Trouble in Tortola

Lois McMillen was 34 years old when her body was found January 15, 2000 along the shore on the British Virgin Island of Tortola. She and her parents had been visiting their vacation home there when four men flew to the island on holiday. She knew several of them and had partied with them there prior to her drowning death. Michael Spicer, Evan George, Alexander Benedetto and William Labrador were arrested for her murder. There was little evidence to link them to her death when career con-man Jeffrey Plante, already imprisoned, claimed that William Labrador confessed to drowning her. A long and arduous trial ensued in Tortola pitting the word of Plante against Labrador.

Who was telling the truth about the murder of Lois McMillen - Jeffrey Plante or William Labrador? And, what would the defendant's mother say to a key witness moments before attending her son's murder trial? Was it only her words or something more that would dissuade her from testifying? Plante had never recanted his story and veered little from his version of what happened that night. And, the suggestion that a 'hit' had been placed on his life before the trial began added further confusion and the possibility that Labrador might have something to hide. Or, was that just an example of a bad cop seeking extortion money? William Labrador was portrayed as a victim of Plante's convoluted and opportunistic lies. I thought so as well. In an effort to help another victim of Jeffrey Plante, this witness stepped onto the island that lived up to its motto and discovered more than "Nature's Little Secret."

This is a personal account of my knowledge of the prison snitch, the circumstances surrounding his imprisonment and my involvement as a witness in the murder trial.