalled police. The officer said Lockhartapproached the officer with “what appeared tobe a long-barrel handgun in his hand.” Theofficer fired two rounds. One bullet struckLockhart in the chest, and Lockhart died enroute to the hospital.

2 0 0 4was felled by a police

officer’s bullet after the Anna’s Retreat manwent on a murderous rampage in the Anna’sRetreat and Smith Bay areas, attackingstrangers at random, on Nov. 14. During theapproximately two hour rampage, Wilkinsoncarried an 18-inch double-bladed knife, whichhe used to kill 15-year-old Denroy Corbett,wound two other people and threaten thepolice officers.

2 0 0 6, 17, was fatally shot by

Police Officer Kendelth Wharton on June 23during a stolen property sting in HospitalGround. Police said Caines approachedWharton’s unmarked vehicle near LionelRoberts Stadium and pulled a gun on theundercover officer, then demanded money atgunpoint. Witnesses nearby at a basketballcourt said they did not hear the officer give awarning before he opened fire.

DonnaHeywoodprotests the2002 fatalshooting ofher brother,TerranceHeywood,by a policeofficer.

Daily News Photoby CRISTIAN SIMESCU





“Blood is very heavy.”— Evelyn Jackson, mother of Leon Jackson, whose 1998 murder is still unsolved

UN S O LV E D M U R D E R S I N T H E VI R G I N IS L A N D S 2 0 0 0

UN S O LV E D M U R D E R S I N T H E VI R G I N IS L A N D S 1 9 9 9“Witness participation is directly correlated with the faith and trust

the community has in their police department.”— John Sullivan, nationally recognized expert on law enforcement

Police uses of deadly force stir simmering contro v e r s y



MARCH 20021 2 — Clayton Laurent , 39, was

stabbed to death outside his home

on the East End of St. Thomas.1 9 — Susana Sanchez , 42, was

stabbed to death in a bar on LowerKronprindsens Gade, St. Thomas.

26 — Francisco Donato , 23, was

gunned down while standing in acrowd in the Market Square area of

St. Thomas.

APRIL 20022 — Delroy Henry , 39, was shot and

killed at an intersection in


20 — Ianthe MacThomas , 51, wasfatally shot in the head and buried

under a tree in her yard in EstateFortuna, St. Thomas.

26 — Terrance Heywood , 31, wasnude and unarmed when fatally

shot by a police officer on DorschBeach, St. Croix.

29 — Alliston “Grim” Francis , 17,was stabbed in the head, chest and

hand during the final night ofChildren’s Village on St. Thomas.

MAY 20026 — Jermaine “Fat Cat” Brown , 18,

was shot to death on the steps

behind the Lt. Governor’s office indowntown Charlotte Amalie, St.

Thomas.13 — Irad Frett Jr. , 20, was killed in

a shooting outside the cock-fightingpit on Brookman Road, St. Thomas.

13 — Dariel Wheatley , 41, was killed

in a drive-by shooting as she wasleaving a laundromat on Garden

Street, St. Thomas.13 — Kintay Charles , 18, was killed

in a hail of gunfire while playingdominoes on a porch on Brookman

Road, St. Thomas.16 — Melea Pownell , 3, suffered

physical abuse most of her life andwas beaten to death in her

mother’s home in Altona andWelgunst, St. Thomas.

JUNE 20028 — Edwin “Miller” Velasquez , 37,

was found shot to death in Cane

Carlton, St. Croix.16 — George Anduze , 30, was shot

dead in downtown Christiansted,St. Croix.

21 — Kirk Lawrence , 18, a prime

suspect in the murder of GeorgeAnduze was fatally shot in the head

in the Times Square area of St.Croix.

JULY 20021 2 — John Bentick died three days

after being assaulted by amentally-ill homeless man inside

his shop in Christiansted, St. Croix.

JULY 20021 4 — Warrington George , 36, was

fatally shot behind a cargo

container in a field next to KeanHigh School, St. Thomas.

2 3 — Sylvia Byrd , 35, mother of 3-year-old Melea Pownell, who was

beaten to death two months earlier,

was shot three times in the head infront of her home in Altona and

Welgunst, St. Thomas.

A U G U S T 20028 — Leroy “Tyrene” Williams , 22, was

gunned down in front of Hidden Valley

housing community on St. Thomas.

5 — Chamonie Miller , 26, a casinoblackjack dealer, was killed by a blow

to the head and her car wassubmerged in Krause Lagoon near

H O V E N S A on St. Croix.

2 9 — Jose William Torres , 27, was

shot dead near D.H. Jackson Housingcommunity in Christiansted, St. Croix.

3 1 — Glen Williams , 37, was shotseveral times in the Estate La Reine

area, St. Croix.

SEPTEMBER 20022 — Travis Poleon , 21, was abducted

and shot dead in the lower area ofAgnes Fancy, St. Thomas.

5 — Jose Garcia , 19, was fatally shotin the head in the Harvey housing

community, St. Croix.

1 0 — Walston Tonge , 33, was gunned

down in the D. Hamilton Jackson


1 8 — Dan’l Liburd , 24, was fatally

wounded on his daughter’s firstbirthday in a walk-up shooting in the

Kirwan Terrace housing community,St. Thomas.

2 5 — Rose Ovalle , 33, was fatally shotduring a robbery at her convenience

store in Calquohoun, St. Croix.

OCTOBER 20021 2 — Noel Rivera , 27, was found dead

in an abandoned car in Frederiksted,St. Croix.

1 9 — Juan Julio Rivera , 19, died of asingle gunshot wound to the back in

Paradise Mills housing community,St. Croix.

2 5 — Ricky Maxwell , 24, was shot in

the Paradise Mills housingcommunity, St. Croix.

2 8 — Emmanuel Lee , a 58-year-old taxidriver, was shot to death after four

passengers attempted to rob himnear Christiansted, St. Croix.

2 9 — Jonathan Almestica , 19, wasshot dead in the Campo Rico, St.

Croix area.

2 9 — Khoy Smith , 23, was found

fatally shot in the back behind theTutu Hi-Rise housing community, St.

T h o m a s .

See HOMICIDES, next pageSee HOMICIDES, next page



was stabbed in the heart at aBellview, St. Thomas, construction site on Jan. 3.A fight broke out about 2:45 p.m. and a con-struction supervisor broke it up. Then one of themen fighting went to his car, returned with aknife and plunged it into Beaton’s chest. He theneluded capture.

Beaton, 37, died at Schneider Hospital.No one has been arrested or charged with

killing Beaton.■ ■ ■

was found dead sit-ting in her car, with her hands folded across herstomach, at Lindqvist Beach, St. Thomas, onFeb. 3.

That morning, more than 50 people had fannedout over the beach during a cleanup campaign.One noticed Vanterpool, 51, but thought she wassimply napping. Another person reported seeingher attempt to back up her car.

Forensics officers found four bullet holes inthe car.

None of the people who participated in thebeach cleanup reported hearing gunshots, leadingpolice to theorize Vanterpool may have drivenherself to the beach after she was shot.

Vanterpool, who had a history of mental ill-ness, had been living in her car at the time ofd e a t h .

No one has been arrested or charged withVanterpool’s death.

■ ■ ■

, owner of a watersports equip-ment rental business at Coki Point Beach, wasshot dead in Hospital Ground, St. Thomas.

Jeffers, 32, was found March 5 near the gutadjacent to Building 1 of the Bergs Home hous-ing community. He had been shot once in theabdomen and the window of his station wagonhad been blown out by gunfire.

Jeffers, a native of St. Kitts, had been arrestedearlier in the year. Police said he stripped nakedon Veterans Drive and started pounding onparked cars with his fists. He led police on a footchase before jumping in the harbor. He wasarrested later that night at Mandela Circle, wherehe fought hard enough to send one officer to theh o s p i t a l .

No one has been arrested or charged withJeffers’ murder.

■ ■ ■

, who lived in a shanty onVester Gade, was shot once in the back, once inthe hip and once in the right temple on March 23in Savan, St. Thomas.

Furlong, 25, had survived four gunshots justmonths before the fatal attack.

No one has been arrested or charged withFurlong’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 22, was found on April 25,shot to death in the driver’s seat of a car parkedon a road leading to WGOD radio station.

A caller notified police that it appeared a maninside the car was dead.

No one has been arrested or charged withColon’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 30, was killed in a drive-byshooting on April 30 along Commandant Gade,St. Thomas.

His body was found lying in the back of a pick-up truck parked in front of a bar along the street.

No one has been arrested or charged withBess’ murder.

■ ■ ■

, 27, was shot dead May 22 inCharlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, in the driver’s seatof a white Pontiac parked in front of a nightclubon Commandant Gade. A single bullet had hit

him above his eye. No one has been arrested or charged with

Salem’s murder.■ ■ ■

was gunned down inbroad daylight on June 12 in Castle Coakley, St.C r o i x .

He was shot multiple times by a lone maskedgunman while he was sitting in the passenger seatof a car outside an auto parts store, where he hadgone on a job errand.

Police believe Marrerro, 28, was murderedbecause the killer could not get at his primetarget — Marrerro’s older brother, Anthony,who was jailed at the time in Puerto Rico.Anthony Marrerro had been identified as asuspect in the killing of Dion Benjamin, whowas shot dead in the D. Hamilton Jacksonhousing community.

Eduardo Marrerro, fearing for his safety, hadleft St. Croix for New Jersey shortly after he andthree others were arrested in connection with the1999 raid of a hotel room where drugs and gunswere confiscated.

He later returned to St. Croix and was killedjust days before he was scheduled to go on trialon gun charges.

No one has been arrested or charged withEduardo Marrerro’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 39, was found deadearly in the morning of July 28 at her ex-hus-band’s $4 million Catherine’s Hope estate on St.C r o i x .

An autopsy determined Hooper was killed bymultiple blows to the back of the head with ablunt object.

Hooper was living at Peppertree Terrace buthad been staying with her ex-husband, AlanZinaman, the week up to her death. Police saidthe pair retired to separate rooms the night beforeHooper was found dead. Zinaman found his ex-wife unconscious the next morning.

At the time of the homicide, Zinaman’s girl-friend was in jail and facing assault chargesbecause of what police said was an attempt tostab Zinaman and Hooper.

No one has been arrested or charged withHooper’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 25, was stabbed to death onAug. 5, in the parking lot of the Kmart inFrederiksted, St. Croix.

A woman told police that Johnson had struckher in the face without provocation that eveningoutside the store.

She said she told her boyfriend about theassault. Investigators suspect that the boyfriendand his friend went back to the store and stabbedJohnson in the chest and stomach.

Murder charges against the two men weredropped because of lack of evidence.

No one else has been arrested or charged withJohnson’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was fatally shot in the chestAug. 26 during a dispute at an impromptu horserace in the Betty’s Hope area of St. Croix.

Bryan, 25, the son of former Sen. AdelbertBryan, was pronounced dead at Luis Hospital,where he was taken in a private vehicle after thes h o o t i n g .

People had congregated at a Texaco station fora horse race in which bettors wagered on mixed-breed or stray horses. Witnesses told police oneman brandished a machine gun and kept a crowdof people at bay while Bryan was shot.

Three men were charged with the murder. A jury found them all not guilty.No one else has been arrested or charged with

Bryan’s murder.■ ■ ■

, 19, was fatally shot in thehead, and his body was found Sept. 26 in the pas-senger seat of a rented car parked in Frydenhoj,St. Thomas. A .44-caliber Magnum was in hisl a p .

No one has been arrested or charged withCallwood’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, an architect, was shotdead on Oct. 19 in a house in Mandahl, St.T h o m a s .

Investigators believe a robber broke into thehouse and shot the Schlessinger.

No one has been arrested or charged withSchlessinger’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was killed Nov. 12 inContant Knolls, St. Thomas, when gunmanpulled up to a stoop in a red Honda, approachedLambertis, began to fight with him and shot himonce in the abdomen.

Lambertis died during surgery.Ginjah Elmes, 21 and Jamaal Stevens, 20,

were charged with killing Lambertis. A juryfound them not guilty.

No one else has been arrested or charged withLambertis’ murder.

■ ■ ■

was gunned down Nov. 13outside the Charles Harwood Clinic on St. Croix.

Smith, 32, was near a grocery store just acrossthe street from the Estate Richmond clinic whenhe was approached by three people wearingmasks and carrying what witnesses described ashigh-powered rifles. The gunmen shot Smith inthe face and left side.

After Smith was shot, he got into a car andstarted driving, but soon lost control and crashedinto a car and a truck parked at the clinic.

The gunmen’s vehicle — which had tintedwindows and no license plates — matched thedescription of one used in two drive-by shootingsjust days before the fatal attack on Smith.

No one has been arrested or charged withSmith’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was gunned downDec. 7 by a pair of gunmen outside his HospitalGround, St. Thomas home.

Francis, 42, a taxi driver, was ambushed by thetwo armed men after parking his vehicle andwalking toward his house.

Both men fired, hitting Francis with threes h o t s .

No one has been arrested or charged withFrancis’ murder.

■ ■ ■

, 20, died on Dec. 15 afterbeing stabbed twice in the neck. Witnesses saidSmith and a man were arguing behind EmileGriffith Park, on St. Thomas, and the manattacked Smith.

No one has been arrested or charged withSmith’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was shot multiple times infront of Cost-U-Less on St. Thomas in the mid-dle of the night on Dec. 26.

Police believe that Mason, 26, who was work-ing as a security guard, was shot by robbersattempting to enter the store.

After being shot, Mason managed to get him-self into his mini-van and begin driving for help,but he succumbed to his wounds and the van ranoff the road.

No one has been arrested or charged withMason’s murder.

Cold case squad could reinvigorate old murder pro b e s

was fatally shot the nightof Feb. 7 outside his co-worker’s front door inEstate Nazareth, St. Thomas.

Charles, 32, who was giving the co-worker aride home, was followed from his job at WesternAuto by another car.

The co-worker entered her house, then heardtwo gunshots and ran outside. She found Charleslying on the ground with two gunshot wounds.

No one has been arrested or charged withCharles’ murder.

■ ■ ■

, 47, was shot once in the chestearly in the morning of Feb. 11 near a service sta-tion in Diamond Crest Shopping Center on St.C r o i x .

Several people outside the gas station heard asingle gunshot, then saw a vehicle speed away.

No one has been arrested or charged withSeales’ murder.

■ ■ ■

was fatally shot once in thechest by a lone gunman who burst into hisHospital Ground, St. Thomas home on Feb. 11.

Kline’s brother was in the room but did notprovide a detailed description of the assailant.

No one has been arrested or charged withKline’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was shot dead on Feb. 19 inthe Harbour View housing community on St.C r o i x .

Witnesses said two gunmen opened fire on acrowd, missing their intended target but fatallywounding Lewis, 31.

Two men were charged with the murder, butthe cases were dismissed without prejudicebecause witnesses refused to testify.

No one else has been arrested or charged withLewis’ murder.

■ ■ ■

, 23, was killed March 26

when someone fired about a dozen shots into acrowd at Market Square, St. Thomas.

Three other people were injured in the after-noon shooting.

No one has been arrested or charged withDonato’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was found dead, lying face-down at the intersection of Hill and Marketstreets in Christiansted, St. Croix, on the morningof April 2. Henry, 32, had been shot five times:four bullets struck his back and one struck theback of his head.

No one has been arrested or charged withHenry’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 18, was shot to death onMay 6 on the steps behind the LieutenantGovernor’s Office building on Government Hill,St. Thomas.

Witnesses said they heard about eight gun-shots, then saw Brown lying face down in a poolof blood.

No one has been arrested or charged withBrown’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 20, was shot dead next to thecockfighting pit on Brookman Road on St.Thomas on May 13.

A large crowd was inside the pit watching acockfight and many people were milling aroundoutside in the middle of the afternoon when theshooting, the first of what became known as the“Mother’s Day Massacre,” occurred.

No one has been arrested or charged withFrett’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was struck in a drive-byshooting on May 13 as she walked out of a laun-dromat on Garden Street, St. Thomas.

Wheatley, 41, was a single mother of six.Police believe she was simply in the line of fire

when the shooters sprayed bullets at someoneelse, possibly someone they blamed for the mur-der of Irad Frett a few hours earlier at the cock-fighting pit.

No one has been arrested or charged withWheatley’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 19, was shot to death in aMay 13 drive-by hail of gunfire as he sat on thefront porch of his Brookman Road, St. Thomashome, across from the cockfighting pit whereIrad Frett was slain a few hours earlier.

Charles and three friends were playing domi-noes when a car sped up and someone inside thecar opened fire. All four people on the porchwere shot; the other three survived.

Police said at the time they believed the drive-by shooting was retaliation for the stabbing deathof Kean High School student Aliston “Grim”Francis, a few weeks earlier at the CarnivalChildren’s Village. Police said Charles andFrancis were in rival groups.

No one has been arrested or charged withCharles’ murder.

■ ■ ■

, 37, was found dead inthe Cane Carlton area of St. Croix on June 8 afterlast being seen May 30 in Frederiksted. His bodywas discovered in a shallow grave by childrenwalking with their dogs.

Velasquez’s car was found burned about ahalf-mile from Campo Rico beach. Velasquezhad been convicted on federal drug traffickingc h a r g e s .

An autopsy determined he was killed by a bul-let to the head.

Family members identified Velazquez’s bodyby a tattoo on his arm.

No one has been arrested or charged withVelasquez’s murder.

By JOSEPH TSIDULKO

Staff Writer

Every new murder piles afresh case file on top ofolder ones. The more old,

unsolved cases a police depart-ment has, the bigger the pile.

In the Virgin Islands, that stackof cases is high because mosthomicide investigations run intodead ends: forensic evidence isinsufficient, witnesses refuse tocooperate, leads are exhausted —whatever the reason, a case goes“cold” and instead of ending upin a courtroom, it is put aside andgathers dust next to others like it.

Seasoned detectives say thatmost homicides are solved withinthe first few days after the crime,when evidence and memories arefresh and killers are prone tomaking mistakes.

However, while days may bethe enemy of a homicide investi-gator, years may be his ally.Sometimes, the passage of timecreates new opportunities andreveals new avenues for detec-

tives, according to V.I. JusticeDepartment Special AgentWilliam Curtis.

For that reason, most majorlaw enforcement agencies, and anever-increasing number of small-er jurisdictions, have created“cold case squads” to reopen andrenew the investigations into old,unsolved homicides.

Witnesses who once wereintimidated may be less afraid tocooperate years later.

“Since a period of time haspassed, people may be more will-ing to talk to you,” Curtis said.

Forensic techniques — such asDNA analysis — not availableduring the original investigationcome into common practice andcan provide new leads.

Sometimes suspects, burdened

by years of guilt, confess tocrimes they committed whenyounger, Curtis said.

Curtis has been working since2002 to create a cold case squadwithin the Justice Department.His plan is to staff the unit withseasoned detectives recruitedfrom the V.I. Police Departmentor U.S. mainland police depart-m e n t s .

He envisions two agents on St.Croix and two on St. Thomasclosely working with prosecu-t o r s .

Police Commissioner EltonLewis also has expressed interestin dedicating a group of detec-tives to work cold cases.

Lewis said he has discussedthe topic with U.S. AttorneyAnthony Jenkins and hopes the

Police Department and U.S.Department of Justice can com-bine efforts for such a squad.

In a cold case squad, detectivespull out old homicide files —sometimes going back 10 yearsor more — and on first pass thedetectives review and prioritizecases with the concept of “solv-ability” in mind, Curtis said.

They consider several factors,including how well evidence hasbeen preserved, the availabilityof witnesses and the impact theparticular crime had on the com-munity, Curtis said.

Once the detectives decide acase has potential, they “work ituntil they solve it,” Curtis said.

“It’s like an old puzzle you’vegot to dust off and put the piecestogether,” he said.

Funding a cold case squad’sfirst year of operation would costthe government about $345,000,but the cost for subsequent yearsshould be lower, Curtis estimated.

— Contact Joseph Tsidulko at

774-8772 ext. 332 or e-mail

j t s i d u l k o @ d a i l y n e w s . v i .

“It’s like an old puzzleyou’ve got to dust off

and put the pieces together.”— Special Agent William Curtis,

V.I. Justice Department

See UNSOLVED IN 2002, next page







N O V E M B E R 20021 1 — Stephanie Parris , 17, was found

shot dead in the road near CastleBurke housing community, St. Croix.

1 1 — Dale Roberson , 19, was found

shot dead in a car near the CastleBurke housing community, St.

C r o i x .

1 7 — Glenroy “Heavy” Farrell , 21,

died after being shot multiple times

in a car near the Queen MaryHighway, St. Croix.

DECEMBER 20022 6 — Richard Forrester , 21, was

found fatally shot in a watergut in

Christiansted’s Western Suburb, St.C r o i x .

JANUARY 20031 3 — Richard Baptiste , 48, a V.I.

Corrections Officer, was shot in theback multiple times while working

as a security guard at the MarketSquare East movie theater on St.

T h o m a s .

1 7 — Desmond Wade , 48, was shotand killed by a police officer

investigating a report of anactivated burglar alarm at a house

in North Star Village, St. Thomas.

2 0 — Lloyd Abraham , 26, was shotmultiple times near the landmark

tamarind tree in Contant, St.T h o m a s .

2 6 — Sirpo Carmona Cardiz , 28, was

fatally shot in the head in front of aFrederiksted bar and found on the

sidewalk on Fisher Street, St. Croix.

FEBRUARY 20035 — Tomasina Amparo de

G o n z a l e z , 42, a native of the

Dominican Republic, was founddead of blunt trauma to the head in

Hull Bay, St. Thomas.

MARCH 20038 — Fernando Diaz , 26, died in a hail

of police gunfire that wounded

another officer in Vendors Plaza, St.T h o m a s .

9 — Alimore Winters , 24, was shot

multiple times at Oswald HarrisCourt housing community, St.

T h o m a s .

9 — Conrad Brathwaite , 29, wasshot dead during a robbery at the

Super Pool Bar in Smith Bay, St.T h o m a s .

1 1 — Te’sijah Weeks , a 17-month-

old baby, died after being severelybeaten in her mother’s home in

Bergs Home, St. Thomas.

2 5 — Yassah Ismael , 27, was shot

and killed during an armed robberyat his store at the Village Mall in

Barren Spot, St. Croix.

APRIL 20032 9 — Ezekiel Henry , 28, was shot at

a roadside coconut vendor’s standat a busy intersection in Mandahl,

St. Thomas.

M AY 20031 — Levi Innocent , 28, was shot and

killed in Estate Grove Place whilewalking to his home in the nearby

Mutual Homes housing communityon St. Croix.

7 — Richard Smith , 93, was killed ina drive-by shooting as he sat

watching television in his home inSugar Estate, St. Thomas.

1 3 — Studley Christopher , 27, was

shot dead on a dimly lit hillsidestreet in Anna’s Retreat, St.

T h o m a s .

2 6 — Gregory Lewis , 45, died after

he was shot once in the abdomenduring a robbery at Le Petit Motel

on Kronprindsens Gade, St. Thomas.

JUNE 20031 0 — Hector Luis Rivera , 34, was shot

multiple times in the head and bodyin an ambush in the driveway of his

home in Estate Calquohoun, St. Croix.

2 3 — Miguel Donastorg , 57, wasshot to death in a junkyard in Smith

Bay, St. Thomas.

J U LY 20032 3 — Throphilus Breedy , 21, was

shot to death in the parking lot of anightclub in Smith Bay, St. Thomas.

AUGUST 20031 1 — Orlando Bennett , 21, was shot

to death near the basketball court in

Hospital Ground, St. Thomas.

1 1 — Rashaun Richards , 18, was shot

to death near the basketball court inHospital Ground, St. Thomas.

1 2 — Alva Lockhart , 41, a well-known

auto mechanic, was shot and killedby a police officer in Lockhart’s

home on Raphune Hill, St. Thomas.

SEPTEMBER 20032 7 — Nancy Cirilo was fatally

stabbed by her husband, who thencommitted suicide by shooting

himself in St. Thomas.

NOVEMBER 20032 1 — Albert Frederick , 32, was killed

in a drive-by shooting in front of avacant building near a gas station in

Estate Glynn, St. Croix.

2 1 — Eisenhower Thomas , 31, waskilled in a drive-by shooting in front

of a vacant building near a gasstation in Estate Glynn, St. Croix.

DECEMBER 20038 — Alston Petersen , 26, was killed

in a drive-by shooting on Lindbergh

Bay Road, St. Thomas.


UN S O LV E D M U R D E R S I N T H E VI R G I N IS L A N D S 2 0 0 3■ ■ ■

was gunned down bythree men June 17 in a public shooting indowntown Christiansted, St. Croix.

Witnesses told police the killers — whomade no attempt to hide their faces — openedfire on Anduze from behind Times Square.

The 30-year-old was struck by bullets in thehead and abdomen.

No one has been arrested or charged withAnduze’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 18, was shot and killedthe night of June 19 near Ralph de Chaberthousing community, St. Croix.

Lawrence was a prime suspect in the mur-der of George Anduze. He had been picked upfor questioning by police but was releasedbecause no witnesses came forward.

Police believe the murder was revenge forthe Anduze slaying.

No one has been arrested or charged withLawrence’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was shotin the head July 15 at the Nazareth cricketfield behind Kean High School on St.Thomas.

George had watched a cricket match earlierthat day and attended the party that followed.Witnesses said he did not have any argumentsat the game or at the party. George walkedbehind one of several cargo trailers parked inan unlighted area and it was there that he wasshot.

No one has been arrested or charged withGeorge’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was shot three times in theback of the head in her Altona and Welgunst,St. Thomas, driveway on July 21.

Byrd, 35, was the mother of 3-year-oldMelea Pownell, who was beaten to death ear-lier in the year.

Byrd’s boyfriend, 25-year-old DerickHoheb, was convicted of killing the girl.

At the time of Byrd’s death, she was facingcriminal charges in her child’s death but wasfree on bail.

No one has been arrested or charged withByrd’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was shot three times onAug. 9 in front of Building 21 of the HiddenValley housing community on St. Thomas.

Williams, 22, had been arrested earlier inthe year and charged with threatening a keywitness in the proscution’s case against hisgirlfriend, who was accused, and later wasfound guilty, of killing Alphonse Blyden, 12.

No one has been arrested or charged withWilliams’ murder.

■ ■ ■

was gunned downin the D. Hamilton Jackson Terrace housingcommunity in Christiansted, St. Croix on Aug.27.

Torres, 27, was shot multiple times in theback and right side of his body. Police foundhim lying facedown in a pool of blood shortlyafter receiving three reports about shots fired.

Torres had a replica handgun in his waist-band.

No one has been arrested or charged withTorres’ murder.

■ ■ ■

was shot multiple times inEstate La Reine, St. Croix on Aug. 31.Williams, 37, was found sitting in a parkedcar, bleeding from gunshot wounds to theupper thigh, shoulder and back.

Paramedics transported Williams to Luis

hospital in critical condition. He died a fewhours later.

A surviving victim, also shot several timesin the attack, told police the shooters were twomen wearing masks.

No one has been arrested or charged withWilliams’ murder.

■ ■ ■

, 19, was fatally shot in thehead on Sept. 4 in the yard of the Harveyhousing community on St. Croix.

No one has been arrested or charged withGarcia’s murder

■ ■ ■

, 33, was gunned downSept. 8 in the D. Hamilton Jackson housingcommunity, just west of Christiansted, St.Croix.

Police responding to reports of gunshotsfound Tonge’s bullet-riddled body on theground near one of the apartment buildings.He was shot several times in the chest andstomach and died minutes later.

No one has been arrested or charged withTonge’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 24, was gunned down onSept. 18 in a Lindbergh Bay, St. Thomasneighborhood.

Liburd was standing in front of a KirwanTerrace housing community building whengunfire erupted from a car.

Bullets struck him in the neck, groin, leftleg and twice in the chest. He was taken toSchneider Hospital and died in the operatingroom.

Ahzullah Nibbs was arrested and chargedwith the crime, but prosecutors dropped thecharges with the promise to later refile. Theyhave yet to do so.

No one else has been arrested or chargedwith Liburd’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 33, was shot on Sept. 25 dur-ing a robbery at her convenience store inEstate Calquohoun, St. Croix.

Khamil Barker, whom Ovalle identified asher killer on her deathbed, was arrested twodays later.

Murder charges against Barker were laterdropped because the victim’s husband did notcooperate with the investigation. Instead, heclosed up the family shop and left the islandwith the couple’s three children.

No one else has been arrested or chargedwith Ovalle’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 27, was found dead in a caron Oct. 12 in the Frederiksted area of St.Croix.

Police discovered the body after area resi-dents reported that it had been parked for threedays.

Rivera’s body was pinned between the frontand back seats.

Because of decomposition of the body, it

took an autopsy to reveal Rivera had been shotseveral times. A gun was recovered fromunder the vehicle.

No one has been arrested or charged withRivera’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 19, was fatally shot inthe back on the night of Oct. 17 at the Louis E.Brown housing community on St. Croix.

An unidentified person dropped Rivera offat Luis Hospital after the shooting, where hedied early the next morning.

No one has been arrested or charged withRivera’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 24, was gunned downOct. 25 in the Louis E. Brown housing com-munity on St. Croix.

Officers responding to a report of gunshotsfound Maxwell semiconscious, crouching inthe corner of a storeroom at the rear of a build-ing.

Police found a .38-caliber handgun onMaxwell. They believe the shooting was inretaliation for the Oct. 17 slaying of JulioRivera.

No one has been arrested or charged withMaxwell’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was killed the night ofOct. 25 by taxi passengers he was drivingfrom Frederiksted to Christiansted, St. Croix.

Lee, 58, a native of Trinidad, was makinghis last trip of the night with four passengersin his van. The men attempted to rob him atgunpoint. Lee made a desperate attempt tosave himself by making a wrong turn againstone-way traffic, but one of the passengers shothim once. He lost control of the van andcrashed. The four assailants fled.

No one has been arrested or charged withLee’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was shot in thegroin the night of Oct. 27 in Campo Rico onSt. Croix.

Almestica, 19, was driven in a private vehi-cle to Luis Hospital, where he was pro-nounced dead.

No one has been arrested or charged withAlmestica’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 17, and , 19, were shot to death early in

the morning of Nov. 9 in the Castle Burkehousing community on St. Croix.

Police responding to the report of a body inthe road found Parris’ corpse lying a few feetfrom a heavily tinted black car, in which theyfound Roberson’s body.

No one has been arrested or charged withthe murders of Parris and Robertson.

■ ■ ■

was shot to death in ablack BMW on Nov. 17 near ContentmentRoad and Queen Mary Highway on St. Croix.

Murder charges were filed against DanielAmbrose, 23.

The case was later dismissed for lack of evi-dence.

No one else has been arrested or chargedwith Farrell’s murder.

■ ■ ■

, 21, was shot dead onChristmas Eve in Western Suburb,Christiansted, St. Croix.

The Jamaican native had been on St. Croixfor about six months when police discoveredhis body in a water gut.

Shortly after the shooting, police arrested20-year-old Joseph Yarwood. The caseagainst Yarwood was later dismissed becauseof lack of evidence.

No one else has been arrested or chargedwith Forrester’s murders.



At the entrance to Sylvia Byrd’s drivewayin Altona and Welgunst, St. Thomas,someone shot her three times in the head.

, 26, was shot to death on thenight of Jan. 20 near the landmark tamarind treein Contant, St. Thomas.

Abraham’s cousin was wounded in the shoot-ing but survived.

No one has been charged with Abraham’sm u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

was shot in the head on thesidewalk in front of a bar onFisher Street in Frederiksted,St. Croix, late on the night ofJan. 26. Witnesses told policethat Cadiz, 28, had sold somefake gold jewelry to GarthLouis’ girlfriend and thatLouis wanted his moneyb a c k .

At the time of his death,Cadiz was out on bail pending sentencing on apossession of stolen property charge.

Louis was charged with killing Cardiz; a juryfound him not guilty.

No one else has been charged with Cardiz’m u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, a 42-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, wasfound dead on Feb. 5 in Hull Bay, St. Thomas.She died of blunt trauma to the head.

Police found her partially nude body afterreceiving an anonymous tip.

No one has been charged with her murder.■ ■ ■

, 24, was shot multiple timeson March 9 at Oswald Harris Court housing com-munity on St. Thomas.

The shooting sent two other men to the hospi-tal. Shots again rang out throughout the housingcommunity several times that night. No one hasbeen charged with Wynters’ murder.

■ ■ ■

, 27, a co-owner of a grocerystore at the Village Mall in Barren Spot, St. Croix,was shot and killed during an armed robbery.

Ismael had just closed up his shop and waswalking to his car when two masked men accost-ed him at gunpoint just after 10 p.m. on March2 5 .

No one has been charged with Ismael’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 28, was slain in a drive-byshooting April 29 at a busy Mandahl, St.Thomas, intersection where he was buyingcoconuts from a roadside stand. The gunman wasdriving a gold-colored sport utility vehicle.

Investigators suspect the shooting was relatedto the murder of 24-year-old Alimo Wynters,shot to death March 9 in Oswald Harris Courthousing community.

Henry had been out of jail for just one week,after serving six months for firearms violations,when he was killed.

No one has been charged with Henry’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

was shot and killed late May1 in Estate Grove Place while walking to hishome in the nearby Mutual Homes housing com-munity of St. Croix. He was found lying facedown in a pool of blood.

Innocent, 28, was shot several times, includingin the head and back.

Witnesses said they heard two gunshots, fol-lowed by five more in quick succession.

No one has been charged with Innocent’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 93, was killed on theevening of May 7 when bullets from a drive-byshooting sprayed his home on as he sat in his liv-ing room watching television.

Police speculated that the gunfire was meantfor someone else near Smith’s home on FirstStreet in Sugar Estate, St. Thomas.

Earlier in that evening, police had been calledto investigate reports of shots fired at OswaldHarris Court housing community, across thestreet from Smith’s home.

No one has been charged with Smith’s murder.■ ■ ■

, 27, was shot deadMay 13 on a dimly lit street near the top of CassiHill in Anna’s Retreat, St. Thomas.

Christopher’s family heard the shots from theirhome, and his brother found him riddled withbullets, lying in a pool of blood.

No one has been charged with Christopher’sm u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 45, died after he was shotonce in the abdomen during a robbery on theafternoon of May 26 at Le Petit Motel onKronprindsens Gade, St. Thomas.

A woman who lives at the motel reported thatthree masked assailants pushed their way into themotel’s entrance and forced her and Lewis intoher room. The armed assailants demandedmoney, jewelry and drugs, the woman toldpolice. She was robbed at gunpoint of money andjewelry worth more than $2,000.

The gunmen then took Lewis to his room, shothim and fled.

Soon after Lewis was killed, a Lindbergh Bayman driving a car similar to the one the killersfled in was arrested and charged with unlawfulpossession of a firearm.

No one has been charged with Lewis’ murder.■ ■ ■

, 34, was shot multipletimes in the head and body in a June 10 ambushin the driveway of his Estate Calquohoun, St.Croix home.

Rivera’s girlfriend was seriously wounded bya bullet that struck her in the chest and exitedthrough her back.

Authorities later revealed Rivera was a confi-dential informant for the Drug EnforcementAgency and had infiltrated the notorious drug-smuggling operation that Craig Hendricks wasaccused of leading. Hendricks, accused of usinghis business as a front, was convicted in DistrictCourt in 2005 of drug trafficking and moneyl a u n d e r i n g .

No one has been charged with Rivera’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 21, was shot to death inthe parking lot of a Smith Bay, St. Thomas night-club on July 23.

Tips from citizens led to the arrest of RichardFahie Jr., who had been a close friend ofBreedy’s. At trial in 2004, a jury found Fahie notguilty of killing Breedy.

A month later, at another nightclub, Fahie shota man 10 times and paralyzed him. The victimtestified against Fahie, who was convicted ofattempted murder and other crimes and sen-tenced to 30 years in prison.

No one else has been charged with Rivera’sm u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 21, and , 18, were ambushed by gunmen on

Aug. 11 near the recreation center basketballcourt in Hospital Ground, St. Thomas.

Police said multiple shooters participated inthe daylight attack, riddling the two victims with

bullets. Both Bennett and Richards died later thatday at Schneider Hospital.

The two victims both had criminal historiesinvolving violent acts, but on the day they wereslain neither was armed.

No one has been charged with the murders ofBennett or Richards.

■ ■ ■

, 32, and , 31, were killed in a drive-by shooting

on Nov. 21 as they sat in front of a vacant build-ing in Estate Glynn, St. Croix.

A gray car with heavily tinted windows passedby and at least one occupant opened fire.

Police found the vehicle that was used in thedrive-by and towed it to the St. Croix policeheadquarters, parking it there as evidence in thecrime. A short time later, someone torched thatcar. Fire destroyed the vehicle, as well as a policecruiser parked next to it.

No one has been charged with the murders ofFrederick and Thomas.

■ ■ ■

, 26, and , 28, were killed in a drive-by shooting

on Dec. 8 on Lindbergh Bay Road, St. Thomas.The two St. Croix men were sitting in a parked

rental car near the former Frenchie’s Catering &Delicatessen building, when another vehiclepulled up next to theirs and someone opened firewith a high-powered gun.

The two men, the car, and nearby homes wereriddled with bullets.

More than 40 shell casings were collected atthe crime scene.

No one has been charged with the murders ofPetersen and Graham.

■ ■ ■

was found mutilatedand shot to death on Dec. 9 on Spring Gut Roadon St. Croix.

O’Connor, 35, had been shot in the chest andhead. His penis had been severed and placed inhis mouth.

His body was found less than 24 hours after a22-year-old woman told police that O’Connorraped her at knifepoint. The rape victim identi-fied O’Connor by name and told police where heworked and lived.

No one has been charged with O’Connor’sm u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 29, was stabbed to deathin his Estate Wintberg, St. Thomas, apartment onDec. 13.

Sargeant’s death was reported to police by his25-year-old girlfriend. She had not seen or heardfrom him for several days and went to the apart-ment to check on him.

When she arrived, the door was unlocked,every room in the apartment was ransacked andSargeant’s body was lying in the bedroom. Noone has been charged with Sargeant’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was found shot dead in aburned vehicle in Estate Pearl, St. Croix on Dec.17. An autopsy revealed that Williams, 25, diedof a gunshot to the chest before his body wasburned. No one has been charged with Williams’m u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 48, was found lying in apool of blood, dead of multiple stab wounds onthe floor of her Frederiksted, St. Croix bedroomearly Dec. 22.

In the home, investigators found signs of astruggle in the living room, including a brokenvase. No one has been charged with Guzman’sm u r d e r .







DECEMBER 2003

8 — Jermaine Graham , 28, was

killed in a drive-by shooting onLindbergh Bay Road, St. Thomas.

9 — Robert O’Connor III , 35, was

found mutilated and shot to deathon Spring Gut Road, St. Croix.

1 3 — Stewart Sargeant , 29, wasstabbed to death inside his Estate

Wintberg apartment on St.T h o m a s .

1 7 — Todd Williams , 25, was shot

in the chest and found in a burnedvehicle in Estate Pearl, St. Croix.

2 2 — Trinidad Guzman , 48, was

found lying in a pool of blood, deadfrom multiple stab wounds on the

floor of her bedroom inFrederiksted, St. Croix.

JANUARY 2004

2 — Isaiah Periera , 17, was stabbedto death by his 22-year-old brother

during a fight at their Tutu Hi-Riseapartment on St. Thomas.

1 8 — Jeffrey Bennet , 15, was

stabbed to death after a Central

High School Bilingual Club party atthe Mambo Nightclub in


1 9 — Renierio Rivera , 33, was shotto death in the Bournefield area of

St. Thomas.

FEBRUARY 2004

1 — Pedro Flores , 38, was found

stabbed to death, lying near aContant, St. Thomas chapel.

6 — Raymond Jackson , a 50-year-

old retired Corrections officer, wasgunned down by a masked man

outside the Tiger Mini Mart on St.C r o i x .

2 0 — Rashidi Ritter , 21, was shot

to death in his William’s Delight,St. Croix home.

MARCH 2004

1 7 — Alan Testamark , 42, wasfound fatally wounded with severe

burns and lacerations on his throatoutside his burning house on

Haabets Gade, St. Thomas.

APRIL 2004

1 — Constance Joseph , 32, was

shot and killed near his home inthe Kirwan Terrace housing

community, St. Thomas.

9 — Francisco Martinez , 44, wasgunned down outside his friend’s

home in Estate La Reine, St. Croix.

1 0 — Irwin Gibson Polydore , 18,was found lying dead from gunshot

wounds in a grassy area near theHarbour View Apartments office on

St. Croix.

APRIL 2004

1 2 — Dean Jones , 28, was shotdead outside the Front Line

Nightclub in Estate Calquohoun onSt. Croix.

1 7 — Cuthbert Chapman , 45, anoff-duty police officer working as a

security guard, was shot to deathat Wendy’s restaurant in the Sunny

Isle Shopping Center, St. Croix.

M AY 2 0 0 4

7 — Winston Saddler , 30, wasfound with several gunshot

wounds to his chest in a parkinglot in Contant, St. Thomas

1 5 — Natasha Cummings , 28, aCentral High School English

teacher, was shot to death alongwith her 2-month-old son and a

friend in a triple homicidecommitted by her baby’s father in

Barren Spot, St. Croix.

1 5 — Thai Carrillo , a 2-month-old

boy, was shot dead by his father inBarren Spot, St. Croix.

1 5 — Wayne Walcott , 25, was shotdead by his half-brother, who also

killed Natasha Cummings and ThaiCarrillo in Barren Spot, St. Croix.

2 5 — Eugene Thomas , 29, wasfatally shot once in the chest in the

Sanchez Town area of EstateNadir, St. Thomas.

JUNE 2004

1 — Jahmalie Henry , 19, was fatally

shot in front of hundreds of studentson the campus of the Educational

Complex, St. Croix.

2 6 — Rutherford Prevost , 59, wasshot to death and found lying next to

his taxi van near his home in the

Tutu Hi-Rise housing community, St.T h o m a s .

2 9 — Thomas Melendez Jr. , 44, was

ambushed, kidnapped and shot deadafter returning home from the cock-

fighting pit in Estate Glynn, St. Croix.

J U LY 2004

2 0 — Marvin Augustine , 21, died ofinjuries about a week after being

shot when he went to the aid of ayoung man who was being beaten

by three others outside a bar on

Queen Cross Street, St. Croix.

AUGUST 2004

8 — Jamal Copemann , 21, was shot

dead in a midnight ambush as heand a friend walked in Nicasio Nico


SEPTEMBER 2004

1 — Lawrence Parson , 38, of EstateBrookman was shot to death in

Bolongo Bay, St. Thomas.

See HOMICIDES, next pageSee HOMICIDES, next page

UN S O LV E D M U R D E R S I N T H E VI R G I N IS L A N D S 2 0 0 4, 33, was shot to death in

the Bournefield area of St. Thomas on Jan. 19.Rivera was found lying in the road with gun-

shot wounds to his head and chest.No one has been charged with Rivera’s mur-

d e r .■ ■ ■

, 38, was found stabbed todeath early in the morning of Feb. 1 in theContant area of St. Thomas.

He was found lying in a pool of blood nearJohn Thomas Memorial Chapel.

No one has been charged with Flores’ mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 50, a retiredCorrections officer, was gunned down on Feb. 6by a masked man who opened fire on a group ofmen outside the Tiger Mini Mart in EstateRuby. A 17-year-old boy was shot in the hip.

Jackson was only five weeks into retirementwhen he was killed. He was shot in the chestand upper right arm.

No one has been charged with Jackson’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 21, was shot to death in hishome in William’s Delight, St. Croix, on Feb.20. His body was found in a back bedroom ofthe house he shared with a friend.

Ritter had been arrested three weeks earlierand charged with shooting a 47-year-old man inLa Grande Princesse, then fleeing on a bicycle.

Ritter was wearing a bulletproof vest when hewas taken into custody. He was arrested againdays later, along with members of his family,during a major marijuana bust on St. Croix.

No one has been charged with Ritter’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 42, was found fatallyinjured on March 17 outside his burningHaabets Gade, St. Thomas house.

Testamark’s brother, Acting Fire ServiceDirector Merwin Potter, was the first to respondto the scene after receiving a call from his sister.He found his brother had suffered burns toabout 90 percent of his body.

Medical workers observed that Testamarkhad two lacerations on his throat.

Blood was found outside the house.No one has been charged with Testamark’s

m u r d e r .■ ■ ■

was shot and killed thenight of April 1 near his home in the KirwanTerrace housing community on St. Thomas.

Witnesses told police that Joseph, 32, andsome other people had been gambling thatevening. The shooting took place in a small yardnear Building 21.

No one has been charged with Joseph’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 44, was gunned downoutside a friend’s Estate La Reine, St. Croixhouse on April 9.

Martinez, whose body was riddled with bul-lets, had just returned from a fishing trip withtwo other men. They were getting ready to pre-pare their catch for sale at the time of the attack.

Martinez left his two friends in the house andwent outside to check on equipment. Gunshotsrang out moments later.

No one has been charged with Martinez’m u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 28, was shot to death as hewas getting into his car outside the Front LineNightclub in Estate Calquohoun, St. Croix in

the early morning hours on April 12.Bullets hit him in his neck, chest and arms.It was the third shooting at the nightclub in

three years. No one has been charged with Jones’ murder.

■ ■ ■

, 30, was shot to death onMay 7 in Contant, St. Thomas.

Witnesses reported they heard gunfire andthen saw Sadler stumble into a parking lotshared by a car dealer and a bar, where he col-lapsed. He had been shot in the chest severalt i m e s .

A handgun was recovered at the scene.No one has been charged with Saddler’s mur-

d e r .■ ■ ■

was fatally shot in theSanchez Town area of Estate Nadir, St.Thomas, on May 25.

Witnesses said Thomas, 29, was in a backroom at a nearby open-air bar, where severalpeople were playing games, when masked mencarrying handguns burst in and ordered every-one to hand over their possessions.

Thomas tried to escape and was runningthrough a door when one of the robbers openedf i r e .

Thomas made it as far as a nearby concreteruin before he fell dead.

No one has been charged with Thomas’ mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 59, was shot to deathon June 26 and his body was found lying next tohis taxi van near the Tutu Hi-Rise housing com-munity on St. Thomas, where he lived.

No weapons or bullet casings were found atthe scene.

Witnesses told police they heard screams,then two gunshots.

No one has been charged with Prevost’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 44, was ambushedas he was returning home from the cockfightingpit in Estate Glynn, St. Croix on June 29.

Police initially investigated the case as a rob-bery and kidnapping at a mobile home in EstateHannah’s Rest.

Melendez arrived at the house that eveningwith a woman and another man. When the threegot out of a Land Rover, masked gunmenapproached and kidnapped Melendez.

The man and woman were bound and taken

inside the house by some of the assailants whileothers forced Melendez back into the LandRover and drove away.

The armed men remaining behind robbed thepeople inside the house of jewelry and moneyand fled.

The victims freed themselves early the nextmorning. Melendez’ body was found later thatday in the bushes off West Scenic Drive Road.The Land Rover was found down an embank-ment a few miles from where his body lay.

Law enforcement officials said Melendez hadused his skills as a pilot and boat captain tosmuggle cocaine from Colombia to St. Martin.He had turned himself in to the FBI and facedfederal charges of conspiracy to launder drugm o n e y .

No one has been charged with Melendez’m u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 38, of Estate Brookmanwas shot to death on Sept. 1 in Bolongo Bay, St.T h o m a s .

Police found Parson lying at the end of adead-end road about 1:40 in the morning.

The person who reported gunshots saw adark-colored vehicle speed away from the area.

No one has been charged with Parson’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 18, was discovered in aburning car near Campo Rico Beach on St.Croix’s south shore on Sept. 22.

Firefighters found Francis dead and slumpedover in the front passenger seat of the grayMitsubishi Diamante about 11 p.m.

Both the interior and exterior of the car,which Francis had borrowed from a friend, werecharred.

No one has been charged with Francis’ mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 32, of William’s Delighton St. Croix was gunned down in public viewshortly after a high school football game atLionel Roberts Stadium in Hospital Ground, St.T h o m a s .

Officers at the stadium responded to severalgunshots just before 5 p.m. on Sept. 27. Theydiscovered Etienne lying face-up on the ground.Several bullets struck his body.

No one has been charged with Etienne’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 4, was killed in a shooting atthe Kirwan Terrace housing community on St.Thomas on Sept. 28.

A 7-year-old boy also suffered multiple gun-shot wounds but survived the attack.

The two boys were sitting in a sport utilityvehicle with a 26-year-old woman, waiting topick up someone at the housing community,when someone fired several shots into the car,shattering a passenger-side window.

The 4-year-old was bleeding profusely whenhe arrived at Schneider Hospital, where he died.

No one has been charged with the child’sm u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

was found dead in a burningcar in the Bellevue area of St. Croix on Oct. 15.

Witnesses said they heard a loud crash, anexplosion and then saw flames about 4 p.m.

Walters, 39, was out on bail at the time of hisdeath. He was facing assault and weaponscharges stemming from a Dec. 12 incident inwhich he was accused of pistol-whipping aChristiansted restaurant owner.

No one has been charged with Walters’ mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

was shot and killed shortlyafter midnight on Oct. 29 in the John F.Kennedy housing community in Estate GoldenRock on St. Croix.

Correa, 28, was found on the ground nearBuilding 12, covered in blood.

No one has been charged with Correa’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 19, was gunned down onNov. 5 in the Estate Smithfield area of St. Croixwhile on an errand to pick up food.

Alleyne was found on the porch of the homewhere he went to get the food, bleeding fromseveral gunshot wounds.

Witnesses said Alleyne, of Lorraine VillageApartments, had driven to the home and waswaiting in a vehicle at the entrance to a gatedyard when a gunman fired upon him.

He ran into the yard and onto the porch of theresidence, where he was shot again and felld e a d .

No one has been charged with Alleyne’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 29, was shot to death onNov. 5 at a St. Croix service station by DiamondCrest Shopping Center.

Witnesses said two or more assailants wear-ing dark clothing and masks drove to the shop-ping center, got out of a vehicle and startedshooting at people outside the station.

Knight’s body was riddled with bullets andthree other people, including an off-duty policeofficer, suffered gunshot wounds in their legs.One of those victims was slain two weeks lateron St. Thomas

No one has been charged with Knight’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 28, was shot multiple times onNov. 18 in Paul M. Pearson Gardens housingcommunity, St. Thomas.

Wilkes who was from St. Croix, died laterthat night at Schneider Hospital. It took a fewdays to identify Wilkes because he was notknown to residents in the area, and he carried noi d e n t i f i c a t i o n .

Wilkes had been shot in the leg during anattack at a St. Croix gas station just weeksbefore he was killed. That shooting also left anoff-duty police officer wounded and a 29-year-old man dead.

No one has been charged with Wilkes’ mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 28, was gunned down in adrive-by shooting on Dec. 20 outside hisFrederiksted, St. Croix, home.

Lewis was standing outside his home when agunman opened fire from a passing vehicle.Witnesses said he tried to run away but wasfelled by several bullets.

No one has been charged with Lewis’ mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 19, was shot multiple timesin a daylight attack on Dec. 23 in EstateC o a k l e y .

Another 19-year-old man was shot in theknee in that attack

No one has been charged with Walters’ mur-d e r .

Daily News Photo by MICHAEL POTTER

Rutherford Prevost, 59, was shot to death and his body was found lying next to histaxi van near the Tutu Hi-Rise housing community on St. Thomas, where he lived.


Leon Bowery, 4, was killed when someone opened fire on this SUV at the Kirwan Terrace housing community on St. Thomas.









SEPTEMBER 20041 4 — Denroy Corbett , 15, was fatally

stabbed while watching peopleplaying dominoes near the basketball

court in Anna’s Retreat, St. Thomas.

1 8 — Antonio Callwood , 16, wasshot dead by an 18-year-old who

said the gun went off accidentally in

the Bovoni housing community, St.Thomas

2 2 — Shama Francis , 18, was

discovered dead in a burning car nearCampo Rico Beach on the south

shore of St. Croix.

2 7 — Tarma Etienne , 32, was gunneddown in broad daylight after a high

school football game at LionelRoberts Stadium in Hospital Ground,

St. Thomas.

2 7 — Leon Bowery , 4, was killed in ashooting that left a 7-year-old

wounded at the Kirwan Terrace

housing community, St. Thomas.

OCTOBER 20041 5 — Earl Walters , 39, was found

dead in a burning car in the Bellevue

area of St. Croix.

2 9 — Israel Correa , 28, was shot and

killed shortly after midnight in theJohn F. Kennedy housing community

in Estate Golden Rock, St. Croix.

NOVEMBER 20043 — Ashsha Isaac , 20, was found dead

of a single gunshot to the head near

his home in Oswald Harris Courthousing community, St. Thomas.

5 — Shawn Alleyne , 19, was gunneddown in Estate Smithfield, St. Croix.

5 — Tyrone Knight , 29, was killed in a

shooting that left three other people,including an off-duty police officer,

wounded at a mid-island servicestation near Diamond Crest Shopping

Center, St. Croix

1 4 — Joseph Wilkinson was shotdead by a police officer after he

went on a rampage in the Anna’sRetreat and Smith Bay areas of St.

T h o m a s .

1 8 — Tyre Wilkes , 28, was shot

multiple times in Paul M. PearsonGardens housing community, St.

T h o m a s .

DECEMBER 20042 0 — Dixon Lewis , 28, was killed in a

drive-by shooting outside his

Frederiksted, St. Croix home.

2 3 — Jamal Walters , 19, was shot

multiple times in a daylight attack inEstate Coakley, St. Croix.

JANUARY 20056 — Jayder Chemont , 31, was shot to

death and his body was found on anisolated road near Mandahl Bay, St.

T h o m a s .

JANUARY 2005

2 5 — Sandra Marshall Eugeneau , 59,

was found dead, lying about 100yards off a road in Estate Grove

Place, St. Croix.

2 7 — Lucien Felix , 63, a homeless manwho frequented the Frederiksted area,

was fatally shot in the head under thebalcony of a vacant building on King

Street, Frederiksted, St. Croix.

FEBRUARY 2005

6 — Jahbari Stridiron , 24, was killed

in an early morning shooting that lefttwo 22-year-old men wounded in

Savan, St. Thomas.

1 1 — David “Six-Pack” Lawrence ,24, was shot multiple times near his

Hill Street home in Christiansted, St.Croix

1 2 — Valden Orlando Georges , 44,

was fatally shot by a drive-bygunman as he walked to his vehicle

parked outside the Estate Glynncockfighting pit on St. Croix.

2 4 — Khalid Antonio Gumbs , 19,was shot in the head and body

while walking with a friend on astreet in Old Tutu, St. Thomas.

MARCH 2005

9 — Anthony “Mampi” Marrerro , 33,

was wounded in a drive-by shootingin Sion Farm, and died a week later

at Luis Hospital, St. Croix.

APRIL 2005

1 9 — Eddy Antonia Mazara Aquino ,

23, was shot several times in adrive-by attack near Four Winds

Plaza on St. Thomas.

2 8 — Jamall Richards , 22, was fatallyshot after Carnival crowds were

dissipating and died while drivinghimself to the hospital on St.

Thomas.

M AY 2005

5 — Eurie Joseph , 32, was accostedand fatally shot by two men who

leapt over a fence into his yard inCampo Rico, St. Croix.

5 — Winston “Reds” Francis , 67,was robbed by two men and shot

several times during a mid-dayambush as he was leaving

Scotiabank at Estate Diamond Ruby,St. Croix.

2 5 — Edward Breezier , 36, was shot

several times near his home in theMutual Homes housing community

on St. Croix.

JUNE 2005

1 3 — Linroy “Ben-Up” Benjamin ,29, was gunned down in front of his

Estate St. John, St. Croix home.


UN S O LV E D M U R D E R S I N T H E VI R G I N IS L A N D S 2 0 0 5was shot to death on Jan.

6 in an isolated area of Mandahl on St. Thomas.Police found his body when they went to the

area to investigate a report of 11 gunshots.The father of four young children was lying in

a pool of blood on a road near Mandahl Bay.No one has been charged with Chemont’s

m u r d e r .■ ■ ■

was found dead shortlybefore noon on Jan. 25.

Her body was discovered lying about 100yards off a road north of Eulalie RiveraElementary School in Estate Grove Place, St.Croix. About a week later, the death was ruled ah o m i c i d e .

Police described Marshall, 58, as a transientwho frequented the Grove Place area and otherSt. Croix neighborhoods.

No one has been charged with Marshall’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

a homeless man who frequent-ed the Frederiksted area, was shot in the head.

Felix, 63, was found Jan. 27 under the balconyof a vacant building on King Street, Frederiksted,St. Croix.

His death was the third violent crime against ahomeless person that week.

No one has been charged with Felix’s murder.■ ■ ■

, 24, was killed on Feb. 6in a shooting in the middle of the night in Savan,St. Thomas, that left two 22-year-old menw o u n d e d .

The three gunshot victims were found bypolice officers responding to a report of gunfirejust after 4 a.m.

The men were rushed to Schneider Hospitalwhere Stridiron, a resident of the Oswald HarrisCourt housing community, died.

No one has been charged with Stridiron’sm u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

was shotmultiple times on the evening of Feb. 11 near hisHill Street home in Christiansted, St. Croix.

Gunshots were reported in the area of Hill andMarket streets about 9:10 p.m. When policearrived at the scene, Lawrence had been taken tothe Luis Hospital emergency room in a privatevehicle. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police suspect the shooting was retaliatory.Lawrence had been arrested on burglary

charges twice in 2003.No one has been charged with Lawrence’s

m u r d e r .■ ■ ■

of EstateSmithfield, Frederiksted, was fatally shot on Feb.12 by a drive-by gunman as he walked to hisvehicle parked outside the Estate Glynn cock-fighting pit on St. Croix.

Georges, 44, was struck by several bullets anddied at the scene.

At the time of his death, Georges still wasrecuperating from gunshot wounds he suffered ina September shooting on St. Thomas.

No one has been charged with Georges’ mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 19, was shot in thehead and body on Feb. 24 while walking with afriend along an Old Tutu, St. Thomas, street. Aman jumped out of the bushes and opened fire onthe two.

Gumbs, who lived in the Oswald Harris Courthousing community, died a day after the shoot-ing. His companion was not wounded.

No one has been charged with Gumbs’ murder.

■ ■ ■

was wound-ed in a drive-by shooting in Sion Farm on March9 and died a week later at Luis Hospital.

Marerro, 33, was visiting with friends when amasked man jumped out of a white sedan andbegan shooting.

Police believe that Marerro was targeted in aretaliatory attack. Marerro had served time in aPuerto Rico federal prison after pleading guilty toa gun possession charge in 1999. While he wasincarcerated, a masked gunman killed his 28-year-old brother, Eduardo.

No one has been charged with the murders ofeither Anthony Marerro or his brother.

■ ■ ■

was shotseveral times on April 19 near the car wash atFour Winds Plaza on St. Thomas.

The attack was initially reported as a drive-byshooting, but police later ruled out that possibili-ty. Detectives had difficulty identifying the 23-year-old Aquino because he had someone else’sidentification on him. Aquino was living on St.Thomas but had no relatives on the island.

Police offered a $2,500 reward for informationleading to the arrest and conviction of a 27-year-old man considered a suspect, but that manremains at large.

No one has been charged with Aquino’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 22, was shot on NorreGade on April 28. He tried driving himself to thehospital, but died along the way and crashed hisHonda into a van.

The shooting took place as crowds celebratingJ’ouvert were dissipating. Richards, dressed incamouflage pants and boots, appeared to havebeen participating in the Carnival event.

No one has been charged with Richards’ mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 32, was working in hisCampo Rico yard the morning of May 5 whentwo men who leapt over a fence accosted him.Joseph was shot while running toward his house.He collapsed next to his front door.

The assailants wore black clothing and skimasks. The Chevrolet Cavalier they fled in was

discovered abandoned in Estate Oxford dayslater, but no evidence was obtained from thevehicle.

No one has been charged with Joseph’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

was robbed bytwo men and shot several times during a mid-dayambush on May 5 as he was leaving Scotiabankat Estate Diamond Ruby.

Francis, 67, a native of Trinidad who moved toSt. Croix in 1969 with his first wife and 11 chil-dren, died days after the shooting.

The suspects’ vehicle was discovered aban-doned in the area of Strawberry Hill after thec r i m e .

Family members offered a $5,000 reward forinformation leading to the capture of the killers,and Scotiabank matched the money.

No one has been charged with Francis’ mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 36, was shot several timeson May 25 in the Mutual Homes housing com-munity, where he lived.

Breezier was about to enter his apartmentwhen at least two people opened fire on him.

No one has been charged with Breezier’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

was gunneddown June 13 in front of his home in Estate St.John, St. Croix.

Benjamin, 29, had just arrived at his housethat morning when a sport utility vehicle droveinto the yard. Benjamin went outside to see whoit was. A gunman in the vehicle opened fire onB e n j a m i n .

In 2002, Benjamin and another man had beencharged with fatally shooting Donald Lewis. Thecharges were dismissed after a witness was killedand other witnesses refused to testify.

No one has been charged with Benjamin’sm u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 63,was stabbed to death on June 22 in his Contant,St. Thomas home.

Stuart’s wife discovered her husband dead intheir bedroom in the Heritage HillsC o n d o m i n i u m s . He was lying on the floor in apool of blood.

Stuart was the well-known owner of Manno’s— a West Indian restaurant in Charlotte Amalie.Manno was the nickname Stuart’s mother gaveh i m .

No one has been charged with Stuart’s murder.■ ■ ■

was shot multiple times out-side a Catherine’s Rest, St. Croix home he wasvisiting on July 8.

Williams, 32, had been accused of crimes andpolice suspect the attack was retaliatory.

A witness said Williams was standing otusidethe house when a group of men approached. Thewitness ran into the home with his wife, andheard gunshots erupt from outside.

Williams had been shot multiple times in1995. The attack left his right leg partially para-lyzed, which made it difficult for him to flee fromthe gunmen.

No one has been charged with Williams’ mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 17, a resident of the KirwanTerrace housing community, St. Thomas, diedduring surgery after being shot the night of July18 near Cancryn Junior High School.

An 18-year-old friend of Ventura’s also wasshot but survived.

The two were with another friend, waiting fora ride to Charlotte Amalie High School, wherethey were going to play basketball, when the gun-fire erupted. Both victims were felled by bulletsafter running across Veterans Drive to One Stopgrocery store.

No one has been charged with Ventura’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 47, died after being stabbedseveral times on July 30 in Anna’s Retreat, St.Thomas.

The victim’s uncle, also stabbed in the attack,told police he saw Smith arguing with three orfour men before a fight broke out.

The uncle was struck with a metal object andfell to the ground while trying to help Smith. Ashe lay helpless on the ground, he saw his nephewbleeding to death.

No one has been charged with Smith’s murder.■ ■ ■

was found dead onAug. 2 near the Sunny Isle car wash on St. Croix,the victim of three hard blows to his ribs.

The two had played a game in whichNoorhassan agreed to be hit in the ribs inexchange for a $3 bottle of rum. The beating lefthim feeling sick, and he died of the injuries suf-fered that night.

Alfred Cordice was arrested and charged withmanslaughter. Police said Cordice unintentional-ly killed Noorhassan, who was homeless.

The case was dismissed in June 2006.■ ■ ■

, 35, was shot dead the morningof Aug. 3 in Smith Bay, St. Thomas, just a fewfeet from the site of another shooting that left fourpeople injured nine days earlier.

The shooting occurred about 5:30 a.m. in theparking lot of Lake’s Chicken Fry, a popularhangout at the corner of Coki Point and SmithBay roads.

No one has been charged with Gumbs’ mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

of Estate Paradise wasfound lying motionless Aug. 6 at the southwestcorner of the Boyce Hardware building on St.Croix. Rodriguez, 22, had been shot in the head

and was pronounced dead at Luis Hospital. Neighbors of the 2 Plus 2 Night Club in La

Grande Princesse reported a shooting in thevicinity just after 5 a.m.

A man shot multiple times that morning lateridentified the gunman as Hillary Taylor, who wascharged with murder and then released on bail.Charges against Taylor were dismissed after akey witness refused to cooperate.

No one else has been charged with Rodriguez’m u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, a Louisiana man visitingthe territory, was shot dead in Contant, St.Thomas on Aug. 25.

Authorities identified Lee by his fingerprints.He was found dead in a back yard.

No one has been charged with Lee’s murder.■ ■ ■

was shot once inthe head on Aug. 26 by a lone gunman after hewent to a William’s Delight, St. Croix, home tovisit a friend.

The 44-year-old was a daily line fisherman inthe vicinity of the Frederiksted Pier.

No one has been charged with Albert’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 18, was shot todeath Sept. 3 at a Frederiksted, St. Croix, servicestation.

Delgado and a friend arrived at the station,near Queen Mary’s Highway, about 1 a.m in apickup truck. They parked on the south sidebetween the gas pumps, and a small car pulled upin front of the pickup.

A gunman got out of the car and opened fire onDelgado and his friend. The two tried to run forcover behind an ice cooler, but both were hit bybullets on the way.

Delgado’s friend survived his wounds. No one has been charged with Delgado’s mur-

d e r .■ ■ ■

of Estate Richmond wasshot to death Oct. 2 in the D. Hamilton JacksonTerrace housing community, west ofChristiansted, St. Croix.

Crump, 16, was found lying on the ground in apool of blood in the vicinity of Building 5.

No one has been charged with Crump’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 18, was fatally shot Nov. 5

while sleeping in a car parked near Holy FamilyCatholic Church in Anna’s Retreat, St. Thomas.His body was riddled with bullets.

A 17-year-old boy told police he was asleepnext to Brown in the front passenger seat of thecar when the sound of gunshots woke him up.The 17-year-old suffered a gunshot wound to theh a n d .

No one has been charged with Browne’s mur-d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 49, was found dead in adrainage ditch off Queen Mary Highway, nearEstate Cane Carlton, St. Croix on Nov. 10. Hesuffered blunt trauma to the head, possibly thevictim of a hit and run. Friends said he was lastseen in Frederiksted.

No one has been charged with Santillana’sm u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 30, was shot and killed in CampoRico, St. Croix, on the evening of Nov. 12.Officers responding to a report of gunshots foundHart sitting on the ground in a shanty, bleedingfrom his head.

A coal cooking pot at the scene was still hot,and police said it was likely that several otherpeople were there when the bullets flew. Hart’spockets had been turned inside-out, leadingpolice to suspect robbery as the motive for thek i l l i n g .

No one has been charged with Hart’s murder.■ ■ ■

, 24, was fatally shot once inthe face on Nov. 24 at the Diamond CrestShopping Center on St. Croix.

Police received a call just after 6 a.m. that TheWatergut Homes resident was injured and lyingin a pool of blood at the shopping center.

Ayala had been arrested several times in recentyears and police suspect his murder was an act ofr e v e n g e .

No one has been charged with Ayala’s murder.■ ■ ■

was gunned down Dec. 2in downtown St. Thomas.

Edwards body was found behind a car parkedat the corner of Nye and Crystal gades. Bulletwounds covered much of his body and face. Atotal of 15 shell casings were found around thecrime scene, and witnesses indicated there wasmore than one gunman. No one has been chargedwith Edwards’ murder.



Daily News Photo by CRISTIAN SIMESCU

Forensics specialist Jonathan Hitesmanand Territorial Police Chief Novelle Franciswork at the scene of a shooting.

St. Thomaspolice searcha car at thescene onNorre Gadewhere JamallRichards, 22,was shot April28, 2004, asthe crowdsfrom CarnivalJ’ouvert weredissipating.

Daily News Photoby SEAN McCOY





SEPTEMBER 20051 2 — Jahleel Halliday , 19, was

fatally stabbed at Lockhart Gardens

Shopping Center, St. Thomas.1 7 — James Ballentine , 24, was shot

and killed while walking near hishome in Catherine’s Rest, St. Croix.

2 4 — Kevin Walker , 24, was shotdead in Savan, St. Thomas.

OCTOBER 20051 — Allan Reid , 50, died from injuries

suffered in a fight on CompanySreet, St. Croix.

2 — Kareem Crump , 16, was shot todeath in the D. Hamilton Jackson

Terrace housing community, justwest of Christiansted, St. Croix.

2 9 — David Geiger , 43, was beatento death during a botched robberyattempt at his home in EstateGrunwald, St. John.

NOVEMBER 20055 — Janus Browne , 18, was shot to

death while sleeping in a car parkednear the Holy Family Catholic

Church in Anna’s Retreat, St.T h o m a s .

1 0 — Robert Santillana , 49, waskilled by a blow to the head and his

body was found in a drainage ditchoff Queen Mary Highway, near

Estate Cane Carlton, St. Croix. 1 2 — Steve Hart , 30, was shot dead

and found in a shanty in CampoRico, St. Croix.

2 4 — Miguel Ayala , 24, was fatallyshot once in the face at theDiamond Crest Shopping Center inEstate Diamond Ruby, St. Croix.

DECEMBER 20052 — Dennis Edwards , 47, was

gunned down on the corner of Nyeand Crystal gades, St. Thomas.

1 2 — Alvin Dubois , 28, was shot andkilled during a robbery attempt at hisshop, the A.A. Dubois JewelryStore, in Estate Richmond, St. Croix.

JANUARY 20061 9 — Blair Shannon , 46, was shot to

death in his hotel room in LindberghBay, St. Thomas.

2 2 — Aheim Huyghue , 14, wasfatally shot while spending the nightat his mother’s Hospital Groundapartment on St. Thomas.

FEBRUARY 20063 — Winston “Bamboo” Samuel ,

55, was shot dead at his home inGrove Place, St. Croix.

4 — Kelmon Davis , 26, was shotdead in Oswald Harris Court housingcommunity, St. Thomas.

2 1 — Germaine Maynard , 28, wasfound with several gunshot woundsin the doorway of a Harbour ViewApartments building, St. Croix.


SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS-20

JUNE 20051 5 — Tristan Charlier , a 24-year-old

tourist visiting the Virgin Islands

from New York to attend a wedding,was shot to death with his friend

Leon Roberts near a bus stop onVeterans Drive, St. Thomas.

1 5 — Leon Roberts , a 25-year-old

tourist visiting the Virgin Islandsfrom New York to attend a wedding,

was shot to death with his friendnear a bus stop on Veterans Drive,

St. Thomas.

2 2 — Egbert Emmanuel Stuart , 63,

was stabbed to death in his home inContant, St. Thomas.

2 3 — Aurelie Torres , 52, was fatallyshot in the stomach at her home in

Estate Whim, St. Croix.

J U LY 20058 — Dion Williams , 32, was shot

multiple times outside a home inCatherine’s Rest, St. Croix.

1 8 — Kemil Ventura , 17, died during

surgery after being shot near CancrynJunior High School, St. Thomas.

2 9 — Georgia Howell Gottlieb , 49,was fatally shot in the back of thehead in her home in EstateNazareth, St. Thomas.

3 0 — Uclid Smith , 47, died after

being stabbed several times inAnna’s Retreat, St. Thomas.

AUGUST 20052 — Lloyd Noorhassan , 53, was

beaten to death, on a bet for a $3

bottle of rum, at the Sunny Isle carwash on St. Croix.

3 — Roy Gumbs , 35, was shot dead afew feet from the site of anothershooting that left four people injurednine days earlier in Smith Bay, St.T h o m a s .

6 — Samuel Rodriguez , 22, of EstateParadise was fatally shot in the headand found at the southwest cornerof the Boyce Hardware building inSt. Croix.

2 3 — Francisco Stephens , 27, wasfatally shot in the head at an

intersection in Anna’s Fancy, St.T h o m a s .

2 5 — Alan Robert Lee , a Louisianaman visiting the territory, was shotdead in Contant, St. Thomas.

2 6 — Gabriel Timothy Albert , 44,was shot once in the head by a lone

gunman while visiting at a friend’shome in William’s Delight, St. Croix.

SEPTEMBER 20053 — Angel Bermudez Delgado , 18,

was shot to death at a gas station in

Frederiksted, St. Croix.

1 0 — Marcelino Rivera , 39, was shotdead in a tent in Estate Profit, St.C r o i x .

SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORT S-21

UN S O LV E D M U R D E R S I N T H E VI R G I N IS L A N D S 2 0 0 6, 46, was shot dead on the

night of Jan. 19 in his room at the BestWestern Carib Beach Resort at LindberghBay, St. Thomas.

Shannon, a cruise shipcomedian and singer fromOhio, had just finished a gigaboard a Royal Caribbeanliner and was spending thenight with his girlfriendwhen a would-be robberentered the room. Shannonresisted and the intrudershot Shannon once in thechest.

Shannon’s girlfriend witnessed the attackand provided authorities with a description ofthe gunman. Police have released a compositesketch of their suspect.

No one has been charged with Shannon’smurder.

■ ■ ■

, 14, was shot to death inHospital Ground on Jan. 22.

Huyghue had lived with his grandmothersince 1988, when his father was murdered, butwas spending that Sunday night at his moth-er’s apartment.

The Charlotte Amalie High School ninth-grader was shot three times in the head whilehis siblings slept in an adjacent room

Neighbors said that after the shooting theysaw a man dressed in a white shirt, white hatand jeans leave the building where the boy’smother lives.

No one has been charged with the boy’smurder.

■ ■ ■

was shotdead at his Grove Place, St. Croix home onFeb. 3.

Samuel, 55, had previously been arrested oncharges of conspiracy to distribute crack.

He was under the custody of a third-partycustodian at the time of his death.

No one has been charged with Samuel’smurder.

■ ■ ■

, 28, was fatally shotonce in the head on Feb. 7 in an Estate BarrenSpot residence on St. Croix. She was found onthe floor inside the home in a pool of blood.Police have not clarified whether the deathwas ruled a homicide.

No one has been charged with a crime inconnection to the case.

■ ■ ■

was shot multipletimes in the doorway of a St. Croix apartmentbuilding on Feb. 21.

Witnesses said Maynard, 28, was outsidethe Harbor View Apartments with a group ofpeople drinking when gunmen walked up andopened fire.

No one has been charged with Maynard’smurder.

■ ■ ■

, 25, was shot at aMarch 4 dancehall concert at the New DriveInn.

Shots rang out at the concert and crowds ofpeople rushed for the exits.

Samuel, the son of a veteran police officer,was pronounced dead at Luis Hospital.

No motive or suspects have been identified.No one has been charged with Samuel’s

murder.■ ■ ■

, 30, was shot to death onApril 26 near the Estate Grove Place residen-

tial area on St. Croix.Garcia, a resident of Estate William’s

Delight, was discovered by police in the mid-dle of a dirt pathway that leads to the MutualHomes housing community. Shot multipletimes, he was lying in a pool of blood.

No one has been charged with Garcia’smurder.

■ ■ ■

, 44, was found dead onDorsch Beach in Frederiksted, St. Croix, onMay 21.

A man walking along the beach at 6 a.m.that morning found the body of the EstateStonyground resident.

Police did not release information about thecause of death.

No one has been charged with Edwards’murder.

■ ■ ■

, 17, was riddled with bul-lets in St. Croix’s Ralph de Chabert housingcommunity on June 24.

Berrios, a resident of that community, wasfound by neighbors in a grassy common areajust after midnight. After seeing that the teenwas not moving, neighbors called police.

Berrios was taken to Luis Hospital, and hewas pronounced dead just after 3 a.m.

No one has been charged with Garcia’smurder.

■ ■ ■

, 26, was found washed up onthe rocky shoreline below Point PleasantResort, St. Thomas, on July 3.

Reid’s body was nude and his hands andlegs were bound. His body was found by oneof the resort’s security guards during his rou-tine rounds of the Smith Bay property. Severalsailboats were anchored within yards of wherethe body was found.

No one has been charged with Reid’s mur-der.

■ ■ ■

, 28, was shot dead onJuly 6 in his Smith Bay office.

Alexander, owner of a private bill-collec-

tions agency, was shot in the chest inside hissecond-floor office at the bottom of Cassi Hill,St. Thomas.

No one has been charged with Alexander’smurder.

■ ■ ■

, 21, was shot multi-ple times on July 24 while taking a walk withhis mother near his Estate Thomas, St.Thomas home.

The gunman, who was dressed in darkclothing, fired four or five shots before run-ning off. Christopher’s mother was notharmed in the attack.

No one has been charged withChristopher’s murder.

■ ■ ■

was shot to death on July28 outside his home in Barren Spot, St. Croix.

Sheridan, 37, had survived a shooting lessthan two months earlier.

No one has been charged with Sheridan’smurder.

■ ■ ■

, 40, was walking to hisvehicle outside his Gallows Bay,Christiansted home on St. Croix when a gun-man fatally shot him in the head.

A vehicle was seen speeding away from thearea immediately after the shooting, but nosuspects or motive have been identified.

No one has been charged with Ford’s mur-der.

■ ■ ■

was gunned down onAug. 2 behind the Red Ball Grocery in Savan,St. Thomas.

Mayers, 17, who was living at a PrincesseGade home with his mother, died severalhours after he was shot on the area of PileGade.

Witnesses said the boy was on his way tovisit his father’s Savan home when the attackoccurred. No one has been charged withMayers’ murder.

■ ■ ■

, 35, was shot mul-tiple times on Aug. 4 during a botched rob-bery in Anna’s Retreat, St. Thomas.

The safari taxi driver, a Haitian immigrant,was waiting for a tow truck to take his taxi toa mechanic when two men opened fire on him.

The gunmen, dressed in black, were seenrunning from the scene. Charles died of hisinjuries later that evening.

No one has been charged with Charles’m u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

died of injuries sufferedduring an Aug. 9 fight in Hospital Ground, St.Thomas. He suffered a ruptured liver, and hisbody showed signs of strangulation.

Witnesses said that in the fight, Babrow,29, stabbed a friend multiple times. That manwas admitted to the hospital in critical condi-t i o n .

Babrow had suffered serious injuries in a2003 car accident and often displayed erraticbehavior after the crash.

No one has been charged with killingB a b r o w .

■ ■ ■

, 20, was shot multipletimes on Sept. 11 as he sat in the driver’s seatof a car parked in the Walter I. M. Hodgehousing community in Frederiksted, St.C r o i x .

His brother, David Berrios, was murderedin June. Both were the brothers of ReinaldoBerrios, 21, who along with three others ischarged with the murder of off-duty PoliceOfficer Cuthbert Chapman on April 17, 2005.

No one has been charged with Berrios’m u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 26, was fatally shoton Sept. 15 near a Company Street nightclubon St. Croix. He died five days later.

Officers patrolling the area heard shotsbeing fired. They went to De Playgroundnightclub and found Dennis lying in the streetwith several gunshot wounds. Dennis was notable to talk to police about what happenedbefore he died.

No one has been charged with Dennis’m u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 20, was shot justbefore midnight on Sept. 25 at the Benji BayCar Wash on St. Thomas and died a fewhours later.

When officers arrived at the car wash nearKronprindsens Gade, they found Brathwaitestill alive but suffering from multiple gunshotwounds. He was taken by ambulance toSchneider Hospital.

No one has been charged with Brathwaite’sm u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

was shot to death onOct. 2 in Savan, St. Thomas, near the formerRed Ball grocery store. His bullet-riddledbody was found in an alley. Police said thekiller may have tried to rob the 50-year-oldbefore shooting him.

No one has been charged with Turner’sm u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 20, was shot multipletimes in the Ludvig Harrigan housing com-munity on Oct. 2. His body was found in themiddle of the street.

No one has been charged with Phillips’m u r d e r .


Detectives investigate the scene of a late-night shooting in Oswald Harris Court.


Rory Bruce Turner was shot to death on Oct. 2 in Savan, St. Thomas, near the former Red Ball grocery store. His bullet-riddledbody was found in an alley, drawing attention from passersby and neighborhood residents.


See UNSOLVED IN 2006, next pageSee HOMICIDES, next page See HOMICIDES, next page





was wounded.Police said they found a .38-caliber revolver

with six spent cartridges, as well as eight smallbags of marijuana, when they arrested Blyden.

Blyden’s gun was identified as one that hadbeen reported missing from the weapons lockerin the Ron de Lugo Federal Building.

The trial is pending.■ ■ ■

, 28, owner of the A.A. DuboisJewelry Store in Estate Richmond, St. Croix, wasshot and killed during a robbery attempt at hisshop on Dec. 12.

Dubois had resisted and shot Mario Roebuck,19, in the chest with an automatic pistol. The bul-let severed Roebuck’s spinal cord and paralyzedhim from the waist down. Roebuck has beencharged with the murder.

The trial is pending.

2 0 0 6, 32, was shot

to death early the morning of Feb. 23 at her ex-boyfriend’s home in Estate Mon Bijou, St. Croix.

Lucien Francis, 67, who said he previously hadbeen in a relationship with Williams, is accusedof firing a shotgun blast at Williams’ lower torsoafter she arrived at his house and banged on thedoor and windows.

Francis was charged with first-degree murder.The trial is pending.

■ ■ ■

, 26, was shot dead on Feb. 4in Oswald Harris Court housing community, St.T h o m a s .

Davis’ body was found lying face up in a poolof blood between Buildings 20 and 21.

A 24-year-old man was arrested in the caseand charged with first-degree murder.


, 25, was shot dead onMarch 6 near a Sub Base, St. Thomas, supermar-k e t .

A woman said she walked out of La DeliciaNight Club that morning and Gonzalez followedher. The two argued and fought in the BellowsInternational parking lot. She told police thatGonzalez slapped her and busted her lip and thatshe bit him on the chest before she left the area int e a r s .

The woman got a ride from 21-year-old StevenBaxter and another man, and shared her storywith them. They soon encountered Gonzalezwalking along Veterans Drive, and the driverstopped the vehicle and confronted the 25-year-old man. Witnesses said Baxter then got out ofthe front passenger seat of the vehicle and shotGonzalez twice. The woman screamed and ran toG o n z a l e z .

He died at Schneider Hospital.Baxter, a 21-year-old Bovoni man, was arrest-

ed and charged with the murder.The trial is pending.

■ ■ ■

was stabbed to death during aMarch 21 brawl at GoldenGrove Adult CorrectionalFacility on St. Croix.

Heidman, 23, was stabbedduring a fight with at leastthree other inmates. He wasserving time on assault and

weapons charges. Four inmates have been

charged with first-degree

m u r d e r .The trial is pending.

■ ■ ■

, 22, was fatally shot in thehead early in the morning of March 25 in a room

at the Bunker Hill Hotel on St. Thomas.Daren Stevens, 32, was with James and was

shot three times but survived the attack.

V.I. Police Detective Joel Dowdye, an eight-year veteran, was arrested and charged with mur-dering his former girlfriend.

He has pleaded not guilty.The trial is pending.

■ ■ ■

, 40, was fatally shot in the neckin his home in Mon Bijou, St. Croix, on April 14.

Days later, Timothy Lynch, 30, was arrestedand charged with first-degree murder.


, 35, was killed in a June 19

shooting in the middle of the night at the BananaSplit bar on Brookman Road, St. Thomas.

Two other men also died in that attack.

Louis, a native of St. Lucia and a constructionsupervisor who worked on Great St. JamesIsland, was hit by seven bullets.

A witness told police two gunmen walked upthe wooden ramp to the entrance and opened fireon the people in the bar, who had lingered afterthe closing hour.

Enos “Elvis” Hughes has been charged withthree counts of first-degree murder along withother crimes. The trial is pending.

■ ■ ■

, a 33-year-old man visitingSt. Thomas from St. Lucia, was killed by a singlegunshot to the chest in the June 19 attack atBanana Split Bar on Brookman Road, St.T h o m a s .

A witness to the shooting said he had Eustaceran out through a back door and racing uphillwhen two gunmen entered the bar and openedfire. Eustace’s body was later found with a gun-shot wound in the chest. Eustace was the father ofsix children, all living in St. Lucia.

Enos “Elvis” Hughes has been charged withthree counts of first-degree murder along withother crimes.


, 36, was shot in the June 19attack at the Banana Split bar on BrookmanRoad, St. Thomas.

Weeks, a truck driver from Nevis, died on June22 as a result of his wounds from the the shoot-ing, in which two others were also killed.

Enos “Elvis” Hughes has been charged withthree counts of first-degree murder along withother crimes.


, 34, was shot on July 11near Building 1 of the Paul M. Pearson Garden’shousing community and died in the hospital 10hours later. Before he died, Heyliger told investi-gators that he was waiting for friends to meet himin the housing community when a man in a blackJeep shot him.

Heyliger was not able to describe the gunman,but a witness led police to identify 26-year-oldWalim John as the suspect.

John turned himself in to police on July 13. Hepleaded not guilty after he was arrested andcharged with first degree murder.


, 19, died of a single gun-shot in the chest near the On the Run service sta-tion in Anna’s Retreat on Oct. 3. A 24-year-oldman was arrested the next day and charged withfirst-degree murder.

The suspect, Jamal Arthur, said the shootingstemmed from events that transpired at a JamBand concert held at Coral World. Arthur saidAlexander robbed him of a gold chain, and aftera struggle, he made off with Alexander’s gun.Arthur told police he later used the gun to shootA l e x a n d e r .

Alexander’s older brother, Shakir, was mur-dered on July 5 at his Smith Bay business office.


, 33, was fatally shot inthe chest after an Oct. 7 argument about cuttinggrass in William’s Delight, St. Croix. A 26-year-old man, who argued with Lewis about hisuse of a weed whacker before the shooting, wasarrested two days later and charged with first-degree murder.


, 20, was shot dead after get-ting involved in an argument that turned physi-cal on Oct. 22 in the Aureo Diaz housing com-munity on St. Croix.

Police identified a suspect in the shooting,and launched a manhunt for the 27 year old.

In these 29 murder cases, suspects have beenfound, arrested, charged and are awaiting trial:

2 0 0 0, 27, was in the driveway

of a friend’s home in Mon Bijou when a manshot him in the chest on Jan. 5. He died en routeto Luis Hospital.

A 26-year-old man was arrested and chargedwith first-degree murder.

Neither police nor prosecutors nor theSuperior Court produced any record showinghow this case was adjudicated.

■ ■ ■

, a native of Dominica whohad been on St. Thomas for a couple of weeks,was shot dead June 9 near the Blue Corner Barin Contant, St. Thomas. Stedman had gone to thebar with a friend to collect a $20,000 debt froma man.

Two men, who were said to have luredStedman to an area referred to as “The Turf”near a large tamarind tree in Contant, werearrested and charged with his murder.

But a key prosecution witness changed hisstatement before trial, and charges wered r o p p e d .

No one else has been charged with Stedman’sm u r d e r .

■ ■ ■

, 20, was killed in a drive-byshooting on April 10 while he was making a callat a public phone off the Donoe Bypass road inAnna’s Retreat, St. Thomas.

A dark-blue Honda with two or three meninside drove up, and a gunman fired severalshots from the car, one of which hit Blyden inthe head.

Jermaine Hall was arrested and charged. Hepleaded not guilty in Jan 2002 to first-degreem u r d e r .


2 0 0 2, 21, was kidnapped Sept. 1

outside the Holiday Inn Windward PassageHotel and then fatally shot in Agnes Fancy, St.T h o m a s .

Witnesses told police that three men sat in thehotel lobby and watched Poleon, who was sittingat a bus stop across the street.

Two men ran out of the hotel and grabbedPoleon, blindfolded him and threw him into a cardriven by the third man.

A short time later, Poleon was found shot andbleeding on an Agnes Fancy street.

Two men, Gregory Williams and ClementConnor Jr., were arrested and charged withPoleon’s murder.

Williams has since been convicted of killing23-year-old Khoy Smith about a month afterPoleon died. Connor was out on bail in thePoleon case when a gunman opened fire on him,wounding him and also killing 4-year-old LeonBowery, who was in the area. A judge sentConnor back to jail after the shooting for a cur-few violation.

Neither police, prosecutors nor the SuperiorCourt produced any record showing how thePoleon case was adjudicated.

2 0 0 3was shot four times in the

back while working as a security guard on Jan.13 at the Market Square East CaribbeanCinemas on St. Thomas.

Baptiste, 48, an off-duty corrections officer,

was escorting a theater employee carrying adeposit box to her car when a gunman shot himand grabbed the deposit box.

Albion Frett, 22, was indicted in District Courtfor the crime, but continues to elude capture.

■ ■ ■

, 29, was shot dead onMarch 9, during a robbery at the Super Pool Barin Smith Bay, St. Thomas.

Masked men burst into the bar early Sundaymorning and demanded money from gamblers.The robbers opened fire on their way out, hittingBrathwaite in the the arms and legs. One bulletsevered an artery.

Police said it did not appear that Brathwaiteinterfered with the robbers. Almost all the peo-ple at the bar fled immediately after the shooting.

Three men were arrested in connection withthe attack.


2 0 0 4, 18, was found

lying dead April 10 in a grassy area near theHarbour View apartments office on St. Croix afew hours after neighbors reported hearing gun-fire in the area.

Polydore, a resident of Golden Rock, wasfound with his face covered in blood.

Kirt Short, 27, was extradited fromPennsylvania in April 2006 and charged withfirst-degree murder.

The trial is pending.

2 0 0 5, 24, and

, 25 wereshot to death in the earlymorning hours of June 15 onVeterans Drive, St. Thomas,near a bus stop across fromthe Frenchtown Post Office.

The Queens, N.Y., menwere on the island to attend awedding and had gone outthat night for food and enter-tainment. Charlier andRoberts were at the TheGreen House about midnight,then at Club 75 on MainStreet and then at Gottlieb’sQuickway on VeteransDrive, where they boughtp i z z a .

Two brothers, a 17-year-old and a 20 year-old, havebeen charged with first-degree murder in the case.

Their trial is pending.■ ■ ■

, 52, was shot in the stomachthe night of June 19 at her Estate Whim home onSt. Croix.

Her boyfriend, 46-year-old Steven Matta, saidhe shot Torres in the heat of passion but he didnot plan to kill her.

Assistant Attorney General Wilson Campbellsaid after reviewing the evidence in the case thatthe prosecution would not be able to prove thatthere was malice aforethought and that Mattaintended to inflict serious bodily harm. He nowfaces voluntary manslaughter charges.

The trial is pending. ■ ■ ■

, 49, was shot inthe back of the head on the morning of July 29in Estate Nazareth, St. Thomas.

Mitchell Nicholas, 27, who lived withGottlieb, a V.I. National Park official, has beenarrested and charged with the murder.

Gottlieb and Nicholaslived together in EstateNazareth until the weekbefore the shooting, whenGottlieb told Nicholas tomove out.

Gottlieb, who managed theNational Park’s property, didnot go to work the morningof July 29. Worried friendsand family called police, whodiscovered Gottlieb’s body.

Police began searching for Nicholas andGottlieb’s 7-year-old son. They found the twothe next morning at the Bella Vista Scott Hotelon St. Thomas. Nicholas had a gun in his handbut dropped it when police ordered him to.


, 27, was shot in thehead about 2 a.m. on Aug. 23 at the intersectionof Haabets and Kronprindsens gades, in Anna’sFancy, St. Thomas.

Residents heard gunshots and found Stephenslying on the side of the road.

Husani Donovan, 25, was arrested andcharged with first-degree murder.


, 39, was killed on Sept.10 in Estate Profit, St. Croix.

Police responding to a report of a shootingfound Rivera and Daisy Rodriguez, 40, both withgunshot wounds, lying in a tent outside a home.

Rivera was shot once and died soon afterarriving at Luis Hospital. Rodriguez, who wasshot several times, survived the attack.

Stephen Hodge, 21, was arrested on murderand related charges.


, 19, was fatally stabbedSept. 12 at a Foot Locker store at L o c k h a r tGardens Shopping Center in St. Thomas.

Halliday, of Contant Towers, was stabbedthree times with a knife during a fight inside theshoe store. The fatal wound was a puncture toHalliday’s heart, and he died that afternoon atSchneider Hospital.

Witnesses told police that Kareem Browne,18, had the knife first but during the fight gavethe weapon to Keelo Jacobs, also 18.

Witnesses identified the two suspects fromphoto lineups.

Browne and Jacobs have been charged withthe murder. Their trial is pending.

■ ■ ■

, 24, was shot and killedSept. 17 while walking near his home inCatherine’s Rest, St. Croix.

Elton Stanley III, 24, has been charged withfirst-degree murder.


, 24, was shot dead on Sept. 24in Savan, St. Thomas.

Another man was shot in the back in thatattack but survived.

Soon after the shooting, police arrested DarylBlyden. He had been released from prison in1999, after being convicted in New York of sec-ond-degree murder and serving a 15-year sen-t e n c e .

Police believe Blyden killed Walker to avengean earlier shooting in which Blyden’s brother



PE N D I N G M U R D E R C A S E S – 1 9 9 9 - 2 0 0 6FEBRUARY 2006

2 3 — Jaheem “Nigeria” Williams ,32, was shot to death at her ex-

boyfriend’s home in Estate MonBijou, St. Croix.

MARCH 20064 — Dauodi Samuel Jr. , 25, was shot

and killed during a dancehall concertat the New Drive Inn, St. Croix.

6 — Milton Gonzalez , 25, was shotdead near Pueblo Supermarket in

Sub Base, St. Thomas.

1 1 — Brendan Maloney , 34, was shotand killed by his boss after Maloney

chased him while wielding a machetein the parking lot of Lovenlund

Apartments on St. Thomas.

2 1 — Timothy Heidman Jr. , 23, wasstabbed to death during a brawl at

Golden Grove prison on St. Croix.

2 5 — Sherett James , 22, was fatallyshot once in the head in a room at

the Bunker Hill Hotel on St. Thomas.

APRIL 20061 4 — Ira Cruse Jr. , 40, was fatally

shot in the neck in his home in

Mon Bijou, St. Croix.

2 6 — Silvo Garcia Jr. , 30, was shot

dead near the Estate Grove Placeresidential area on St. Croix.

M AY 20062 1 — Ray Edwards , 44, was found

dead in what police determinedwas a homicide on Dorsch Beach in

Frederiksted, St. Croix.

JUNE 20061 9 — Trevor Louis , 35, was shot

dead in a triple-murder at the

Banana Split bBar on BrookmanRoad, St. Thomas.

1 9 — Edgar Eustace , 33, was killed

by a single gunshot to the chest atthe Banana Split bar on Brookman

Road, St. Thomas.

1 9 — Lennox Weeks , 36, was fatally

shot the Banana Split bar on

Brookman Road, St. Thomas.

2 3 — Kenrick Caines , 17, was fatally

shot by an undercover police officerin Hospital Ground, St. Thomas.

2 4 — David Berrios , 17, was riddled

with bullets in the Ralph de Chaberthousing community on St. Croix.

J U LY 20063 — Kibwe Reid , 26, was found dead,

with his hands and legs bound, onthe rocky shoreline below Point

Pleasant Resort, St. Thomas.

6 — Shakir Alexander , 28, was shotdead in his collections agency

office in Smith Bay, St. Thomas.

1 1 — Jermaine Heyliger , 34, was

fatally shot near Building 1 of thePaul M. Pearson Gardens housing

community on St. Thomas.

J U LY 20062 4 — Jahbob Christopher , 21, was

shot multiple times while taking a

walk with his mother near hishome in Estate Thomas, St.

Thomas.

2 8 — Edgar Sheridan , 37, was shot

several times and killed outsidehis home in Barren Spot, St. Croix.

3 1 — Gregory Ford , 40, was shot

in the head as he was walking tohis vehicle outside his home in

Gallows Bay, St. Croix.

AUGUST 20062 — Rumaine Mayers , 17, was

fatally shot behind the Red Ball

Grocery in Savan, St. Thomas.

4 — Jean Claude Charles , 35, was

shot multiple times during abotched robbery in Anna’s

Retreat, St. Thomas.

6 — Brenda Osorio , 27, died ofmultiple gunshot wounds in an

apparent murder-suicide by herboyfriend and her body was found

in a car on Creque Dam Road, St.Croix.

9 — Sandy Babrow , 29, died ofinjuries suffered during a fight in

Hospital Ground, St. Thomas.

SEPTEMBER 20061 1 — Ruperto Berrios , 20, was shot

multiple times as he sat in the

driver’s seat of a car parked in the

Walter I. M. Hodge housingcommunity in Frederiksted, St. Croix.

1 5 — Earl Russell Dennis , 26, wasfatally shot near a Company Street

nightclub on St. Croix.

2 5 — Kendahl Brathwaite , 20, was

fatally shot at the Benji Bay CarWash on St. Thomas.

OCTOBER 20062 — Rory Bruce Turner , 50, was

shot multiple times in Savan, St.

Thomas, near the former Red Ballgrocery. His bullet-riddled body

was found in an alley.

2 — Germaine Phillips , 20, was

shot several times and his bodywas found in the middle of the

street at the Ludvig Harriganhousing community, St. Croix.

3 — Shakif Alexander , 19, died ofa single gunshot wound to the

chest near On the Run servicestation in Anna’s Retreat, St.

Thomas

7 — Eduardo Santana , 33, was

fatally shot in the chest after anargument about cutting grass in

William’s Delight, St. Croix.

2 2 — Julius Cupid , 20, was shotdead in the face after an argument

at the Aureo Diaz housingcommunity, St. Croix.

See PENDING CASES, next page

PENDING CASESCONTINUED FROM PAGE S-18




from January 1999 to the present Ellis BlydenJr., 20, waskilled in adrive-byshootingwhile he wasmaking a callat a publicphone inAnna’sRetreat, St. Thomas.


See HOMICIDES, next page

S - 2 4C y a nM a g e n t aY e l l o wB l a c k

SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS-24

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