american shot dead in colombia, santa marta

[mudd]

Every time when im in medellin and i see two guys on a moto, i think in the back of my head, " somebodys going to get shot"    at lest it wasnt in medelin this time 

Subject was the victim of a motorcycle in the Caribbean Highway, near the village of Gaira.The American citizen James Perry Edwards, 59, was shot dead Tuesday by subjects who were driving a motorcycle in the Caribbean Highway, a few meters from the entrance to the village of Gaira in Santa Marta.[/color]

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The crime occurred at approximately 10:30 am. According to police, Edwards had just left a parking lot where he had a container that served as his office. When I was crossing the street, two men approached him on a motorcycle, got off the grill and shot him three times.

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In fact also injured college student Hector Martinez Araque, 20, who was passing by on a motorcycle and was hit by a bullet.

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Although both were rushed to a hospital in El Rodadero by a police patrol, the alien arrived without vital signs. The student was referred to a clinic in Santa Marta with a foot injury, but was discharged.

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The police commander in Magdalena, Colonel Cesar Granados, reported that Edwards had lived since 2006 in Santa Marta and had a dive company in the Rodadero. The official said, according to preliminary investigation, the motive for the crime is personal revenge.

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CARIBBEAN WRITING

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http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/caribe/ARTICULO-WEB-NEW_NOTA_INTERIOR-10913074.html

[whitey]

Sounds like a hit ... will be interesting to see what info comes out of this ... probably one of the big three: chicas, dinero o drogas ... o todo eso ...

[chameleon]

i'm curious for more details.


It's disconcerting whatever the true motive.

[V_Man]

Could have been an employment issue but "personal revenge " sounds like una chica

[benjio]

The worse thing is on the coast you can have someone killed in this fashion for $500K COP...sometimes less. So when a vendetta arises with the wrong Colombiano, they usually won't hesitate to have an enemy taken care of. Especially if they're a gringo, as Colombians know there is little to no chance of retaliation. Does anyone remember the name of the guy that was assasinated in Medellin that use to own a small agency? It may have been in Cali...I can't remember.

[John W]

It was Robert Vignola in Cali.  His wife's family was involved in politics and he had a casino in Cali that went out of business or bankrupt, so he had a very high profile in Cali.  Tragically, there were multiple potential reasons someone may have wanted to kill him or his wife.  I think the advice stated here before that you really do not want to piss off people in Colombia is very good advice.

[V_Man]

Remind me again, why I would wont to retire in Colombia?

[JimD]

"Chica" is the least likely reason of all.  Most likely reasons would be he owed a debt to somebody or was asked for a vacuna and didn't pay or some one owed him money and didn't want to pay. The article said he had a dive business so maybe he was competing with some one who didn't want competition.

[benjio]

Remind me again, why I would wont to retire in Colombia?

V_Man, I'm sure you're joking...but if you're basing your decision of which country you're going to retire in on the likelyhood of a price being put on your head, perhaps you should stay out of Latin America altogether.
 

"Chica" is the least likely reason of all.  Most likely reasons would be he owed a debt to somebody or was asked for a vacuna and didn't pay or some one owed him money and didn't want to pay. The article said he had a dive business so maybe he was competing with some one who didn't want competition.

I agree. The fact that he was running businesses there makes it a lot more likely that this had something to do with money. Also, not to make any implications about a dead man, but Diving Business? A little math problem for you all:
 
Diving Business = Boat + Gringo with U.S. Passport = Possible Narcotraffico
 
I'm not saying this guy was involved with that, but I've heard stories about gringos with boats in Colombia. Also, saying "NO" to certain kinds of business propositions in Colombia can be deadly as well. The cartels aren't usually very good about giving people options when they want something done.

[mudd]

V_MAN,

remind me again, why I would want to retire in Colombia?

retiring in colombia??? unless your some retired teacher, living in some small village, living on a small pension, forget it. Locals know if your a gringo, reired in Colombia, you have $$$, which makes you a target. You may not be filthy rich, but your definitely richer than the locals and that presents a problem.

[michaelb]

The cartels aren't usually very good about giving people options when they want something done.

They always give you a choice. "?Quiere plata o plumo?"

[Alabamaboy!]

Sorry I did not see this earlier. I started another thread on the same topic. But will post a couple things here as well:

The best hypothesis at this time, (according to police) regarding why he was killed? He had been living on the Coast for 5 or 6 years  trying to maintain contact with his son who he had with a Colombiana. Apparently he was a successful businessman who would leave quite a large inheritance to his son (and indirectly his ex Colombiana) upon his death. So they think it was a hit for cash.

[Alabamaboy!]

"The caracol news site says that according to the police the motive may be the potential inheritance money he´d leave behind and that he was fighting for the custody of his colombian son.   "

"This american businessman appears to have been a very successful wealthy businessman and upon his death would have left a big fortune behind in colombia which has already occured."

[Alabamaboy!]

http://noticiascaracol.com/nacion/video-252570-investigan-asesinato-de-extranjero-santa-marta

[V_Man]

I reallt want to see this get solved. The guy was simply trying to raise his own child.