The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

A RETIRED 88-year-old Canadian doctor was stabbed to death during a home invasion at Clarence Town, Long Island sending shock waves throughout the peaceful island settlement.

While police have not officially released the elderly victim’s identity, The Tribune understands he is Geoffrey Harding, a doctor from British Columbia.

Dr Harding, according to international reports, had a long and distinguished medical career that took him across Canada.

He owned a vacation home in Long Island and regularly visited the island since purchasing the property in the 1960s.

Police arrested a 43-year-old resident of the island shortly after 11pm on Saturday in connection with the killing.

The suspect was also wanted for questioning over a separate housebreaking matter on the island.

Authorities said shortly before noon on Thursday, police in Long Island received a report that a man had been found dead at his home in Clarence Town.

When they arrived, they found the lifeless body of a Caucasian man with multiple stab wounds in his body. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Tribune understands Dr Harding’s vehicle was also stolen during the incident.

Dr Harding’s son-in-law Thor Pruckl, according to CBC News in Canada, said the family was still trying to come to grips with his death.

He added: “He was an exceptional person, very caring, and there wasn’t a wicked bone in his body … (he was an) incredibly nice person. To have something like this happen to him here is despicable.”

Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner told The Tribune that the crime was a “sad situation” that sent shock waves throughout the island.

She questioned the economic implications on her constituency, which she said is already strained financially.

Mrs Butler-Turner said: “We have a small second home, expatriate community and a small boating community in Long Island that helps my struggling island out a whole lot. Because on the island people love the fact that everything is so peaceful and serene.

“I don’t even lock my doors when I am down there. But now this just really places more stress on our community that is already going through hardship.

“I am sure second home owners and persons who might be thinking of making Long Island a second home are going to second guess that decision given the fact that crime has now found its way to us.”

The killing marks the first murder in Long Island this year.

It comes five months after popular Long Island web shop employee Andrea Carroll was found dead in her home at Deadman’s Cay, Long Island with a head injury. Her hands and feet were bound, police said.

Daphne Knowles, 47, was arraigned in January in connection with the murder and robbery of Ms Carroll.

Police said investigations into Dr Harding’s death are continuing.

Last April, Canadian resident Edgar Dart was killed while his visiting family in the wealthy Emerald Bay neighbourhood in Grand Bahama.

Mr Dart was shot during a struggle after three masked intruders burst into his family’s home on April 8 and bound his relatives with duct tape.