The Serial Killer of the Caribbean: A True Crime Story

In the 1760's a Scottish Doctor named Lewis Hutchinson moved to the Caribbean Island of St. Ann. In what is now known as the Pedro District, Hutchinson built a small castle on a wild and lonely hill. The castle was said to be an attempt to recreate Edinburgh Castle of Scotland, which sits on volcanic rock above the city to this day.

Hutchinson called himself a Doctor, but there is no evidence that he did anything beyond studying medicine for a few years. He almost immediately started stealing cattle from his neighbors on the island, and built up a herd which he maintained was his own. Travellers would stop by en route to St. Ann's Bay, and never be seen again. It was said that he practiced torture on his victims. He was also known to shoot his gun from the castle "turrents," which he looked upon as a kind of sport. How many he shot and killed this way is unknown. When he was finally hanged for murder in 1773, the authorities uncovered over 40 watches inside his castle. The watches were assumed to be trophies from his killing sprees.

Guests who had the misfortune to accept an invitation to dine were often killed afterwards. Many of Hutchinsons' victims were slaves, which the "good doctor" apparently considered a sub human species. Folklorists visiting the Island to gather material have been warned that the site of Edinburgh Castle is cursed, and to stay far away. Local legends have inisisted that the victims of Dr. Hutchsinson howl with the wind at nights, in this remote and bushy area.