St Lucia cops met with ‘wall of silence’ while probing brutal gun murder of Brit hotel boss in island paradise
COPS probing the murder of a Scot on a paradise island are being scuppered by a wall of silence, an insider has revealed.
Detectives are said to be no closer to snaring the maniac who gunned down Donnie McKinnon on the Caribbean isle of St Lucia.
Their efforts to catch the killer have also been complicated by the suspects wearing Covid masks when they ambushed the 48-year-old in December.
Local fisherman Anthony Malcolme, 76, who was quizzed by cops, said: “They warned us about withholding information.
“We were told to speak out about the shooting and to give any information that we might have.
“They asked us not to hide anyone and to give information however little it might be.”
A police source added: “We are appealing to the public directly and are calling on them once more to provide us with information that will lead to an arrest and conviction of the suspects involved with this murder.
“Someone must know who did this and we want them to come and talk to us in confidence. We are making a direct appeal to people to come forward.”
We told how estate manager Donnie was gunned down by two masked men while sitting at Steve’s Bar in Soufriere with his friend, Peter Jackson, 72, a photographer from Lancashire who survived the shooting.
Two men were later arrested over the deadly attack but were released without charge.
Investigators had earlier brought in an expert criminal profiler amid growing ‘cold case’ fears as they struggled to make a breakthrough.
And now insiders say efforts to identify the duo responsible have been made more difficult due to the wearing of Covid masks which are common among locals.
Our source explained: “There were people who may have seen the gunmen who were wearing facial covering but there were innocent people who were also wearing their masks to protect themselves from Covid.
“The gunmen must have used this opportunity to blend in so as not to stand out from the crowd.
“They used this opportunity to murder the poor man. He stood no chance against these cowards.”
It’s understood ex-pat Donnie held dual citizenship and previously worked as a manager at the Marcliffe Hotel and Spa in Aberdeen.
We earlier revealed a gang link was among the theories being explored by detectives who were quizzing suspects linked to another murder close to where Donnie was slain.
Arrests were made after local man Kevin St Holl, 28, was assassinated in February on the same road.
A police source told The Scottish Sun last night: “Two murders on the same road can’t really be just a coincidence.
“In this latest incident, the young man was shot while he was inflating his bike tyre.
“This happened just a stone’s throw from the pub where the British man was gunned down.”
St Holl’s killing came three months after Donnie, of Fort William, Inverness-shire, was shot on the crime-riddled island.
We also told how detectives were probing the possibility his shooter came from the UK or Europe.
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