On May 24, 1984, the lifeless body of 38-year-old Haig Gilbey Caesar, a Black male originally from Calibishie, Dominica, was discovered in his car on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The vehicle appeared to have veered off the road without any signs of a collision or struggle. An autopsy later confirmed that Caesar had died from cyanide poisoning.
His death marked the beginning of a series of mysterious fatalities on the island, all sharing similar circumstances and believed to be connected to fraudulent spiritual practices.
Prior to his death, Haig Caesar had become involved with an individual claiming to be an 'Obiaman,' a practitioner of Obia—a form of Caribbean folk sorcery distinct from Voodoo. This man convinced Caesar that three large jars filled with valuable coins were buried on his property, guarded by ancient spirits. To retrieve the treasure, the spirits needed to be banished through a special ritual. The Obiaman demanded $100,000 for his services, which Caesar provided by withdrawing funds from his bank accounts and borrowing from friends, unbeknownst to his wife, Rosmund. On the night of May 23, 1984, Caesar was instructed to return to the supposed burial site and consume a potion to dispel the spirits. This potion was laced with cyanide, leading to his death. By the time his body was found the next morning, both the Obiaman and the $100,000 had vanished.
Caesar's death was the first in a series of five similar cases between 1984 and 1988, collectively known as the 'St. Croix Poisonings.' Each victim was lured by promises of spiritual cleansing or financial gain, only to be poisoned with cyanide. The other victims included Edsel Striden and Carmen Torres in 1986, and Radha and Krishnadath Maharaj in 1988. All victims had recently taken out substantial loans or withdrawn large sums of money before their deaths, and in each case, the cash was missing. Investigators believe that a single individual, referred to as the 'Obia Man,' was responsible for all five deaths. This suspect is described as a dark-skinned Black male with a heavy French West Indian accent. Despite extensive investigations, the Obia Man has never been identified or apprehended, and the cases remain unsolved.
