A US national was forced at knifepoint to open his own safe while bound with duct tape, a court heard Wednesday, as the trial of a man accused of robbing three elderly people at Antigua’s Mill Reef Club entered its second day.
Marlon Carr of Fort Road faces three counts of aggravated robbery in connection with a brazen late-night attack at a Mill Reef Club property on April 6, 2022. The case is being heard by judge alone before Justice Ann Marie Smith. Two other men were originally charged alongside Carr — Rickardo Bussawan of Villa pleaded guilty in 2024 and is serving eight and a half years in prison, while charges against Delon Wills were dropped. Carr has taken the matter to trial.
The victims — a married couple both in their seventies and a female houseguest of similar age — had returned from a party around 10 pm and were unwinding at a poolside cabana when three masked, gloved, knife-wielding men suddenly appeared.
What followed was an ordeal that ended with Jewellery, cash, iPhones, iPads, and other items valued at over US$11,000 being stolen before the men fled.
When the trial opened on Tuesday, the female houseguest took the stand. She testified that her attacker grabbed her around the neck with what she believed was a knife pressed against her and stripped jewellery from her body, including a ring belonging to her late husband that she begged him not to take.
A police witness presented photographs of the scene showing duct tape, a knife, and a bloodstain on a bed, along with images documenting bruises on two of the complainants.
A security guard’s statement read to the court also revealed that a vehicle had arrived at the club’s gate at 7:30 pm that evening, driven by a man who identified himself as Marlon Carr and stated he was there to pick someone up.
In Wednesday’s proceedings, the male homeowner told the court he was grabbed from behind and marched to a safe the robbers already appeared to know about, where he was made to enter the combination while bound. The safe did not open immediately — prior attempts to crack it had triggered a delay — and the robber accused him of entering the wrong code deliberately. When it finally opened, cash and his wife’s jewellery were taken.
He said that once the men left, he freed himself, untied the two women who were bound on a bed, locked the front door, and immediately contacted the Mill Reef Club manager.
Security arrived within about 15 minutes.