RTCPF Police Reopen Three Murder Cold Cases

The Turks and Caicos Islands, December 20, 2022 – The Royal TCI Police have renewed their appeal for information in the Denise Buck murder case, as well as three other unsolved murders dating back to 2019. Lloydel Swann Jr., Dale Taylor Jr., and Herbert Skippings are among those involved. Swann, affectionately known as LJ by his loved ones, was killed in April of 2019. LJ arrived at Cockburn Town Medical Centre with a head injury and was immediately transferred to Provo and then Jamaica for treatment, but he was unable to be saved. Three men were arrested in connection with the murder, but nothing came of it.

Dale Taylor Jr. was discovered dead on the side of the road near a bar in the West Road District on August 6, 2020. Taylor’s death was the island’s 15th murder of the year, and the island’s highest murder tally. That, of course, will be surpassed by 2022.

Denise Buck was killed on January 3rd, 2022, by an intruder she had heard breaking into her home. The woman had dialed 911 for assistance, but police did not arrive in time to save her life. A promised internal review of the time it took to reach her has yet to be completed.

The police never shared a press release about Herbert Skippings’ murder with the Media; the only murder alert was of an unnamed man found in Back Salina on May 9th, where police said an investigation would be launched. Posters requesting information were left at local supermarkets on Grand Turk.

Residents have expressed concern that it took anywhere from 8 months to 3 years to begin pressing the Grand Turk Community for information in these murders.