There was still evidence of blood at the crime scene on Monday morning. The door was also taped as ‘Evidence’.
Residents of Caye Mange are scared and worried about their safety following the gruesome murder and robbery that took place in the quiet community on Sunday evening.
One resident, who asked not to be named, told St. Lucia News Online (SNO) that the incident has placed everyone in an uncomfortable situation and will now cause persons to be “extra vigilant.”
“This is a very quiet community. It has its pros and cons, but this is very shocking because this has never happened before. There have been several break-ins but never a robbery that led to murder,” the resident said.
A 62-year-old shop caretaker, Jean Hamilton Louis alias ‘Coolie’, was stabbed multiple times during an alleged robbery in the community. His body was discovered lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
The woman, who lives close to the business premises where the incident occurred, told SNO that she hasn’t been able to eat or sleep since the bloody incident.
She said everyone there believe that the robber/murderer may be an “outsider.” “It’s not the guys raised here, petty things would happen and they would know who did it,” she explained.
Describing what took place on the gruesome night, the woman recalled that her uncle heard a scuffle at the shop and ran to the home of a police officer in the community to alert him.
But before the police arrived, he and two other persons went to the shop.
“Before they got there a male opened the door and ran out. They didn’t see his face, but noticed that he was wearing a pair of booths and a full pants, and a stripe shirt,” she explained.
The neighbour said the trio also saw the man pushed something in his side. It was later discovered that the murder weapon was not at the scene and the bandit may have used an ice pick to kill Louis.
But it was until the trio opened the door and went inside the shop, then they realised that the man was brutally stabbed to the chest and unresponsive. Blood was everywhere, she said.
A few minutes after, a police patrol was passing and they stopped and alerted them. The police went around the area in search of the man seen leaving the shop, but they came up empty handed.
While there was a substantial amount of cash close to the cash register, the bandit may not have noticed it, because that was left behind. He however took $40.60 with him before escaping.
The woman told SNO that she was able to see the crime scene before the police arrived and cordoned off the area and described it as a slaughter house, where blood was seen everywhere.
She described Louis as a very helpful person who was known and trusted by everyone in Caye Mange.
“He was friends with everybody in the community and he was a trustworthy person. My mom would give him money to buy beers and he would do it and he did things for everyone here,” she explained.
The woman recalls that Louis was recently hospitalized for a condition and people from community came together and paid him a visit and assisted him until he was fully recovered.
“He will be missed. He will definitely be missed,” she said.
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