Drew Gollan update - Antigua Police question four

by BW Media roundup on 30 Jan 2009 Antigua and Barbuda police have said they are questioning four people in their investigation into the slaying of 38-year-old Australian skipper Drew Gollan near a popular marina last week.

Police spokesman Sgt. William Holder told reporters the four unidentified people are 'assisting with the investigation' into the shooting death and have not been charged with anything. He did not disclose more specifics, citing an ongoing murder probe.

Gollan was shot dead in an apparent robbery on Jan. 22 as he walked through a dockyard area near English Harbor in Antigua in the Caribbean. He was the skipper of the 163-foot (50-meter) sailing yacht Perseus.

The shooting outraged boaters, business owners and local residents, who complained at an impromptu meeting after Gollan's death that the government had not done enough to protect the yacht-packed English Harbor area.

Police have since increased patrols.

On Wednesday, Antigua & Barbuda Marine Association president John Duffy said that boaters and harbor businesses plan to offer more than $10,000 for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible for the Australian man's death. To contribute to the reward fund, click here

Meanwhile, others in the Caribbean yachting community are raising money for the shooting victim's daughters.

'We're going to set up a trust fund for his little girls because we're sure that the most important things to him was making sure they're looked after,' said family friend Peter Simmonds, adding $5,500 has been raised so far.

The twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda has been struggling with a rise in slayings, including the July shooting of British honeymooners Catherine and Benjamin Mullany in their cottage at a beachside resort.