Vanuatu murder suspect was sacked by victim

THE prime suspect in the Vanuatu murder of Australian expatriate Lyndall Jacques was a disgruntled former employee of the 69-year-old and had threatened her on several occasions over the past year.

Vanuatu police claim to have concrete evidence linking 20-year-old Jacky Saul to the murder of Jacques, whose body was found at her home at Devil's Point on the outskirts of Port Vila last Monday. Her throat had been cut and she had been struck on the back of the head with a blunt object. Her house had been robbed.

Vanuatu Police deputy commissioner Arthur Caulton said Mr Saul had worked for Jacques as her gardener for a short while but she had sacked him about a year ago.
Following his dismissal, Mr Saul had allegedly tried to confront Jacques at her home on several occasions.

In the hours before her death, several witnesses had seen Mr Saul in the vicinity of Jacques's home, Mr Caulton said. Her body was discovered the next morning by her new gardener.
Mr Saul narrowly avoided capture last week after fleeing into bushland when confronted by a police officer.

According to Mr Caulton, during the struggle with the policeman Mr Saul dropped a bag that contained several knives and Jacques's car keys.

"The knives that were taken from Jacky during this confrontation are yet to be examined but the initial report states that it's likely that one of the knives was used to attack Lyndall," Mr Caulton said.

Although Mr Saul is the prime suspect, police are also looking for five other men who may have been involved in the murder. Mr Caulton said it was believed that friends or family members of Mr Saul were harbouring him.

"We think we will get him soon," he added.
Mr Saul was well known to police, having been charged in the past year with break-in offences and with robbing a tourist.

Jacques moved from Sydney to Port Vila in 1986 following her divorce. An avid gardener, she shifted to a seafront cottage at Devil's Point, a largely expatriate Australian community away from the centre of Port Vila, about five years ago seeking a quieter life. She was well-liked and often cooked for the local children.

Betty Forster, a former resident of Vanuatu was shocked by the brutality of her friend's murder.

"She was a really nice person," Ms Forster said. "I just can't understand it, especially when she was helping the locals out there. She kept to herself. She was quiet. She didn't go into town a lot. She was happy out there."

Ms Forster said there had been an increase in breaking and entering crimes in and around Port Vila. "There's too much unemployment," she said.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23053264-16953,00.html