DR TRONA BENNETT
...beaten and strangled.
Francis Joseph | 9:29 pm
A Trinidadian doctor was murdered in her St Lucia home Tuesday and a relative is now the main suspect, according to the island’s Assistant Commissioner of Police, Vernon Francois. St Lucia Police confirmed yesterday that leading gynaecologist Dr Trona Bennett, 60, was bludgeoned and strangled. They are working on the theory that the suspect, known to have a mental condition, may be responsible for the attack. According to Nicole Mc Donald, editor of the St Lucia Star newspaper, the killing shocked St Lucians. Police said the first alarm was sounded when Bennett failed to show up at the private Tapion Hospital, in Castries, Tuesday.
She shared an office with her former husband, Trinidadian Dr Andrew Richardson at the hospital and police reported that it was he who made the call to them to check at her home after he realised his ex-wife was not at work and also had not called the office. Police found the relative heading down from his residence and discovered blood stains on his clothing, which he told them was the result of a cut he suffered the previous night. “The relative is in police custody with reference to the investigation. At this point in time he is the suspect but as to what is going to happen moving forward, we cannot make any determination at this time,” said Francois.
Richardson, a top surgeon in St Lucia, was a member of a team of doctors who monitored the condition of Prime Minister Sir John Compton, weeks before he died in 2007. In an interview with the St Lucia Star newspaper, ACP Francois stated: “What we have is the homicide of Dr Trona Bennett. The matter was referred to the police. We went to the scene and the body was found lying in a sort of living room area of the house, basically at the entrance of the house and what we are doing at the moment is the general processing of the crime scene.” Francois said Bennett was beaten with a piece of wood and she may have been strangled because there was a piece of rope around her neck.
The police officer said the woman’s son was in the house at the time she was murdered. He said a report was made on Monday night about the suspect, but no police action was requested and he was released. That call came from the suspect’s father, Francois added.
