TCI:  Khunla Family says they are the only ones hunting her killer

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, December 31, 2021 – The family members of a woman murdered in the Turks and Caicos in 2018 say they are the only ones searching for justice.

Rick Khunla son of Marie Khunla told US media that the TCI Police are not searching for his mother’s murderer. Marie, a guest at Club Med Turkoise was killed near the resort three years ago.

Rick told the I-Team media house “It’s very clear to us that the only ones investigating my mom’s murder are us…not the police.”

The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police had long been criticised by the family on the handling of the investigation.

It is therefore no surprise that the Khunla family hired a private investigator who said based on the autopsy he thought there was more to the case than met the eye. He quotes the condition of the body and various bruises that seem to indicate a prior assault, PI Eddie Dowd says.

“This wasn’t just a strangulation. This woman was beat up.”

There is also an account that her underwear was tampered with in a way which pointed to sexual abuse.  He is now investigating whether the body was deliberately allowed to decompose at the island’s morgue.

The Khunla family attorney alleged that the Turks and Caicos Islands coroner was holding back evidence that could help the investigation “inexplicably” including photos from the crime scene. They say since I-Team reported on the story photos have been released by the Turks and Caicos with restrictions.

The family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Club Med and a former employee, Frank Yacullo. Yacullo in that I-Team news report is fingered as being overly aggressive with Khunla and her travel companions.

Club Med Turkoise did not offer comment.

The murder remains unsolved and an open investigation.