murder on antigua yesterday
 

just saw this on the news. searched and found this bbc report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7528710.stm
apparently not the first case.
i guess the islands are not the paradsise we'd like to think they are...

Thanks for the link Virginia. How awful for the family. Also, a very scary thought. I have often wondered about some of the beachfront accomodations on the islands. I always feel safer in a hotel on the second floor or higher.

this worries me too. we normally rent villas - and are inclined to leave doors and windows open at night to get the breeze and turn off the ac. in mexico we had a gaurd who came each night til sunrise. at the time i felt it was intrusive & unnecessary - i may need to rethink...

I just came back from Anguilla and stayed at Cap Juluca. They don't even have any room keys.

I stayed in a villa on Antigua in April 2008. We had 3 security guards walking the grounds. Several of our wallets and cell phones were stolen. We went to the police station and filled out a report and spoke to an officer. They didn't even come to the house to talk to the "security guards". Don't visit Antigua. It's not safe and the police don't seem to care.

To rule out a destination altogether is a bit excessive. By that same logic, New York, Washington DC, New Orleans, Los Angeles, etc. should never get visitors either. Not to mention several other popular Caribbean destinations.

The murder in Antigua is tragic; no question. It points out that no "paradise" is truly free of worry. But to suggest that visitors avoid anyplace that has any sort of crime is a bit reactionary.

Considering there have been ten deaths in Antigua I would think twice about renting a villa In Antigua or St. Maartin...A well known M,.D. in our city ws shot at gus villain St. Maartin and had to live with the bullet because it was so close to his heart.. As has been said I would rather stay at a resort on a second or third floor.

This is upsetting but I still feel that Antigua is a welcoming island to people. What happened to this woman and her husband is still an isolated incident, and is not the norm. Thousands of visitors travel to Antigua every year and enjoy their vacation.

Callaloo,

Your post is spot on, and I couldn't agree more!!

There are murders every day in probably every city - not just on the islands. I think this does give people a wake-up call that you need to take appropriate security precautions anyplace you go. I am amazed that in this day and age, people leave valuables in their rooms, and leave windows open. I think the people in most countries are warm and welcoming - but there's a bad element in all countries. Think about how people feel when they're coming to the US - probably a whole lot more dangerous than going to Antigua.....

>>>and are inclined to leave doors and windows open at night to get the breeze and turn off the ac.<<<

Wow! :-o I would never do that whether home or abroad.
You have to realise that real people with real problems live on these islands. There are real guns and real gunmen here in the islands as well. You will not find "Paradise" here on this earth, unfortunately. There is just really good false marketing on the part of the tourist boards of these tourism dependent countries.

Funny enough, I feel safer in New York than I do in any island in the Caribbean. Go figure.

I think it wise not to condemn an entire island because of an incident. Aruba went through the Natalie Halloway story and I wouldn't hesitate to go there.

On the other hand, on Antigua, these people were gunned down in their rooms. That is very scary.

Like I said before, I usually don't like to be on the first floor of any hotel in any country. I like to be up higher as I feel safer. That is on any vacation.

Virginia, I am glad you posted this article. I always like to hear both the good and bad. I was not particulary interested in going to Antigua any time soon, but this just put it further down on the list. I have read about StMartin/Maarten having increasing crime issues there as well.

well i just had to post back on this. apparently i DO live in someplace that resembles "paradise". i have lived in very rural areas for 30+ years. i do not lock my doors at night. the keys are in all 3 of my cars. pretty much everybody in my town behaves the same way - well except one couple down the street who have all their cars alarmed, doors are locked even when they are at home, and they leave a bizillion lights on every night to the annoyance (light pollution) of our entire neighborhood). we all think they are nuts, i suspect they think we may all be murdered.
knowing almost everyone in town helps me decide i am making a reasonable choice.
when i go to the local city to shop i definetly lock the car, and hang on to my purse carefully. i'm quite careful in US hotels. once requesting a new room, as the desk clerk announced the number out loud.

i have looked into island crime a little and it seemed that normally it was crime between people who knew each other. for example i was on st. thomas a few years ago. there was a murder that turned out to be a drug dealer thing not affecting tourists at all. natalie holloway and the antigua situation are different because they are locals perpetrating crime on tourists.
deserved on not the islands do represent a "carefree life" to most visitors. i should think each island would want to do everything possible to eliminate violent crimes. i'm just thinking out loud here but i have to assume the Vast majority of islands jobs are tourism related.

JAGirl --

Perhaps you feel safer in New York than anywhere in the Caribbean because, on a per capita basis, the crime rate in New York is much lower than virtually anywhere in the Caribbean. For example, so far this year, they've had 10 murders in Antigua and the population is about 70,000. That converts to a murder rate that is more than 5 times the murder rate in New York.

One thing that I find disturbing about the Caribbean is that the local residents are too accepting of a high crime rate and don't demand that their governments do anything about it. There seems to be an attitude that "crime is everywhere" and that it is "normal" for people to have fenced-in property, guard dogs and burglar bars on their windows. There seems to be an attitude that it is ok for the police to take 12 hours to respond to an emergency call. In my mind that is NOT acceptable and, if the islands in the Caribbean don't start doing something about crime, it is definitely going to start impacting tourism, foreign investment and their economies overall.

Unlike Virginia, I don't live in a rural area. I live 15 miles west of NY City, and I sleep with the windows open all the time. No one in my neighborhood has a guard dog, a fence or burglar bars. It is sad that a lot of Caribbean residents don't realize that THAT is a normal way to live.

P.S. Sorry to sound so "preachy" this early in the morning, but this is an issue that hits very close to home for me since I own a home in the Caribbean