NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) – A preliminary hearing began Thursday for a teenager charged with murdering a Canadian tourist and burying her in a shallow grave on the Bahamian island of Abaco, police said. Marcia Rose McKenzie, a 35-year-old lab technician from Toronto – was discovered murdered in August. Her body, found about a metre off the island’s main road, had multiple chop wounds to her head, neck and torso, police said.
Police charged a 17-year-old with the murder, but did not release his identity because he is minor.
The teenager, who is being held without bail, appeared Thursday in Abaco’s Magistrate’s Court, where a judge heard testimony from defence witnesses, including a forensic officer, one of McKenzie’s brothers and three residents of Sandy Point, Abaco.
The hearing is expected to go on for several days. If the case goes to trial, it will be moved to a court in the Bahamian capital, Nassau, police said.
Police arrested the teenager after several islanders reported seeing him with McKenzie the day she disappeared. The murder weapon, a cutlass, was found at his home.
McKenzie’s body was found with what police described as multiple chop wounds around her head, face, neck and arms. Police said her hands were partially severed, and there was evidence she had been sexually assaulted. She was partially clothed, but was still wearing her watch and jewelry.
McKenzie arrived Aug. 16 on the northern Bahamian island just off the coast of Florida to attend a friend’s wedding and visit her Bahamian boyfriend. It was her fourth trip to the Caribbean island.
That Friday night, she and her boyfriend reportedly had an argument at a nightclub and she left alone, police said.
McKenzie was last seen walking in Sandy Point the morning of Aug. 17, police said. Her body was found two days later.
Her parents in Toronto alerted police when she did not return on her scheduled flight. Her boyfriend also reported her missing. Police said he is not a suspect.
