Nuku Hiva Murder Suspect Update

With a lot of Puddle Jumpers having left or getting ready to leave the West Coast of the America’s for French Polynesia, lots of cruisers are probably wondering whatever happened in the case of Stefan Ramin, the German cruiser with the 46-ft catamaran Bayu, who was found murdered last October. Liz Clark of the Santa Barbara-based Cal 40 Swell reports that Henri Haiti, the Marquesan suspect, finally came out of hiding and turned himself in. "The last I heard was that he’s claiming it was a case of self-defense because, according to Haiti, the German cruiser tried to rape him!" For what it’s worth, Ramin was cruising with his girlfriend of many years.

In any event, Liz says, "I want to assure everyone that it was a very random occurrence. I’ve had nothing but wonderful experiences since I’ve been here, even in the same valley where the crime occurred."