EARL HODGE Photo Credit: BVI NEWS
TORTOLA, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS — Earl Hodge, a well known figure in the British Virgin Islands, who is also known in the St. Thomas-St. John District of the USVI, was shot and killed at Hannah's Estate, BVI, according to the BVI Royal Police Force.
“The deceased has been identified as Earl ‘Bob’ Hodge of Hannah’s Estate. No one else was injured in the incident,” stated the police force in a release Wednesday morning.
Mr. Hodge is known in both the BVI and USVI, especially for his famous horses, Actspectation and Really Uptown, which he owned with his wife, Violet Hodge. He was also a businessman.
Mr. Hodge had long been a person of interest for the U.S. Department of Justice, which accused him of being party to a regional drug trafficking ring.
According to BVI News, on June 29, 2018, Hodge and former Customs Officer Roberto Harrigan were released after the BVI High Court refused a U.S. request to have the men extradited to the United States.
In 2017 a BVI Magistrate, Shawn Innocent, ruled that the U.S. Dept. of Justice could extradite messrs Hodge and Harrigan to the U.S. from the BVI. But in an appeal to the BVI's High Court, that ruling was overturned, with High Court Judge Godfrey Smith stating that Hodge, as a citizen, and Harrigan, as a belonger, should face justice in the BVI. Belongership in the BVI is a person deemed to belong to the British territory as defined by the BVI Constitutional Order (The BVI does not have a Constitution). One can obtain belonger status by descent or marriage. One can also obtain belonger status if residency is acquired through immigration. Once residency is obtained, belonger status can be applied for. And once one has obtained belonger status, this person can apply for citizenship.
Sources: BVI News, Virgin Islands (BVI) News Online, and the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force.
