Murder in Tortola, Lois McMillen's killer still stalks the island
edwar...@my-deja.com
the Murder on Tortola did not kill Lois McMillen.
On May 16, and Associated Press report indicates that in Road Town,
Tortola, British Virgin Islands, Magistrate Gail Charles, postponed a
hearing Tuesday for four Americans charged with murdering a Connecticut
artist after prosecutors said they were awaiting forensic evidence.
Lois Livingston McMillen of Middlebury, Conn. was found dead on the
West End of Tortola on January 15, 2000. That afternoon four men were
arrested. Police charged four gay men, Michael Spicer, 36, of
Charlottesville, VA and Washington, DC, a longtime neighbor of
McMillen’s on Tortola. Also charged were his house guests, Evan George,
22, of Portland, OR; William Labrador, 36, of Southampton, NY; and
Alexander Benedetto, 34, of New York City. Spicer and George share a
condominium in Washington, DC. Spicer lives on his investments and real
estate holdings, George is his companion. Benedetto and Labrador have
been friends since meeting in Southampton, Long Island as teens. They
currently run a modeling business in New York City.
The Americans have waited six months for prosecutors to produce any
evidence; they have been held without bail and kept in Her Majesty's
Prison on Tortola. The four American Defendants have been held
awaiting forensic tests form the prosecution, that have not been
forthcoming. Under the British Justice system, persons accused of
murder are held without bail. If the case is sent to trial and the
defendants are convicted, they could face life in prison. Forensic
evidence being tested includes clothing seized from the Defendants at
the time of their arrests. If the case is sent to the Eastern Caribbean
Supreme Court, trial likely won’t occur before October.
No evidence has been presented before the court. Gail Charles, the
Magistrate does not have the authority to drop the charges. The
Attorney General will not back down; the Governor has made statements
ensuring that the Police have conducted a thorough investigation and
have charge the right people.
These four men did not kill Lois McMillen. Michael Spicer met Lois
when they were teenagers; her family’s condo is nearby Zebra House,
Spicer’s villa. Michael Spicer is gay. Michael’s friend, Evan George,
sits his condo win Washington while Michael stays with his disabled
mother in Charlottesville, Va. Evan works construction and does
landscaping. Evan has a history of drug use, but no longer uses drugs.
He has an arrest record because a police undercover agent in Portland,
Oregon sold him drugs. Evan is also gay, but is not Michael Spicer’s
lover. Alex Benedetto is a friend of Michael’s from New York City;
William Labrador has been a friend of Alex’s since they met in
Southampton, New York as teenagers. Michael, Alex and William are from
well-to-do eastern families. Evan is from a middle class background in
Portland; kicked out of his home as a teenager because of drug-abuse
problems. None of these people have any history of violence.
The facts indicate that Lois McMillen arrived in Tortola on December
30, 1999. Michael Spicer arrived on January 2, 2000. William Labrador
and Alex Bendetto arrived a few days later. Michael called Evan and
asked him down, Evan arrived on January 11, 2000.
On January 12, 2000, the four men went to dinner at Bomba’s Shack, a
reggae and barbecue spot on the north end of the island. They went by
taxi, Michael’s usual way of getting around the island. Lois, who was
recovering from the flu, was there. Michael invited Lois to his table,
they conversed, and Lois took the four back down the island to Belmont
Estates. Although Michael knew Lois for a long time, they were only
casual friends. Alex Benedetto had visited with Michael at Zebra House
a few years back, met Lois and went out with her. This was also a
casual friendship, not a serious romantic relationship. William and
Evan did not know Lois previously. Evan has stated that until she was
found murdered he did not know her last name.
On January 13, Michael called Lois and invited her to dinner at
Pusser’s at Soper’s Hole. Lois provided transportation since she had a
rental car. They had dinner and went to another nearby bar for drinks.
Lois was not drinking much alcohol because of her flu, and because she
was driving. She left the men off at the gate to Zebra House shortly
after midnight. That was the last time any of the men saw Lois.
On January 14, Michael and his houseguests went out to Quito’s a place
on the East End of the island about a half-hour 's drive from Zebra
House. The four took a taxi at about 11 p.m. to Quito’s and were
driven by David Blyden, a local taxi driver. On the way to Quito’s
they stopped in Road Town, got money from an ATM. William decided not
to go out as he felt he was coming down with something. He went back
to Zebra House where he was staying in the Guest Cottage, a separate
house at the villa. He watched TV and fell asleep. He was able to
recite the program content of television shows from 8 p.m. to after
midnight. The other three men were at Quito’s and can confirm that they
were there until 2:30 a.m.; these witnesses include the son of a local
physician, Dr. Tattersal and staff at Quito’s. At 2:30 a.m. Alex
Bendetto went to get David Blyden, the taxi driver, who had returned to
pick them up. David Blyden asked Benedetto to go get a person
named “Moon” who he was also to pick up. Five men rode all the way down
the island to Zebra House. The three American men left the taxi at
Zebra House gate at 3:00 a.m. or so on Saturday morning, “Moon” was in
the taxi with David Blyden. Presumably, the taxi returned to Road Town
at 3:00 a.m. on January 15.
Labrador confirmed that he heard Spicer, Benedetto and George return to
Zebra House between 2:30 and 3 a.m. The three did not go to sleep but
watched said they then watched the movie “Vertigo” on television.
The three American men and the taxi driver stated that “Moon” was in
the taxi with them. “Moon” told another story to the newspapers. We do
not know what he told the police, but neither her nor Blyden are
suspects.
There are reports in at least two news articles that state that “Moon”
was the last person to see Lois McMillen with “three white men”
following Lois down the beach, shortly after midnight on Friday at
Quito’s.
These are the reports.
“Newsday, Long Island 3/26/2000
The next night, McMillen’s last alive, three of the four men said they
went to Quito’s Gazebo, a popular north-coast night spot on Cane Garden
Bay. Labrador told police he stayed home and watched television,
listing in detail what he saw, including an NFL highlight show on ESPN
and a program on Area 51 on the Learning Channel. The men had spent the
day on a hiking trip, and Labrador said he was too tired to “go out
partying.” After having dinner with her parents, McMillen, wearing a
new Versace blouse with a golden swirl on the front and white pants,
began the evening by heading to the south-coast Jolly Roger Inn, more
than a half hour’s drive from Quito’s. She told her parents when she
left just before 10 p.m. she would only go for about an hour or so.
The Jolly Roger was crowded as usual that night, witnesses said. A two-
person band played Caribbean music as couples danced in close quarters
in the soft ocean breeze, but McMillen sat alone. She seemed not quite
melancholy but introspective, content to simply listen to the music,
some later said. “When the band was on a break, I saw her get up and
walk to her car alone,” said Remy Companys, a former Bronx resident who
now spends most of her time on Tortola. It was between 11 and 11:30
p.m. Christopher Crawford, a boat surveyor from Martha’s Vineyard,
talked briefly with McMillen. He mentioned he and his friends were
heading to Bomba’s, he said. McMillen, sounding dismissive, said she
was going to Quito’s instead, both Companys and Crawford said.
Employees at Quito’s, however, swear that they never saw McMillen that
evening. “The way she moved, the way she dressed, if she had walked in
that door, I would have noticed,” said Japheth Destouche, 29, a
waiter. “She definitely was not here that night.” But Quito’s had as
many as 150 people crowding its small dance floor in front of a bar
area, decorated by autographed guitars hanging from the ceiling. Other
patrons overflowed onto the beach on Cane Garden Bay, which is dotted
with other waterfront bars. A local resident named Octave William,
better known by his nickname, Wally Moon, said McMillen was there
sometime after 11 p.m. In fact, he said, she’d asked him to dance.
About an hour later, William, 47, said he was standing at the bar’s
balcony when he spotted McMillen walking west along the beach. Trailing
about 10 feet behind, he said, were three men. One was tall, about 6-
foot-3, and the others were progressively shorter. But he didn’t see
their faces and when police showed him photos of the suspects he could
not identify them, he said. “I wasn’t really observing,” he said.
Spicer, Benedetto and George said they left Quito’s around 2:30 a.m.,
and got home to Zebra House about 30 minutes later.”
“Hartford Courant February 12, 2000
“It’s weird, very sad. Who would want to kill a pretty girl like that?”
said a Tortolan acquaintance who was interviewed by police and who was
shown photos of white male suspects whom he had never seen before. The
man, a Soper’s Hole Wharf marina worker who would confirm only that his
nickname is “Moon,” said he last saw Lois in the wee hours of Jan. 15
at a beachfront restaurant and bar called Quito’s Gazebo on Tortola’s
north coast. Quito’s is a popular place where patrons enjoy a daily
all-you-can-eat buffet lunch of grilled swordfish, chicken, seafood
salads and lots more for $17 while watching pelicans torpedo-dive
beneath the warm aqua- blue waves of Cane Garden Bay for their own
seafood lunch. At night, Quito’s bar comes alive and people dance to
calypso and other music that drifts down the white, sandy beach lined
with outdoor bars. Lois appeared to be enjoying herself and wanted to
dance with Moon that night. Moon, a thin, fortyish man with dreadlocks
usually tucked under a cap, declined to dance; he was with someone.
She was last seen alive about 1:00 or 1:30 a.m., walking west along the
beach at Cane Garden Bay. Three men whose faces Moon did not see
followed single file.”
If you follow the time lines, look at the evidence, and look at the
geography, there is no way that four men without transportation could
have come together to murder Lois McMillen down at the West End Ferry
after 11:30 that Friday night or early Saturday morning. Three of the
men were at Quito's Restaurant, a half hour away. The other New Yorker
was at Zebra House, not well, and would not have wandered three miles
down a dark dead end road after 11 p.m. at night. The police not only
have the wrong guys; they have let the murderer get away, and perhaps
are using him as a witness against the four Americans accused of murder
under the British justice system.
Evan George is a very small man; who appears boyish. He is shy and
speaks slowly. Although he has a history of drug use, he has no history
of violence. Michael Spicer is a wealthy millionaire who knew Lois
McMillen casually since they were young. William Labrador and Alex
Benedetto are friends of Micheals who have known each other since
childhood in Southampton, Long Island; one of the wealthiest enclaves
in the United States. None of these men had any motive to murder Lois
McMillen, and moreover, they did not have the motive, means, or
opportunity to commit such a crime.
Lois left the Jolly Roger at 11:30 pm. Lois was dressed “to the nines”
in a new Versace outfit. Lois is noticeable and the staff at Quito’s,
who knew her well, did not see her there. The staff at Quito’s and
other witnesses did however see the four Americans at the bar from
11:00 p.m. until 2:30 a.m.
Lois’s body was found at 8:30 a.m. near the ferry landing at the West
End. She had been in a violent struggle in the car, her handbag, money
and keys remained in the car. Some cosmetics were strewn down a path
toward the water. Her mother said that she was found with a can of mace
nearby. The assailant may have surprised Lois, since the ferry was not
running after 11:30 the road is otherwise a dead end; why she drove
down that road, if she drove alone, we do not know. All we know is that
she was attacked and drowned after falling into the water; perhaps
knocked unconscious at the time.
The police took evidence at the scene; soon thereafter they contacted
the McMillens. Ms. McMillen told them that she had been out with Spicer
and three other men on Wednesday and Thursday.
The police arrived at Zebra House shortly after noon on the 15th. The
questioned all four men separately. They asked for the garments they
wore the previous night. Shoes, shorts and shirts were picked up. The
police questioned Spicer about “blood stains” on his shirt. Michael
Spicer said that he spilled barbecue sauce on a shirt he wore Friday
night. The police also found blood on a tennis shoe. Michael said that
there was a touch of blood on his tennis shoe from a blister he got
from hiking around the island with Evan and Alex. Since Michael and
the other four were passengers in Lois’s rental car on Wednesday and
Thursday night, their fingerprints and other traceable evidence may
reside in the rental car. There apparently is a footprint that police
are analyzing to see if it matches any of the shoes taken from Zebra
House. This is the evidence the police have.
Statements were taken from the men upon their awakening, both Alex and
Michael had been drinking the night before. William and Evan did not
drink. Evan basically was along for the ride. None of them had any sort
of relationship with Lois that was more than casual. Evan and William
had only met her two days previous to her murder.
Lois is by all accounts a shy woman, who according to her mother,
dressed exorbitantly to cover her shyness. By all accounts she was not
drinking the evening she was killed. She was clearly a victim of
violence; the type of violence that has grown all too common on
Tortola. The type of violence that is not imported by rich American
tourists; but is endemic in the drug trade.
The Tortola authorities must know that they have the wrong people; or
they are very hardheaded or stupid. The man “Moon” may be implicated
in the murder or coverup - he has a history as a drug dealer on the
island. The taxi drivers on Tortola regularly deal marijuana. Your most
recent post talks about the drug trade. In September,a tourist was
shot in the back of the head, tourists are regularly robbed on the West
End of the Island, and here; a body turns up less than a mile from the
West End Police station; and the murderer gets away.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Jim Morris
You have factual errors in your post. However, before I attempt to respond
to some of them, I would like to know your relationship to the McMillen
murder case? Do you have a relationship (friendship, family, professional?)
with the four defendants and/or any of their family members or friends? Are
you a friend of a friend of the any of defendants? I ask such because you
seem to have your mind made up before the preliminary inquiry has even been
held. Also, is your Ellis your real last name?
Did you get a chance to see the post at the "Cybersleuths" Web site?:
http://www.cybersleuths.com/news/00__2000news/06022000.5722.htm
http://www.b-v-i.com/newslinks/
<edwar...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:8gsg14$g11$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
edwar...@my-deja.com
What sort of facts support your "gay rage" theory - quoted below? What
information do you have about Spicer, George, Benedetto or Labrador
that makes you conclude they are violent. Are these homophobic
speculations, are do you have facts supporting your theory?
The factual bases for my post are published accounts in the following
newspapers: "The Hartford Courant" "The Waterbury Republican-
American" "The Charlottesville Daily Progress" "The Richmond News
Leader" "APB News Services" "The Oregonian" "The New York Daily News"
and "Newsday". I also have an independent source on Tortola, and
information from other sources in Portland,Ore., Washington, D.C., and
California. If you have contradictory facts please post them; my
sources may have erred, but my conclusions come primarily from the
print media and sources in the gay community.
Most interesting is an update from "Moon", who now says that he was too
drunk that night, and can't remember much. He said to one reporter that
the tallest of the men he saw with the woman he believed to be Lois
McMillen was bald. The staff at Quito's Gazebo stand by their story
that Spicer, Benedetto and George were at the bar from shortly before
midnight until after 2:00 a.m. A taxi driver named David Blyden,
confirms that he took the three there and returned after 2:00 to pick
them up. The defendants say that "Moon" was in the taxi with the three
defendant's on the ride all the way to Belmont Estates. No news story
has included this information. As do statements from other witnesses at
Quito's. Lois was apparently a striking woman who dressed somewhat
flamboyantly; staff at Quito's according to published reports stated
that Lois McMillen was not at the bar on the night February 14th. One
waiter insisted that if she entered the bar, he would have definitely
noticed her. If she left the Jolly Roger at 11:30, and was seen leaving
in her car. She was never seen again; with the exception of "Moon's"
accounts.
Do you know "Moon"? Do you know any of the defendants? What was their
motive? What means allowed them to move from Quito's where they are
confirmed to have been from before midnight until 2:30 a.m. on Saturday
January 15? How could they have transported themselves to the West End
Ferry which is a half an hour's drive from Quito's. That is where
Lois's car was found. How did Lois end up drowned, over half a mile
from her car at the ferry? What scenario do you envision that would
have allowed four men, to have caused the murder of Lois McMillen?
According to one report, Alex Benedetto, who went out with Lois in
1997, talked to Lois about life on the island. According to reports, he
told police that Lois said that she was afraid to go out on the island.
Do you know what her fears may have been?
I have also confirmed that only Spicer and George are gay; Benedetto
may be bisexual and Labrador is not gay. Gay sources who provided
information following Debra Norville's story on "Inside Edition" on CBS
could not confirm their information. They provided information about
their sexual orientation based on the pictures of the four defendants
as seen on televsion. I apologize for any inaccuracies. I was posting
based on my information at the time.
Please provide me with any reply that you think conclusively ties the
four defendants with the crime, as I continue my research. I am an
independent gay poster who received information from sources familiar
with the defendants and who were not personal friends of the victim. I
am concerned about civil rights violations against gay men, who are
also targets of violence more often than perpetrator's of "gay rage"
crimes. [What exactly does that mean?] I share concerns expressed by
you and Lois McMillen about vioence against women.
"Hi Chad,
Your informative insight is appreciated and is most welcome. Please
keep such coming! Did you get a chance to read each of the newspaper
articles about Lois’ murder which are linked via the following Web
site?:
I think that a “gay rage” scenario is plausible. I also have a question
about Spicer... A gay/bi-sexual leaning has been made known. If such is
valid, then is Spicer having an “affair” with 22-year-old Evan George
(with George possibly being financially dependent on the wealthy Spicer
as his “sugar daddy” as George flew from the west coast to D.C. where
Spicer was living)? Did George do such to be with Spicer? Does George
live with Spicer (if so, is George a “live-in” lover with Spicer?)?
If Spicer is bi-sexual and rekindled something (or even started
something) with Lois as their families have known each other for twenty
years, did George get into a “gay rage” against Lois based on jealousy?
If Lois did have something going on with Spicer, did she call him a fag
(referring to his possible gay relations with George and the other
three) when she saw no hope of having an eventual normal relationship
with him (even though Lois’ Mother denies that Lois had anything going
on romantically with Spicer, but such shouldn’t be the final word in
case Lois did possibly have something going on with Spicer that Lois’
Mother didn’t know about)?
If Lois did challenge Spicer about him being gay/b-sexual, did her
doing such drive Spicer into a “gay rage” in the car (as Lois’ Mother
had told me that there were signs of a violent struggle in the car-such
is also mentioned in the Charlottesville Daily Progress article)? In
another possible scenario, did Spicer and the other three make sexual
advances on Lois which were rebuffed that triggered violence? I still
think that the possible “gay rage” scenario is the most
plausible... I was told told by the AP reporter (who was on
Tortola yesterday) that a possible romantic liaison between Spicer and
Lois has been raised.
I also read that Benedetto had a “fling” with Lois according to what
Spicer’s sister had mentioned in that Charlottesville Daily Progress
newspaper article (but Spicer’s sister could be simply “blowing smoke”
about such like when she had said in that Daily Progress article that
there isn’t any evidence-if that blood on Spicer’s clothing comes back
as Lois’ blood, I would say such is pretty damning for Spicer and is
evidence!).
If Benedetto did have a prior “fling” with Lois, did Benedetto get
jealous of Lois and Spicer (if they had something going on)? Did George
get jealous of a possible romantic liaison between Spicer and
Lois? Labrador returned early to Spicer’s villa according to that
Daily Progress article? Why? Did he get jealous if Lois had rekindled
something with Benedetto (if she did indeed have a prior “fling” with
Benedetto) and if Labrador had something gay going on with Benedetto? I
think Spicer was with George and Benedetto was with Labrador (with
possible “interaction” as such is known to occur with some gay
scenarios). Again, a possible envy driven “gay rage” scenario has to be
investigated, and I have made such known to the appropriate authorities
on Tortola...
In closing, a gay/bi-sexual man can be like a woman, and one knows how
catty women can get with each other over men.... I would also like
to know how Lois’ body got to be a mile away (or so) from the car? At
first, I thought that she might have been beaten and thrown into the
water (with the current and tide washing her up on that rock). But her
accessories were found near her body according to that Daily Progress
article. So how did she get onto that rock? Did one or more of them
beat her and then throw her in the water (or did they leave her there
to drown after beating her in a possible drunken stupor?)with the tide
elevating her onto the rock and leaving her upon it when the tide
lowered. Or after beating her, did they kill her by intentionally
drowning her in order for her not to be alive to later file assault
charges against whoever did such to her (out of the four)? Then did
they leave her on the rock and drive away in her car and abandon it a
mile or so down the road after they realized that they couldn’t be seen
in her car? Or after beating her (and leaving her in the water to drown
or intentionally drowning her or did she stumble to the water where she
eventually drowned after becoming unconscious from the brutal beating).
Did the men drive off in the car while she stumbled to the water and
then abandon it a mile or so away because they didn’t want to be seen
in the car. Again, I have so many questions that still remain
unanswered... Jim Morris <jdtm...@earthlink.net "
In article <zi0_4.245$NT4....@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net>,
Jim Morris
owns a house on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands):
Mr. Ellis,
Having read your report, I cannot help but be angered. I am not assuming
these four men are guilty, nor am I assuming they are innocent. Certainly,
without the return of forensics reports, any assumption by anyone is pure
speculation. Nevertheless, what angers me even more, is the inaccurate
details in your article.
Among others, the "tourist" shot in the back of the head last October, was
NOT a tourist. He was a Trinidadian, who had lived in the BVI's for more
than a year, with a work permit. His name is Jason Bally and he was not a
druguser, drinker nor a womanizer. His murder has gone unsolved and with
very little publicity. Then again, he wasn't white, female, beautiful,
American and rich.
Further, if you had any idea who "Moon" is..his spirit, his nature...the
idea that he might be the murderer and being used as a witness to frame the
four others, is totally ridiculous. Also, get your facts straight as to who
are "drug dealers" and who are casual and "religous" users of pot...Moon is
a rastafarian in the true sense..he is peace loving with a wonderful,
generous spirit. The worst that can be said, is that he drinks way too
much, and because of that, is a lousy witness to anything.
I am a homeowner on Tortola, and my husband is related to Jason Bally...you
should definitely do some more in depth investigating with people who are
better informed, before you jump to any conclusions.
Regards,
Susan OBert
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Jim Morris" <jdtm...@earthlink.net>
To: <Trac...@aol.com>
CC: "susan obert" <limin...@hotmail.com>, <calyp...@caribsurf.com>
Subject: Fw: Murder in Tortola, Lois McMillen's killer still stalks the
island
Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 22:19:09 -0700
----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Morris <jdtm...@earthlink.net>
Newsgroups:
alt.true-crime,alt.crime,alt.true.crime,alt.law-enforcement,alt.private.inve
stigator,alt.crime.bail-enforce,alt.crime.peacemaking.criminology,alt.lawyer
s,misc.legal,alt.politics.org.fbi
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2000 10:01 PM
Subject: Re: Murder in Tortola, Lois McMillen's killer still stalks the
island
> Mr. Ellis,
>
> You have factual errors in your post. However, before I attempt to
respond
> to some of them, I would like to know your relationship to the McMillen
> murder case? Do you have a relationship (friendship, family,
professional?)
> with the four defendants and/or any of their family members or friends?
Are
> you a friend of a friend of the any of defendants? I ask such because you
> seem to have your mind made up before the preliminary inquiry has even
been
> held. Also, is Ellis your real last name?
Jim Morris
I appreciate your response post. However, you also seem to have an apparent
position of "looking out" for gay men, so it could be argued that you do
have an apparent bias which is motivating you. You also mentioned "the four
gay men...". What is your foundation for saying such as I have only heard
that Evan George and Michael Spicer are gay in that they have been lovers
(as you inaccurately mentioned that Michael Spicer and Evan George were not
lovers). Evan George admitted such in a handwritten statement for the
Tortola Police. Do you have information that William Labrador and Alexander
Benedetto have been lovers as well?
If any of any of the defendants were involved with the murder of Lois
Livingston McMillen, I have a speculative idea of what might have occurred?
However, I am waiting to learn what is presented during the preliminary
inquiry next week...
<edwar...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:8hbf5u$omi$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
edwar...@my-deja.com
I did not say that Mr. Bally was a drug user. However, reports indicate
that guns and drug use are rampant on the island. Another man was shot
in April, look at Commissioner Malone's statements in the Island Sun.
"Moon", according to three of the men being held rode all the way to
Zebra House in the taxi with them. He then told reporters from the
Hartford Courant and Richmond Times leader that he had seen Lois at
Quito's on the night she was murdered, January 14-15, 2000. He said she
was being followed down the beach by "three white men." If this were
true, the staff at Quito's, who knew Lois well, perjured themselves
when they gave statements to police stating that Lois McMillen was not
at Quito's that night. He continued telling this story to reporters,
including reporters for Web TV, where his photo appears on line.
When interviewed by defense council, he provided a statement to them
that he was drunk that night and does not remember who he saw. If you
want to defend the type of behavior that lands people in jail, with no
evidence, in a legal system that does not provide rights of habeas
corpus, search warrants, or protections for the accused, do so.
As an American Citizen, I am outraged that vacationers on Tortola, can
be imprisoned for five months for having been friendly to someone who
was otherwise a quite lonely woman. I do not think that gay men are a
threat to women; Ms. McMillen was going through a tough period with her
father's cancer diagnosis, and other problems she communicated to
Benedetto on Thursday night. She said she was being stalked, and was
afraid on the island. These statements were given to police and not
followed up.
I think the FBI should have been consulted by Tortolan Authorities
immediately to assure that a proper investigation was conducted.
Unfortunately, Tortola has too many problems with its drug smugglers
bring in American authorities. Reference Jim Morris's post about the
drug smuggling ring arrested in Augusta, Georgia in April.
In article <D9c_4.2322$Fe.6...@newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net>,
Before you buy.
edwar...@my-deja.com
I have contact by email and bb's with many persons, both gay and
straight that have read these reports and followed the stories, even
persons on Tortola. I have heard different reports from different
sources; even the news reports are not consistent, because of the
forced secrecy of the police and prosecutorial process on the island.
If there is evidence against the Defendants, it should have been
provided to the defence attorneys. They should not be presumed guilty
because they are gay, whether they are lovers or not, in answer to your
question. My concern is that a killer may still be at large on Tortola
AND that the defendants have been held for five months with no legal
right to habeas corpus, presentation of evidence to defence attorneys,
and other denials of traditional due process rights under the process
followed in Tortola in the name of the Crown. In Canada or the United
States, this would not happen.
If you were arrested after going out with a casual friend, and then
spent five months in jail, with no evidence presented, no autopsy
report provided to your attorneys, no time of death reported, no press
coverage allowed, among the many other abuses by Tortolan authorities,
what would you do?
Given the Tortolan justice provided so far, my guess is that the
preliminary inquiry on Monday will be a "star chamber", no press
coverage, no transcript of the proceedings, and most likely no
presentation of any exculpatory evidence. All evidence has been held by
Tortolan authorities for almost five months. The defence has been given
no evidence to contradict anything presented at the preliminary inquiry.
Too many stories have appeared about "mystery" evidence, nothing in the
facts presented corroborates any contention that Spicer, George and
Benedetto - whose principal mode of transportation on Tortola was by
foot - could have contacted Lois McMillen after she left the Jolly
Roger at 11:30 p.m. on January 14. Statements from staff and other
respected Tortolans who were at Quito's reflect that the three
defendants were at there from well before midnight to about 2:15 p.m.
This is also confirmed by David Blyden, the taxi driver who took them
there, and brought them back. It is at best a 40 minute round trip by
automobile from Quito's down to the West End Ferry and Jolly Roger Inn
where Lois was last seen and where her drowned body was discovered.
I'm interested in hearing your theory. I cannot understand why a
striking woman like Lois would not have been noticed by anyone from
11:30 p.m. on. If she left the Jolly Roger Inn at that time, did her
car remain at the West End ferry? Did she leave by foot, or by auto?
She told two people she was going to Quito's. But statements from
waiters and others there say she never got there. Where would she have
gone? Why was her body found so close to the site she was last seen, if
she had indeed attempted to go to Quitos?
I am looking at timelines and factual data. I cannot believe that
waiters and other local citizens would have made perjurious statements
regarding the whereabouts of three of the defendants the night of
January 14 and early morning January 15. Their statements place the
defendant's over miles away from the crime scene, with no
transportation. Only Moon's statements place Lois at Quito's; I
understand drinking may be his problem and he may not be a reliable
witness. The press reported his statements widely; but not the
statements of the waiter, or other witnesses who stated that Lois
McMillen was not there.
No one knows what happened to Lois McMillen after she left the Jolly
Roger Inn at 11:30 on Friday night. The logistics of whatever events
caused her death would have required the presence of some one other
than the Defendants who were at Quito's that night.
I am very sorry that you lost your close friend. Keeping people
imprisoned with no evidence and no press coverage, does not help,
however. If Lois McMillen drowned through some accident, or if she was
attacked as Police charge, only facts and timelines and statements from
reliable witnesses should be used against them.
In article <xDc_4.2453$Fe.6...@newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net>,
Jim Morris
Your response post is again very much appreciated and was read closely as
well. I agree with you in that it has taken too long (in my opinion) to get
the forensic analysis results returned from Kingston, Jamaica... However,
like with DNA labs in the USA, there is a backlog at the lab in Kingston. I
was surprised that Scotland Yard did not get involved with such a high
profile case as the McMillen case (involving the murder of an American with
four Americans arrested) especially since the BVI is still a British
territory in close proximity to the USA. I had also tried to get the FBI
involved as well (with the forensic analysis, at least) and had even been in
touch with Agent John Wear at the FBI bureau on neighboring Saint Thomas,
but he mentioned that the FBI can't get involved unless requested by the
Tortola authorities (via the US State Department). So I then contacted the
US Embassy on Barbados as I had asked the press/media relations officer
there. However, I received the same answer from her. Such is mentioned in
the New York Post article found at the following Web site:
http://www.b-v-i.com/newslinks/
How credible of a witness is the cab driver (David Blyden or "Sallo" which
is a name that he also goes by)? Especially since he seems to be the
foundation of the alibi for Spicer, Benedetto and George in that it has been
said that Sallo drove the three men from Quito's at 2:30 AM and arrived back
to Spicer's Zebra House at about 3:30 AM in the morning...Do you know if any
of the four men were into using drugs? I already know that Evan George has
an outstanding warrant for a heroin purchase that he made in Oregon. The
reason that I ask such is that it has been told to me (by a credible source
on Tortola) that Sallo supplied drugs to at least one of the defendants...
If such is accurate, should Sallo be considered as a credible witness? Also,
after the Tortola Police arrived at the Zebra House to ask the men if they
knew the whereabouts of Lois as her body had just been found (but the men
were not considered as suspects at that time), phone were placed to Sallo
from Zebra House. At first, I had heard that 21 calls or so were immediately
placed to Sallo from Zebra House. But I then heard that it was over a period
of time, and that the 21 calls were not made immediately after.
I still think that there is a cloud of suspicion over the defendants, but I
don't know everything that the Tortola authorities know. However, I have
also heard that that Tortola authorities are not that capable in handling
murder cases (mostly because they don't handle that many), so I would feel
more assured if the FBI and/or Scotland Yard also got involved as I don't
want to see anyone innocent get "railroaded", and I don't want to see anyone
guilty "get off".
<edwar...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:8hcmud$im5$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
Jim Morris
Will forward your response post to Susan Obert... As you saw in my earlier
response to you (and in the following New York Post article from April 27th,
2000), I have been trying to get the FBI involved for quite some time (as
the BVI is still a British territory, why hasn't Scotland Yard been involved
as well?):
http://www.nypost.com/news/2924.htm
http://www.b-v-i.com/newslinks/
<edwar...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:8hch7u$f3t$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
Jim Morris
From: susan obert
To: <edwar...@my-deja.com>
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2000 8:56 AM
>Murder in Tortola
http://www.b-v-i.com/newslinks/
> Mr. Ellis,
> I appreciate your response...no, I did not say you mentioned drug use with
> respect to Jason Bally...I was commenting on your reference to him as
being
> a "tourist"..I added the additional information fyi.
>
> I thoroughly agree that it is outrageous that these four have been held
this
> long. On the other hand, that is a risk U>S citizens take when travelling
> anywhere outside of the country...other countries have different laws,
> different systems and we lose our rights when we travel outside of our
> boundaries..right or wrong, that is a fact.
>
> Anyhow, I do not believe the the "gay" connection was there from the very
> first...if these four had been just vacationing and law abiding, the
police
> would have had no dealings with them at all, and would not have known if
> their sexual preferences. Therefore, they were arrested for other
reasons,
> and the gay part came up later. That still doesn't mean they are guilty
or
> innocent...Getting the forensics is the key, but I don't think this should
> turn in to a crusade for gay rights...it should, however, be a crusade for
> justice and truth..that is the point, is it not? Whether they are gay or
> straight is totally incidental.
>
> Susan Obert
Jim Morris
Scotland Yard (in the UK) will be involved with the forensic analysis
associated with the McMillen murder on Tortola in the British Virgin
Islands: