Carmen Torres, a 50-year-old Hispanic woman, died on September 13, 1986, in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Her death was one of a series of mysterious cyanide poisonings that occurred on the island between 1984 and 1988, collectively known as the 'St. Croix Poisonings.' These incidents involved five victims who died under similar circumstances, leading authorities to suspect the involvement of a serial killer dubbed 'The Obia Man.'
Carmen Torres and her husband, Edsel Striden, owned a small neighborhood bar in St. Croix. In 1986, they took out a loan of $54,000 in cash to expand their business. On the evening of September 13, they left their home in a pickup truck, with Edsel reportedly slipping a small bottle into his pocket before departing. This was the last time their daughter saw them alive. Later that evening, Carmen was found near death, less than half a mile from where another victim, Radha Maharaj, would be discovered two years later. Carmen died on the way to the hospital. Edsel was found dead in his truck on a nearby beach. Both had clothing soaked with seawater, and autopsies revealed that they had died from cyanide poisoning. The $54,000 in cash was missing.
The deaths of Carmen Torres and Edsel Striden were strikingly similar to other cases on the island. In 1984, Haig Caesar, a 38-year-old man, was found dead in his car from cyanide poisoning after allegedly paying $100,000 to an individual claiming to be an Obia practitioner who promised to remove evil spirits guarding buried treasure. In 1988, Radha and Krishnadath Maharaj died under similar circumstances after borrowing $25,000, which also went missing. Investigators noted the pattern of victims being lured into giving large sums of money to a mysterious individual who then poisoned them.
Despite the similarities and the pattern suggesting a serial killer, no arrests were made in connection with these deaths. The perpetrator, referred to as 'The Obia Man,' remains unidentified. The lack of concrete evidence and the elusive nature of the suspect have left these cases unsolved, and they continue to be a haunting chapter in the history of St. Croix.
