A builder from Colorado named Christopher Brown traveled to the island of Tobago as a tourist.
A casual night out for dinner and to a drumming session on the beach ended in tragedy in a small fishing village called Castara. Tobago is a Caribbean island located in the West Indies; its sister island is Trinidad.
According to the Trinidad Express, Brown "was stabbed to death in Castara on Wednesday night (November 26), pushing Tobago’s murder toll for the year to nine."
He was "killed around 10.35 p.m. along Depot Road," the site reported.
According to Trinidad Express, when police arrived at the scene, they discovered Brown "motionless" and with "a stab wound to the back." He was discovered "lying face down near a flight of concrete steps," clad in black "short pants" and a blue shirt.
Brown "had multiple wounds about his body, and a knife protruding from his back," Trinidad Express reported.
CBS News reported that Brown left his friends after the dinner and told them "he was going to buy marijuana." CBS News described the weapon as "a metal object" that "was found protruding from his back."
A 25-year-old suspect is in custody, but the motive has not been released, CBS News reported.
Trinidad and Tobago Newsday reported that "police are investigating the theory that an American tourist was knifed to death during a jealous fit of rage by a man who mistook him for someone else." There are some discrepancies in age, with Newsday reporting that the suspect is 26.
Newsday reported that Brown was going to fly home with his girlfriend the following day. The killer "left the knife in Brown’s back after he ambushed him on a dark walkway," added Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
According to that site, Brown and his girlfriend attended a drumming session at night on the beach before returning "to the Castara Retreats resort where they were staying." That's when Brown went back out, the site reported.
According to Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, authorities are investigating a theory that the suspect stabbed Brown after mistaking him for a different man whom the suspect's girlfriend was talking to at the drumming session.
Brown looked like the other man, the site reported, quoting the Tourism Minister as saying, “This is the first such act of violence in the idyllic (fishing village of ) Castara, a community known for its safe and welcoming environment…which stands as a pillar of community tourism excellence."