On January 26, 1974, 17-year-old American female tourist Katie Smith was murdered in Nassau, Bahamas. Katie Smith, a white teenager from Detroit, Michigan, was one of three American victims killed over a two-month span by a man later identified as Michaiah Shobek. Her death marked the final act in a chilling series of stabbings that shocked both the Bahamian community and international observers.
The suspect, born James Michael Shoffner in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had moved to the Bahamas
in late 1973 and adopted the name Michaiah Shobek. At the time of the murders, he was 19 years old and working as a handyman. Shobek had a troubled past, including a history of juvenile arrests and mental health issues. He later claimed that he had received divine instructions to kill, referring to his victims as 'angels of Lucifer.'
Katie Smith, the 17-year-old white female victim, was reportedly stabbed to death in a manner consistent with the other two murders attributed to Shobek. The other victims were 44-year-old Irwin Borstein, a New York accountant, and 50-year-old Paul Howell, an attorney from Ohio. All three were American tourists, and all were killed in Nassau between December 1973 and January 1974.
Shobek was arrested in January 1974 and confessed to the murders during his trial. He was convicted and sentenced to death in May 1974. On October 19, 1976, he was executed by hanging at Fox Hill Prison in Nassau. His case marked the first time in fifteen years that an American was sentenced to death in the Bahamas. Shobek was buried in a pauper's grave following his execution.
