On December 5, 1973, 50-year-old white male American attorney Paul V. Howell was murdered in Nassau, Bahamas. Howell, a resident of Massillon, Ohio, had traveled to the Bahamas to attend a convention. On the evening of his death, he was in his hotel room when he responded to a knock at the door. Upon opening it, he was immediately attacked and fatally stabbed in the chest and throat. The assault was so sudden and violent that Howell died instantly. Initial police theories suggested that he may have interrupted a burglary in progress, and investigators focused on that possibility in the early stages of the case.
Howell’s body was returned to Ohio for funeral services and was buried in Saint Joseph Cemetery in Massillon. The murder shocked both the local community in Ohio and the tourist population in Nassau, as it appeared to be a random and brutal act of violence against a visitor.
The investigation eventually led to the arrest of 19-year-old African American male Michaiah Shobek, born James Michael Shoffner, a handyman originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Shobek had recently moved to the Bahamas and changed his name. He was later identified as a serial killer responsible for the deaths of three American tourists, including 50-year-old white male Paul V. Howell. Shobek confessed to the murders during his trial, claiming that his victims were “angels of Lucifer” and that he had been acting on divine instructions.
Shobek was convicted and sentenced to death. He was executed by hanging in Nassau on October 19, 1976, becoming the first American to be executed in the Bahamas in fifteen years. His crimes, including the murder of Paul V. Howell, left a lasting impact on both the Bahamian legal system and the American public, highlighting the vulnerability of tourists and the unpredictable nature of violent crime abroad.
