myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

In today's(Sat 11 0ct) T&T Guardian it states that a 32 yr old male was arrested within hours and has been under interrogation since.ACP Fitzgerald said that charges are likely to be brought against the man.
David

This is truly horrendous! I heard about it yesterday from friends who live on the Island and by all accounts the island is in shock.
Not wishing to detract from this awful story - but last month my sister-in-laws niece was also attacked in her rental villa i've been scouring the Tobago News online ever since for a report of the incident but there has been none!

see story here:

http://archives.tcm.ie/waterfordnews/20 ... y29331.asp

My deepest sympathy to the families of those involved

Carole
Tobago News Internet paper doesn´t always come out with all new news every week, sometimes they update the internet paper very slow. I sometimes see same news for two weeks.

The Trinidad Express aslo confirm that a 32 years old man from the Crown Point area is arrested, the police now wait for the DNA-answers and finacl technical report. It seems that they did a hard work this time, Special Anti-Crime Officers, Technicans incl. a helicopter and tracker dogs were taken over at once from Trinidad.
Ronald

The following press release was issued by the Assistant Commissioner of Police in Tobago late last night.

MINISTRY OF NATIONAL SECURITY

PRESS STATEMENT

Delivered by Ag. Assistant Commissioner of Police (Tobago) Mr. Fitzroy Frederick
___________________________________________________________________

On behalf of the people of Trinidad and Tobago I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Ake Olsson and Anna Sundsval.

I would also like to condemn these senseless killings and update you on the joint investigation between the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and the Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT).

A man is in police custody following the murder of two Swedish nationals on Tobago yesterday.

The man, who is thirty two (32) years old, was arrested in the Crown Point area at shortly after midnight this morning (Friday, October 10, 2008).

He is being questioned in relation to the murder of Ake Olsson, a retired Swedish national and periodic Tobago resident, and Anna Sundsval at his house in Bon Accord Development, Tobago, on yesterday (Thursday, 9 October, 2008).

According to information on hand thus far Ake Olsson has been visiting Tobago on a regular basis since 1998 and four (4) years ago acquired a home in Bon Accord.

The murder was reported to police shortly before 10:00 a.m. The Police Service responded promptly and reinforcements from Trinidad were also sent without delay to Tobago. These include Special Anti Crime Investigation Officers, Homicide Officers and tracker dogs. A helicopter from Trinidad was also dispatched immediately to Tobago and searches were conducted in the mangroves and surrounding areas of the Bon Accord Development.

Presently the police are conducting DNA testing, house to house interviews, revisiting the crime scene, recording statements from several possible witnesses and distributing a composite sketch of the alleged perpetrator throughout the island.

Initial inquiries by police revealed that several witnesses reported seeing the alleged perpetrator within the area before the incident.

Our Police Department has already developed action plans to assist with the ongoing investigation.

We are committed to ensuring that Tobago remains a safe place to live as well as a secure tourist destination.

Our inquiries into this incident are continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call 555 or Crime Stoppers or 639-4152, 639-0042, 639-2511, or 639-2515.


Friday October 10, 2008

This is clearly good news – if any aspect of this tragic case can be consider “good news”.

May I also correct some gross – even malicious – reporting in the Scandinavian press. Anna Sundsval was NOT decapitated as widely reported. She died from chop wounds to the face and neck, but distorting the story to make it more sensational and look like a sadistic pre-meditated murder in which the perpetrator took the time to remove the head from the body is frankly grossly insulting to the families and friends of the poor victims. I thought the British press were pretty contemptible, but clearly they are not alone.

I can only register my shock of this ghastly event and extend my sympathies for the family and a speedy recovery from the trauma of those affected by this.

I hope that they find the (right) person who did it and I hope that the actions taken in all respects of this are widely reported in order to prevent any form of human waster from considering this form of crime in Tobago again.

Regards

CaroleW:

The violent robbery/attempted sexual assault that happened to my friend and I in Black Rock in our villa in May never made it into either the Trinidad or Tobago news. I was living in Trinidad at the time and I most definitely looked for it. And we did file a police report immediately. I'm so sorry that happened to your relative, too. It has been five months since it happened to me and I still have difficulty sleeping at night. And I can't imagine what the relatives and friends of this couple must be going through.

I'm very interested to see what will happen now that they arrested this guy. It's truly too bad that DNA can't be used.

I have just been reliably informed that the police have the killer in custody and found the murder weapon.
The person that was arrested yesterday matched the description but could not be linked to the crime.
At the moment I do not have any other details.

Update Second suspect detained:

http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,87866.html

Thanks Carole, but this is the same news that was covered by the press release in my last post above, on Saturday morning.

We were in Tobago at the time of this incident on holiday, well, waiting for our flight back home that evening. It was shocking to hear the news, especially in a populated area like Bon Accord. We had spent a lovely week on the Island (reviews to follow). I must be honest though, It did not change my perspective of the island or my safety. In this current era you can never guarantee your safety anywhere so I would be just as happy to return to the lovely island.

Reading through the comments, as for cutlasses, when we were in Charlotteville lots of fisherman etc were walking around the bay with cutlasses, infact we were approached by a local trader carrying a cutlass offering fruit, trips etc. This type of knife is almost part of their everyday tool for work. I still strongly believe the majority of locals are peace loving. So getting rid of this type of knife would be impossible and impracticable.

To add to the sad stories, at the airport I overheard an english family telling others that the day before the murder, their villa was raided in the night by burglars and the mother of the family was slashed in the hand by a large knife (cutlass) and cash was stolen. Indeed she had her hand bandaged. I also overheard that they had left the patio door open due to the heat! I cannot say where this occurred as it was not mentioned during their conversation.

So crime may be evident on the island but given the number of tourists / residents etc the odds of being a victim are still low and as always re-iterated, common sense and precautions should minimise the risk further.

If anyone reading this thread has not visited the island, please don't panic or despair, it is a great friendly place, lots to see and do and from what I saw and felt in that week, safe.....

Maybe the English family you overheard was attacked by the same person or persons who later killed the Swedes.

It is interesting to note that this incident has prompted many people to come forward to convey similar, and thankfully not as unfortunate, experiences that seem to arise in a very localised area of Tobago.

I am not Shelock Holmes ... but It certainly seems that villas (even with good security) are the main target of these criminals ... there is not much happening like this in the resorts or guesthouses.

Correct me if you feel I am wrong.

Regards

Hi Paul, I have to agree! I have friends who have lived (by Tobago rules) spasmodically in Tobago for a few years now and have never come across any problems, it does seem to be the villas that are targeted - such a shame, but if the perpetrator of this crime is convicted and punished accordingly it might put others off considering such crimes - here's hoping!

Yes, villas do seem to be the dangerous place to stay in Tobago and the place where the vast majority of attacks seem to take place. I don't think you could pay me enough money to stay in a villa again anywhere in the Caribbean (not just Tobago). If ever I come back to Tobago, I would be staying in a hotel near lots of other people. The villa that we stayed in was isolated enough that nobody heard my friend screaming.

I just heard that they had to release the two suspects because of lack of evidence.

I can only agree. We love the villas above Englishman´s bay but I do not fancy staying 12 km from the nearest point of civilization anymore. So,unfortunately, my vision of Tobago as a peaceful haven, with me and beloved swimming in the pool under the stars, has been tarnished, and the problem does seem to be escalating rather than going away. There are of course many villas, and few robbed every night. There are also just 80 000 Tobagonians, and rather few of them living on the upper west coast. Nevertheless I just do not feel as safe anymore as I would do in other locations. I do not know what it is, but might it be simply that villa residents are seen as rich westerners that attract envy and hatred from a certain segment of the local population? Even though it many times is much cheaper to rent a villa for a fortnight than staying at a posh hotel? Sorry, but that segment of the population is biting the hand that feeds them, somehow, and that hurts. I have, as many of You know, had the same experience of robbery in the night. That time, I could´t even dream of such an incident turning into murder. Now, it seems, that boundary has been passed numerous times with violence inflicted on foreigners. Even a cut to an artery in an arm is of course fatal with an hour to hospital...

I think saying 'villas are the dangerous place to stay' is a bit sweeping. My boyfriend and I have a villa in Tobago that we rent out (and stay in ourselves.) We have never experienced any problems during our time out there (at least once a year, every year since 2003) and we will be out there again in December.

We have had about 65%-75% occupancy from rentals and during all that time, we have had just one incident where the villa was burgled. Although upsetting, I am pleased to say that the perpetrator was seen by a neighbour, the police were called and the man was caught and charged.

When renting a villa, I would recommend that people consider location and facilities up front. Many rental villas do not offer security, so perhaps they do appear to be an easier target for a determined criminal. As they offer holidaymakers a home from home, I do know that many visitors will leave their cameras, mobile phones, cash etc lying about instead of keeping it hidden from view or using the safe etc...which doesn't help! Many of the burglaries that occur are opportunist, so if you remove the temptation you can pretty much eliminate the problem.

Some areas of the island are quieter than others. So it really comes down to your preference - whether you want to be out of the way and peaceful or have a more 'residential' feel to the neighbourhood and people around you.

If you are renting a villa, don't be afraid to ask about security measures (grills,alarms, security guard etc) because any villa owner will be happy to help and answer your questions. Overall though, I would echo some of the other posts on this topic - this kind of incident is very RARE on Tobago (thank goodness) and so don't let it put you off visiting or going back.

Helena,
I really understand what you're saying. I never had any personal problem in Trinidad (which is supposed to be twenty thousand times worse as far as crime), so of course I don't have a scary impression of Trinidad. But Tobago is different for me. As they say, once bitten, twice shy.

In Tobago, I felt like my friend and I were specifically targeted while we were on the beach that day. We did not flash cash or wear expensive jewelry (neither of us are very well off anyway, which is why we stayed in a villa that was very reasonable in price and had no valuables aside from our cell phones). We were residents of Trinidad, had come over via ferry for the weekend, and so we well knew about being cautious and "taking the usual precautions." We locked up after sundown, we didn't go walking around at night. I can't think of a single thing we could have done to prevent our middle of the night attack. And someone above mentioned that the robbers are no longer just looking to rob, that things are escalating. Yes! That was the frightening thing. If our guy had "just" robbed us at knifepoint, it would have been traumatizing for sure, but not nearly to the extent that it ended up being because he wanted to do more than just rob us and we were basically held hostage for a good twenty minutes while we tried to talk him down and fought him off. I don't mean to give so many details, but I just wanted to emphasize that these robbers are now doing more than robbing, alas. And now of course it has escalated to murder.

Again, this makes me feel sick to my stomach to talk about it in this way, but until Tobago gets a much better grip on the crime situation (that is filtering in from Trinidad, it seems?), it's going to be a risk to rent a villa. It's absolutely true that this kind of thing could happen anywhere in the world, in our own towns, etc., but if these robbers are targeting tourists and specifically tourists who rent villas, then if you are a tourist in Tobago renting a villa, you have a much higher statistical chance of becoming a victim than you would in other circumstances. That's what bothers me. I go on holiday to relax, not to have to watch my back every second. And that's what Tobago, when considering their tourist industry, needs to keep in mind. That is what is far more important than luxury resorts or new hotels. And it frustrates me to have to sound so negative because I really love Trinidad and Tobago, have friends and my husband there, and I would love to see things change so that both locals and visitors can feel safe again. I know it will be a long time before I personally feel safe in a villa again.

Latest news

http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,88102.html

Seems the the Foreign and Commonwealth Home Office in the UK has issued a travel advisory advising visitors to take precaution in Tobago. Among other things you are advised to always carry a cellphone.

Thanks Stefan

I published the updated Foreign & Commonwealth Office Advisory on our Crime and Personal Safety page (available through the Information menu) two days ago.

What I'm about to say may cause offence, and I honestly don't mean it to. I sincerely hope it doesn't, and I'm not wishing to speak ill of the dead. I met them on a couple of occasions via friends, and they seemed like genuinely nice people. With that in mind...

The Tobago News today makes interesting reading. In various articles, they quote that tourism is under threat (justifiably!) following the murders. The two suspects who were released pending DNA evidence, were a Trinidadian, and a Jamaican. Whilst this happens on Tobago soil, and it still reflects badly on Tobago, I think that's definitely worth noting.

The paper further reports that when the villa was burgled last year, the culprits got away with US$50,000. I'm not - in ANY way - trying to condone these obscene murders, and I firmly subscribe to not believing everything I read, but to put it into perspective, even if the details are all grossly inflated, you have to wonder why, in this day and age, people would travel with large amounts of cash! I understand completely that they're here long term, and I say again - the murders are horrendous and completely unforgivable - but if word got out that anyone on the island had a history of storing so much cash, you can bet your bottom dollar that sooner or later, there'll be trouble. Not just in Tobago - anywhere!

I pray that this was a one-off occurrence. I hope sincerely that the *******'s (insert expletive of choice!) that did this are caught and put away for a LONG time. My biggest hope is that it's proved that the vast majority of crime that occurs here is by people who don't live here.

Whichever way, there can be no good coming from this situation and it remains the opening statement in every conversation here - whether local, resident or tourist.

At the end of the day, this website in particular, is frequented mostly by a large number of persons who all see Tobago in a very positive light, and who love the island. As a group, is there something we can do? Can we, collectively, not put pressure on the Government to ensure that things are dealt with expeditely? We're all outraged by this situation, but can anyone think of a way forward? What can we do to reinstate confidence? Come on all you myTobagophiles - what do you think? How do we go FORWARD from here? We all know that people will come back when crime goes away - but how, and what, can we do?! I'm trying to galvanise you into action here!! Suggestions?!!!

Here's hoping I haven't opened TOO large a can of worms!!?

Lisa.