Bahamians have become inured to murder. Tears shed in shock or sadness don’t last long. They can’t really. Remember, this is paradise!
Inurement in this instance, is not synonymous with indifference by any measure. Inurement has become a psychosocial response, a survival mechanism, to mayhem in Bahamian society.
1885
As this group of oddly shaped land masses, transformed itself, into a wealthy tourist mecca for the rich and infamous, an insidious disease of homicide, has managed to nestle itself next to the beating heart, entwining its barbarous tentacles around this nation’s vital organs.
Under the gaze of successive government administrations—sat on a capital island, of just 21 miles (34 km) in length and 7 miles (11 km) in width—this sleepy island society, has been violently shaken from its slumber, by shrill screams, alerting near and far to murder!
1905
As a coping mechanism, the Bahamian psyche, much like that of a child who experiences repeated trauma, has retreated into itself, creating an imaginary perfect world, where only good things and good people exist. This is why, despite the upending violence of murder, and its rippling influences in society, they still say, without much hesitation, it’s still better in The Bahamas.
1916
1940
1947
Tale of incest and murder told by 18 year old widow of two children as lover is shot dead by her jealous father
1957
1959 and 1960
1960
1962
Bahamas Murder Count By Year
1963 – January 16th 2024
1963 – 5
1964 – 14
1965 – 9
1966 – 10
1967 – 13
1968 – 19
1969 – 8
1970 – 16
1971 – 11
1972 – 14
1973 – 16
Michaiah Shobek (born James Michael Shoffner; 1954 – October 19, 1976), known as The Angels of Lucifer Killer, was an American serial killer who murdered three fellow American tourists in the Bahamas from December 5, 1973 to January 26, 1974. He was convicted in 1974 and was executed for his crimes.
1974 – 25
1975 – 22
1976 – 13
1980 – 25
1981 – 19
1982 – 30
1983 – 25
Sands served eight years in prison and, despite his violent past, he became a teacher in the public school system in 1996.
Sands worked at various schools and eventually became principal of the North Andros High School.
In 2014, residents called for his removal after learning of his conviction for the unlawful killing.
As a result, Sands was transferred to New Providence to serve as a district education officer at the Ministry of Education. He remained there until his death in 2017 at age 57.
https://bahamascourtnews.com/cop-turned-killer-became-school-principal/
1984 – 19
1985 – 33
A Bahamian man, who police said knew Boyd briefly, was charged with murder, which gave the Boyd family some comfort.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1986/07/17/tourists-beware-nowhere-is-entirely-safe/4ffecb04-7df5-4403-9b33-81d09b2a0aca/
1986 – 28
1987 – 31
1988 – 36
1989 – 46
Roberts was condemned to hang for the January 16, 1989 murders of Desiree Watkins, Larry Watkins, and Blondell Watkins at Freeport, Grand Bahama.
At the sentencing hearing, Isaacs will consider the circumstances of the crimes and the progress the convicts made while in custody to consider if they are qualified for re-entry into society.
Larry Raymond Jones was the first person to be released from prison in 2007 as a result of the change in the law.
Other murder convicts who were resentenced and have since been freed are Anthony Neely; Arnold Heastie; Nekita Hamilton; Stafford Clarke; Jeremiah Poitier; Michelle Woodside; Quincy Todd; Patrick Jervis; Garnet Jones; Barry Roberts; Jeronimo Bowleg; Clive Schroeter and James Dean.
Other murder convicts have received fixed prison terms and life terms on resentencing.
https://www.bahamaslocal.com/newsitem/92629/Murder_convicts_still_await_valid_sentence.html
1990 – 45
1991 – 28
1992 – 41
1993 – 35
1994 – 52
1995 – 50
1996 – 51
Depraved killer Sante Kimes allegedly drowned Indian banker Syed Bilal Ahmed in her Cable Beach home in 1996. She and her son Kenny – known to US police as “Mommie and Clyde” – then fled to embark on a con-and-kill spree across the United States, culminating in the murder of New York socialite Irene Silverman. The two were each sentenced to more than 120 years in prison without parole, with Sante Kimes described by a judge as “the most degenerate person I’ve ever met.” http://www.tribune242.com/news/2019/may/22/former-tribune-man-helps-tell-sinister-murder-stor/
Kenneth Kimes confessed to killing the Indian banker in The Bahamas by first drugging him, then drowning him in a bathtub, and later disposing of the body in the ocean.
1997 – 46
1998 – 56
1999 – 60
2000 – 74
2001 – 43
2002 – 52
The Tribune Friday 23 March 2012
However, on October 26, 2003, Farrington gave himself up to the police, confessing to the murders of the boys, as well as the killing of his lover Jamal Robins in Freeport in 2002, whom he had met while in a rehabilitation center. He then directed the police to remote parts of the island and to his house, where, in numbered boxes, the bones of some of the children were found.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordell_Farrington#:~:text=smoking%20crack%20again.-,Murders%20and%20surrender,and%20Jake%20Grant%20(12).
2003 – 50
2004 – 44
“This man deserves to go home to be with his family. The death, we are saying, was justified.
“Show the nation you don’t impose yourself on somebody, because one day you just might meet the wrong person.”
Green-Neely was acquited of murder last week.
The case is an example of the “gay panic defence,” which allows a person charged with murder to claim that they were driven into a state of violent temporary insanity by a sexual advance from the victim.
Its use often sparks outrage from the gay community around the world because it places the burden of blame on the victim.
https://www.thepinknews.com/2009/02/02/nassau-man-freed-after-using-gay-panic-defence-at-murder-trial/
2005 – 50
2006 – 61
2007 – 78
2008 – 73
2009 – 85
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/gunned-down-banker-was-already-in-fear-390330.amp
Last week, his brother Illtyd said he feared the recent death of his 82-year-old mother Mildred from ovarian cancer may have been accelerated by her son’s murder. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/corruption-make-hunt-bahamas-killer-2086159.amp
Last week, his brother Illtyd said he feared the recent death of his 82-year-old mother Mildred from ovarian cancer may have been accelerated by her son’s murder. https://www.offshorealert.com/watch-fraud-murder-in-the-bahamas-the-hywel-jones-affair/
2010 – 94
2011 – 127
He died on the scene.
Pratt had been charged with the 2001 murder of Kirk ‘Tank Dog’ Ferguson.
He was charged along with Deslin Nichols, 28, who was also killed in 2011.”
https://www.bahamaslocal.com/newsitem/84837/Man_charged_with_2011_murder.html
2012 – 111
Owen Hanna, 50, a fisherman with seven children, was shot dead in the Redland Acres subdivision around 9:30 a.m. He was reportedly involved in an argument with another man shortly before the shooting. Police reported that a 22-year-old man was arrested in connection with that murder just hours after the incident.
https://www.bahamaslocal.com/newsitem/54702/Police_Have_Solved_67_Of_82_Murders_Committed_So_Far_This_Year.html
2013 – 119
2014 – 122
Mr. Mackey, who was Deputy Director of the BIS, was reportedly shot in the neck at around 4:30 a.m in his Government issued vehicle, which crashed into a utility pole after the shooting incident.
His murder was the fifth in the past 24 hours and brings to 83 the number of murders in The Bahamas for the year thus far, according the Bahamas Tribune. https://www.antillean.org/latore-mackey-murder/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-26966422.amp
2015 – 146
2016 – 111
2017 – 122
2018 – 91
At the time her death was reported as suicide, which her London-based brother Johann disputed. There were two autopsies undertaken, the first of which failed to pick up on the 62 injuries found on Carla’s body that were recorded in the second examination.
https://inews.co.uk/news/real-life/bahamas-murder-suicide-carla-van-eeden-hotel-room-360679
2019 – 96
Delanzo Cartwright, 25, of Avocado Street, Pinewood Gardens, was charged with the murders of Porter, 48, and Adderley, 46, who were gunned down in front of a residence in Star Estates Subdivision, off Prince Charles Road, on June 28, 2019.
Cartwright was also charged with the murders of George Deveaux and Ashlee Hilton on December 3, 2018, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder of the same.
Hilton, 30, and Deveaux, 33, were ambushed and shot dead as they exited the parking lot of Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre on Fox Hill Road South.
https://ewnews.com/young-men-hauled-before-court-five-charged-with-seven-killings-stemming-from-2019
Before he died from his injuries, Perez told officers that someone had come to his door and when he answered it, the person shot him, Rolle said. Rolle said there were no signs of a forced entry.
“He received a frantic knocking on his door, so he imagined that it was one of his friends coming back to tell him something,” friend Juan Carrera told NBC 6.
Rolle said Perez is believed to have been at the restaurant until late Saturday night. Officers were interviewing witnesses who had been at the restaurant that night, Rolle said.
https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/alain-perez-bimini-big-johns-murder-bahamas/158755/?amp=1
2020 – 73
2021 – 119
2022 – 128
Acting Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander told the media today that 28 murders were recorded from January 1 to March 14, 2022, compared to 27 for the same period last year.
This past weekend was one of the bloodiest as five men were murdered.
https://caribbean.loopnews.com/content/murders-rise-bahamas-record-28-murders-q1-2022
2023 – 105? – Official numbers have not been released
To 16th January 2024 – 11 murders
