Expatriates no longer safe as 73-year old British lawyer and his wife were hacked to death

zainab quadri

October 22, 2015 9:51 AM

A British lawyer and his wife have been found chopped to death at their home in Tobago.

Richard and Grace Wheeler, originally from Britain, were found hacked to death in their Tobago home

Expatriates no longer safe in Tobago as a British lawyer and his wife were found chopped to death at their home in Tobago.

Richard Wheeler, 73, and his 67-year-old wife Grace Wheeler, originally from Britain, were found with brutal injuries on Monday.

Wheeler and his wife were discovered dead in their home at Riseland Trace, Bethel.

Police said Richard Wheeler was chopped to death. His wife’s throat was slit. Robbery is the suspected motive.

Mr Wheeler was a partner in the Tobago office of Lex Caribbean, and also a member of the Tobago Chamber of Commerce. His wife worked for a real estate agency.

According to the Trinidad Express, the couple's gardener discovered their bodies.

He called the police, who attended the home and found Mrs Wheeler unresponsive on the lawn. Her throat had been cut.

Inside, police found Mr Wheeler lying face down in a pool of blood with slash wounds to both arms and the back of the head.

Robbery is being treated as a probable motive as the bedroom and living room areas were ransacked, the newspaper reported.

The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago said Wheeler was a distinguished member of the legal profession.

“The Association condemns this most vicious attack and calls for an immediate and thorough investigation into the double murder and calls upon the public to assist the police in providing the necessary information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of those responsible”

The Association also expressed condolences to the Wheeler family “for this tragic loss and urges the police to do all within its powers to bring the perpetrators before the Courts where justice shall be served”.

Trinidad and Tobago has some pretty disturbing crime statistics, and frightening stories when it comes to attacks on tourists and expatriates.

In October, a Swedish couple was chopped to death in their hotel room in Tobago. Just 10 days later in Tobago, two British females were robbed and sexually assaulted by a bandit who forced his way into their holiday apartment.