THE PARENTS of a bridegroom whose new wife was murdered on their honeymoon flew to Antigua to be at his hospital bedside yesterday.
Benjamin Mullany (31) is gravely ill after being shot in an apparently botched robbery and may not be aware that his bride, Catherine Mullany, also 31, is dead.
Just over a fortnight after celebrating their wedding, their families made the journey to the idyllic Caribbean island to support Mr Mullany.
Antiguan detectives have interviewed several "persons of interest" but do not yet have a firm suspect for the shootings at the newlyweds' luxury resort.
Mr Mullany, a physiotherapist from Ystalyfera, south Wales, remains on life-support in the intensive care unit at Holberton hospital in Antigua's capital, St John's, having suffered a fractured skull and a broken leg, police said.
The hospital refused to comment on reports he is brain dead and in a coma after a bullet entered his neck and travelled up through his skull. The Briton has suffered massive brain haemorrhaging and is neither showing any brain activity nor responding to painful stimuli, the Antigua Sun newspaper reported.
The couple set off on their two-week honeymoon after marrying at a church in the Swansea Valley on July 12th. They were on the last day of their holiday when at least one gunman burst into their cottage at Coco's hotel as they slept at about 5am on Sunday.
Mrs Mullany, a doctor from Cilybebyll in the Swansea Valley, was shot dead in the apparent robbery.
A fellow British tourist who befriended the couple told how she and her husband were woken up by the sounds of gunshots and screams that morning. Beverley Stairs, from Shepperton, Surrey, said she was one of the last people to see them alive the night before.
She told Sky News: "I was woken up in the morning. I just thought there's a carnival out there, there's a big thing on. You just do not expect it to be what it was. There was a shot, then a scream, then a shot. Then it went quiet."
Antigua's police commissioner Gary Nelson said his 350-strong force has pulled out all the stops to capture those responsible. He said: "We are all deeply shocked and saddened - this is the first visitor homicide in over 10 years and it is a situation we never want to see repeated. Everything is being done to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice." - (PA)