March 23, 2002 – A 39-year-old Smith Bay man was stabbed to death Monday afternoon at his home on St. Thomas’s east end. Police identified the deceased as Clayton Laurent, a native of Dominica, as the fourth murder victim in the district this year, the seventh for the territory.
Territorial Police Chief Novelle Francis said Laurent’s companion, so far unidentified, told police investigators that she entered the home and came upon a masked individual struggling with Laurent. Francis said the woman told police a struggle ensued and she was able to wrestle the knife away from the suspect.
Major crime detectives later recovered the knife, believed to be the murder weapon, in the nearby bushes.
Francis did not comment on the motive for the mid-afternoon stabbing, declining to provide specifics when asked if robbery is a motive.
"The investigators are working on the information the witness has provided, we will go from there," he said Monday night.
A citizen reported the stabbing to police via the 911 system at 2:59 p.m. Monday.
