On the night of November 18, 1988, authorities in St. Croix responded to what was first reported as a minor traffic accident and instead found two deadly poisonings. Radha Maharaj suffered severe internal injuries and died while being transported to hospital; sixteen miles away her husband, Krishnadath Maharaj, was found dead on the side of the road. Both victims’ clothing was soaked in seawater, $25,000 in cash the couple had borrowed was missing, and the cause of death for both was determined to be cyanide poisoning.

Krishnadath, of Caribbean descent with parents from India, ran a small grocery store with his wife. The couple had recently borrowed money to expand the business and brought home the borrowed cash three weeks before their deaths but did not say who was to receive it. Their daughters reported growing household tension and mysterious phone calls from an unidentified man.

Authorities linked these deaths to a pattern of cyanide poisonings on St. Croix dating back to 1984, including victims who also borrowed large sums and were found with seawater-soaked clothing. Investigators suspected a con artist practicing Obia who promised supernatural help, took money and then poisoned victims, but no arrests had been made and the perpetrator’s identity remained unknown. Did anyone on St. Croix know who approached these families about money or Obia practices?