Honeymoon ‘killers did it again’

Two men accused of murdering a British honeymoon couple in Antigua went on to kill again using a single bullet from the same weapon, a court heard yesterday.

Newlyweds Ben and Catherine Mullany, both 31, were shot in an apparent botched robbery at their luxury resort little more than a fortnight after their wedding day.

Their deaths came shortly before that of local shopkeeper Woneta Anderson, who was killed with a bullet to the head in an “almost identical” attack, it was alleged.

Opening the case in the Caribbean courtroom, Prosecutor Anthony Armstrong told jurors that defendants Avie Howell, 20, and Kaniel Martin, 23, acted together, their crimes part of a “joint enterprise”.

“The manner in which these three people were killed was almost identical,” he said.

“All three victims were shot in the head. They were shot with a single bullet, no more, no less.

“All three victims were killed using the same firearm.”

The Mullanys, from Swansea, south Wales, had been staying at the Cocos Hotel in the south west of the holiday island when at least one gunman burst into their hotel chalet as they slept.

Fellow tourists heard Mrs Mullany, a qualified paediatrician from the village of Pontardawe, begging for help in the early hours of July 27, 2008.

They reported screams, gunshots and a female voice pleading “Help me please” at about 5 a.m. But when police arrived at the scene that Sunday morning, Mrs Mullany was dead – killed by a head wound after her assailant opened fire.

Her husband, a student physiotherapist from Ystalyfera, suffered massive brain haemorrhaging after a bullet entered his neck and travelled up through his skull. He was transported back to Britain for treatment but was pronounced dead a week after the shooting.

On August 8, Mr Howell and Mr Martin allegedly struck again - this time killing the 43-year-old shopkeeper in her home during what police believe was a violent robbery, the court was told.

Mr Armstong said Howell and Martin could be linked to all three murders.

“Shortly after the shooting of Ben and Catherine Mullany, there is evidence which puts them in their possession of Ben Mullany’s stolen phone,” he said.

“In respect of Woneta, there is evidence that we will show you that places one of the accused at the scene.”

Mr Howell, of Golden Grove, Antigua, and Mr Martin, of Tindale Road, deny three counts of murder.

As the case against them began, nearly three years after the brutal murders, neither defendant showed a flicker of emotion.

Both sat in the open dock at Antigua’s High Court, in the capital city St John’s, with their hands clasped together, listening intently to the evidence against them.

Mr Martin, dressed in a purple shirt and jeans, and Mr Howell, also wearing jeans, along with a white checked shirt, sat side by side, flanked by two security officers.

Both wore their hair in braids.

They remained totally impassive as Mr Armstrong set out his case.

“The Crown’s case is that both the accused murdered Ben and Catherine Mullany as well as Woneta Anderson,” the prosecutor said.

“We are saying that on the days in question, both Avie Howell and Kaniel Martin were acting together, that both were joint participants in unlawful enterprise to commit murder, and did so.”