Month: May 2022

Officials confirmed on Monday that samples extracted from three American tourists who died at a resort in the Bahamas under mysterious circumstances have been sent to a lab in the United States, to expedite results and help authorities understand what happened.

Paul Rolle, the police commissioner of the Bahamas, stated that the police have also collected samples from the rooms where the tourists were staying and the surrounding property to determine whether any contaminants were present, saying: “We really want to know what caused this.”  Police Commissioner Rolle identified the victims as Michael Phillips, 68, and wife Robbie Phillips, 65, of Tennessee, and Vincent Paul Chiarella, 64, of Florida.  Chiarella’s wife, Donnis, was airlifted to a hospital in Florida and remains in serious condition, Rolle said. Their bodies of the three victims were found Friday morning at the Sandals Emerald Bay resort in Exuma, where the couples had been staying in two separate villas.

The samples extracted from the victims and their villas were sent to a lab in Philadelphia, with results of the toxicology report expected in about one week. Rolle noted that the Bahamas’ Department of Environmental Health and police officers are still at the resort.

All four tourists complained of feeling ill and went to a doctor the night before their bodies were discovered; they went at different times and had eaten different things. Sandals Resorts said it would not comment further beyond its original statement, which noted that it is supporting the investigation and the families of those affected.  The company said: “Out of respect for the privacy of our guests, we cannot disclose further information at this time.”

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Nearly five years after his arrest, the trial has begun for the man who drove through crowds of tourists in Times Square killing one woman and injuring 22 other people.  Richard Rojas, a 31-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, was arrested in 2017 after he barreled his Honda Accord down a sidewalk along Seventh Avenue between West 42nd Street and West 45th Street before crashing into protective barriers on May 18, 2017.

Rojas was indicted by a grand jury and charged with 29 counts including murder for “depraved indifference” for the death of Alyssa Elsman, an 18-year-old who was on a family trip when she was killed. Other charges included numerous counts of felony assault for recklessly causing physical injury and injury through risk of death, including for the injury of Elsman’s 13-year-old sister Ava.

Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office noted in the indictment that Rojas’ defense team does not dispute the facts of the case and intends “to offer a psychiatric defense.” According to a criminal complaint, Rojas allegedly told police that he had smoked marijuana laced with PCP.  PCP, also known as angel dust, has hallucinogenic effects that can cause users to become delusional and paranoid, resembling symptoms associated with schizophrenia.

Rojas allegedly told a traffic enforcement officer after the incident: “I wanted to kill them” and also reported he was hearing voices and experiencing hallucinations.  In addition, just days before the Times Square rampage, Rojas was arrested after he threatened a man who had gone to his apartment to help him notarize documents with a knife and accused him of trying to steal his identity.  He was also arrested twice previously for driving while intoxicated.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/trial-start-driver-ran-times-square-tourists-84586199

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