Britons are hacked to death in Caribbean
Couple found by gardener
A BRITISH lawyer and his wife have been found hacked to death at their home in the Caribbean.
The bodies of Richard Wheeler, 72, and his wife Grace, 67, were discovered soaked in blood by their gardener.
Mrs Wheeler was found with her throat slit in the garden of her Tobago home, while her husband was in the living room with what police described as ‘chop wounds’ to his arms, back and head.
Friends described the couple as ‘peaceful, loving and happy’, and said they did not think anyone had a grudge against them.
Police believe robbery was the motive for Tuesday’s killing because their home had been ransacked.
The property was fitted with an alarm system and neighbours said they had been robbed a number of times in the past, with the most recent break-in taking place earlier this year.
The couple had been married for nearly 50 years and had lived and worked on Tobago for the past 16 years. Mr Wheeler, an expert in prop- erty law, was a partner in the Tobago office of Lex Caribbean.
He finished his training as a lawyer in the UK in 1973, and qualified to practise law in Trinidad and Tobago.
The couple married in Wortley, near Sheffield, in 1969, but had lived for many years in the Carnbee area of Tobago.
Martin George, the head of Crimestoppers Trinidad and Tobago, said his organisation was putting up a £10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer.
He said: ‘I knew them personally and have been to their house several times. They were just the most peaceful, loving and happy people ever.’
He added: ‘They loved having friends over, they loved entertaining, they loved dining. It’s just an atrocious scenario to think that somebody would want to commit a senseless and brutal murder like this’.
The Tobago Law Association issued a statement describing Mr Wheeler as a ‘distinguished member’ of the legal profession and calling for an ‘immediate and thorough investigation’ into the double murder.
The couple’s son, Geoff Wheeler, a vice principal at a college in Hong Kong, yesterday posted a photograph of his late parents on his Facebook page along with two youngsters thought to be their grandchildren.
Mr and Mrs Wheeler were the sixth and seventh murder victims this year on the island, which has a population of 62,000. There have also been a number of incidents of what Tobago police and authorities call ‘chopping’ knife attacks in recent years.
Last year two German nationals were knifed to death and seven years ago a Swedish couple suffered the same fate. All four murders remain unsolved. In 2009 British couple Peter and Murium Green were knifed and left for dead at their villa near Bacolet Bay but survived the attack.
Paying tribute to Mr Wheeler last night, his colleague Bronock Reid said: ‘Richard was a fun-loving person. He was very well-liked.’
He added: ‘We don’t know if anyone had a grudge against Richard but we don’t think so. I saw him on Friday and he seemed fine, no problems.
‘It appears to be a robbery that went awry. It’s always shocking when this kind of thing happens. He will be missed by everybody.’
‘A senseless and brutal murder’