EuroATC
17th Jun 2004, 15:45
I flew with Del in the jumpseat back in 2000, he was and still is a great man!
Pilot slain in island home
Air Canada veteran stabbed in chest
Turks, Caicos police suspect intruders
PHILIP MASCOLL
STAFF REPORTER
A veteran Air Canada captain was stabbed to death in his Turks and Caicos Islands dream home, apparently by intruders.
A suspect was arrested just hours after the slaying of 55-year-old Del Schick, formerly of Barrie, early Friday.
The suspect, who has not been charged, was shot in the leg after he allegedly pulled a firearm when approached by officers of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police, a spokesperson said yesterday.
A friend of the pilot's who asked not to be named, said they had been told the suspect was a Haitian boat person, one of the thousands from that neighbouring strife-torn country who had fled in boats to the Turks and Caicos Islands, Jamaica, the United States and other territories in the area.
The pilot, a divorced father of two, fell in love with the flat coral islands and moved there in 1995.
He built "his dream home" and moved in about two years ago, the friend said.
Schick was a 30-year veteran of Air Canada and flew out of Toronto. However, he was on sick leave when he died.
Marthe Frahm, a Canadian who lived with Schick, called police Friday afternoon to say two intruders had stabbed him at the home in the Blue Mountain area of the island of Providenciales, said Detective Superintendent Hubert Hughes, head of the criminal investigation department.
Officers who responded found Schick lying in a pool of blood in a bedroom of the two-storey stone house.
Police Commissioner Paul Harvey said the homicide has shocked the 20,000 residents of the eight inhabited islands of the 40-island British overseas territory in the Atlantic Ocean, southeast of the Bahamas and north of Haiti.
"Murder is not a regular crime here. This was the second for the year, but sometimes we go for years without a murder," the commissioner, chief of the island's police, said.
He refused to identify the suspect, because the man has not been charged.
When asked whether the suspect was a Haitian boat person as reported by the dead pilot's friends, the commissioner would only say: "We believe the suspect is illegally in the country."
Hughes, who is in charge of the investigation, said the suspect is one of four people — three men and a woman — arrested in connection with burglaries and thefts in Providenciales, the most densely populated of the eight inhabited islands.
"There was no sign of forced entry. We are not ruling out any possibilities and we have some good leads," said Hughes.
"We are trying desperately to bring this to a close. This is still a nice, quiet place."
When Britain offered the Turks and Caicos independence in the 1980s, the country tried to become a part of Canada, but was rebuffed.
The islands that are only 49 metres above sea level at their highest point, are immensely popular with Canadians. Tourism and fishing are the mainstays of the economy.
Since Air Canada flies there regularly, Schick was able to live in his dream home and still captain an Airbus 320 for the airline, his friend said.
Air Canada spokesperson John Reber said Schick was not on duty at the time of his death and therefore it would be "inappropriate" to give details of the pilot's career.
"We are shocked and saddened by this tragic event," Reber said. "We are doing everything we can to help the family during this time."
Pilot slain in island home
Air Canada veteran stabbed in chest
Turks, Caicos police suspect intruders
PHILIP MASCOLL
STAFF REPORTER
A veteran Air Canada captain was stabbed to death in his Turks and Caicos Islands dream home, apparently by intruders.
A suspect was arrested just hours after the slaying of 55-year-old Del Schick, formerly of Barrie, early Friday.
The suspect, who has not been charged, was shot in the leg after he allegedly pulled a firearm when approached by officers of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police, a spokesperson said yesterday.
A friend of the pilot's who asked not to be named, said they had been told the suspect was a Haitian boat person, one of the thousands from that neighbouring strife-torn country who had fled in boats to the Turks and Caicos Islands, Jamaica, the United States and other territories in the area.
The pilot, a divorced father of two, fell in love with the flat coral islands and moved there in 1995.
He built "his dream home" and moved in about two years ago, the friend said.
Schick was a 30-year veteran of Air Canada and flew out of Toronto. However, he was on sick leave when he died.
Marthe Frahm, a Canadian who lived with Schick, called police Friday afternoon to say two intruders had stabbed him at the home in the Blue Mountain area of the island of Providenciales, said Detective Superintendent Hubert Hughes, head of the criminal investigation department.
Officers who responded found Schick lying in a pool of blood in a bedroom of the two-storey stone house.
Police Commissioner Paul Harvey said the homicide has shocked the 20,000 residents of the eight inhabited islands of the 40-island British overseas territory in the Atlantic Ocean, southeast of the Bahamas and north of Haiti.
"Murder is not a regular crime here. This was the second for the year, but sometimes we go for years without a murder," the commissioner, chief of the island's police, said.
He refused to identify the suspect, because the man has not been charged.
When asked whether the suspect was a Haitian boat person as reported by the dead pilot's friends, the commissioner would only say: "We believe the suspect is illegally in the country."
Hughes, who is in charge of the investigation, said the suspect is one of four people — three men and a woman — arrested in connection with burglaries and thefts in Providenciales, the most densely populated of the eight inhabited islands.
"There was no sign of forced entry. We are not ruling out any possibilities and we have some good leads," said Hughes.
"We are trying desperately to bring this to a close. This is still a nice, quiet place."
When Britain offered the Turks and Caicos independence in the 1980s, the country tried to become a part of Canada, but was rebuffed.
The islands that are only 49 metres above sea level at their highest point, are immensely popular with Canadians. Tourism and fishing are the mainstays of the economy.
Since Air Canada flies there regularly, Schick was able to live in his dream home and still captain an Airbus 320 for the airline, his friend said.
Air Canada spokesperson John Reber said Schick was not on duty at the time of his death and therefore it would be "inappropriate" to give details of the pilot's career.
"We are shocked and saddened by this tragic event," Reber said. "We are doing everything we can to help the family during this time."