Turks & Caicos - Murder probe launched, vacationing NY attorney Marie Kuhnla found dead, 14 Oct 2018

[Dr. Benway]

61-Year-Old Long Island Woman Found Dead in Bushes While Vacationing at Turks and Caicos Club Med: Police, Family

Authorities in Turks and Caicos are investigating the death of a 61-year-old tourist from New York whose body was found in the bushes near a Club Med last week, according to island police and the dead woman's son.
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Marie Kuhnla's body was found near the Club Med resort Oct. 16, a day after she had been reported missing. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance weren't immediately clear. News 12 reports she had been vacationing with two co-workers when she vanished.

Police have not elaborated on how the Wantagh woman may have died, but said they have launched a "murder investigation."
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[YESorNO]

‘Horrible way to die:’ Co-worker remembers Marie Kuhnla (with clip)

"WANTAGH -
A co-worker of the Wantagh woman found dead at a Turks and Caicos resort told News 12 that she wants to keep pressure on authorities working on the case....

Helma Hermans worked with Kuhnla at the Central Islip Courthouse in family court. She called her a “wonderful person” who had a “generous soul.” Hermans, Kuhnla and another co-worker were at the Club Med resort on a vacation they had planned for months...."

‘Horrible way to die:’ Co-worker remembers Marie Kuhnla

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[theteardropexplodes]

Eagerly awaiting the next grim chapter of this case.

 

[YESorNO]

TCI Police Appeal for Information

November 6, 2018

"#Providenciales, November 6, 2018 – Turks and Caicos – The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force is continuing to investigate the murder of Marie Kuhnla on October 16th, 2018. ..."

TCI Police Appeal for Information
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[bears10]

‘Horrible way to die:’ Co-worker remembers Marie Kuhnla (with clip)

"WANTAGH -
A co-worker of the Wantagh woman found dead at a Turks and Caicos resort told News 12 that she wants to keep pressure on authorities working on the case....

Helma Hermans worked with Kuhnla at the Central Islip Courthouse in family court. She called her a “wonderful person” who had a “generous soul.” Hermans, Kuhnla and another co-worker were at the Club Med resort on a vacation they had planned for months...."

‘Horrible way to die:’ Co-worker remembers Marie Kuhnla

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From the link...

Hermans says the last time anyone saw Kuhnla was at 7:15 pm on Sunday, Oct. 14. She says they were meeting for dinner 15 minutes later, but Kuhnla never arrived.

Whatever happened to her seems to have happened in the blink of an eye.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Marie Kuhnla, 61, was traveling with two colleagues from the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County, where she worked in the Family Court division. Her body was found near the Turkoise Club Med resort where she was staying on Grace Bay on the island of Providenciales, in the western part of the country.

Local woman found dead at Caribbean resort

 

[JerseyGirl]

Her son said she was excited about the trip and recalls pestering her to take her sunscreen because she got sunburn on a previous trip.

Her friends say a few days into their trip on October 14, Marie went to her room to take nap and wasn't heard from again.

Her body was discovered in bushes on the edge of the resort days later. Police told her friends she had been strangled.

A frequent visitor, she purchased a condo in the area and was planning on retiring here in a few years.

San Diego man's mother killed in Caribbean murder mystery

 

[moonriverfarm]

She was seen at 7:15, expected to meet for dinner at 7:30, but went to take a nap?

 

[JerseyGirl]

The murder investigation is ongoing.

American tourist found dead in Turks and Caicos

 

[YESorNO]

Grieving husband desperate for answers after New York woman's mysterious death in Turks and Caicos

Dec 11, 2018

"The grieving husband of a woman mysteriously killed in on vacation in Turks and Caicos is still desperate for answers two months after her death....

Her husband, Rick Kuhnla, is still overcome with emotion as he tries to talk about his wife of 38 years.

"She was murdered," he told WABC in an exclusive interview. "I could at least say it now. I couldn't say it a month ago."

Rick Kuhnla spoke to WABC at his home, where his kitchen table is still covered with condolence cards....

The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force said in a statement Tuesday via email that the department "extends its sympathy to the family and friends of Maria Khunla and would wish to reassure them and the public that we continue to investigate this terrible crime and are working with international partners to find the person or persons responsible."..."

Husband of woman killed in Turks and Caicos desperate for answers
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[YESorNO]

Family Files $10million Wrongful Death Lawsuit In Long Island Woman’s Death At Club Med

Jun 05, 2020

"The family of a Long Island woman found strangled to death at a Club Med on Turks and Caicos in 2018 has filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit.

According to a report from NBC New York, the son and husband of Marie Kuhnla filed the lawsuit after hiring private investigator Eddie Dowd, who looked into the mysterious death. He said that it didn’t appear that Kuhnla had walked to the location where her body was found, bruised in a clump of bushes away from the resort. The medical examiner later determined she had been manually strangled....

Rick Kuhnla, Marie’s husband, said it didn’t seem like anyone was taking the investigation very seriously, or were doing much to find his wife’s killer.

“They just wanted to sweep it under the rug. It’s the easiest way to answer that,” Kuhnla said...."

Family files $10million wrongful death lawsuit in Long Island woman’s death at Club Med

 

[sds71]

Unsettling Details Surface in NY Attorney's Mysterious Murder at Club Med

 

[steeltowngirl]

From a 2020 T/C news article:

Frank Yacullo, a former employee of Club Med, is accused in the suit of allegedly sexually assaulting one of Kuhnla’s friends who was vacationing with her.

The court papers then accuse Yacullo of killing Kuhnla, as he was the last person to see her alive on October 15, and Club Med of covering up the crime.

The court filing reads: "After Marie’s death, Yacullo was arrested and detained by Turks and Caicos police for the sexual assault on Helma, but was released within 24 hours.

Club Med Turkoise being sued by murdered woman’s family

 

[evilwise]

When I was a kid "Club Med" was a luxury brand and singular resort famous for offering destinations in the Caribbean where people could vacation and, you know, relax.

Reading through the last 30 years worth of the company's history alone would be a tragedy but in the context of this thread it's a horror story.

 

[Kristin Esq.]

'Her underwear was inside out': Private investigator discovers disturbing new details about unsolved 2018 murder of an American mother who was strangled to death at Club Med Resort in Turks and Caicos

• Private investigator Eddie Dowd discovered new disturbing details in the 2018 murder of Marie Kuhnla, who was staying at Club Med in Turks and Caicos
• Dowd claims Kuhnla's body was found with bruises on her ribs, knees to feet, and her underwear inside out and pulled away from her private parts
• Kuhnla an American mother and longtime New York public defender was found dead in the bushes near the Club Med resort while visiting in October 2018
• Her family hired a PI and filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against Club Med who they claim are covering up the murder by a former employee
• They claim the local police deliberately allowed her body to decompose before sending it to the family in the US to hide evidence
• Kuhnla's family and friends have accused Frank Yacullo of the murder claiming he assaulted Kuhnla's friend and was last seen with the victim

New details emerge in the unsolved murder of an American at the Club Med Resort in Turks and Caicos | Daily Mail Online

 

[steeltowngirl]

2018 article. Placing here to document known details of the T/C trip.

WANTAGH, Long Island (WABC) -- Eyewitness News spoke exclusively Tuesday with the two friends who were with the woman from Long Island found murdered while on vacation in Turks and Caicos.

Kim Nohilly and Helma Hermans were on the trip with Marie Kuhnla, 62, of Wantagh. The three were co-workers in the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society and have worked together for years in family court in Central Islip. They went to Club Med on Oct. 10 for a girls' getaway. Nohilly's 26-year-old daughter also joined.

'She did not deserve this:' Friends of Long Island woman murdered on vacation in Turks and Caicos speak out

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Twist in Club Med mystery death of US tourist strangled in Turks and Caicos

THE mystery of the death of a Long Island woman found strangled at a resort has taken a shocking new twist over three and a half years later. Marie Kuhnla’s body was found in a remote area of Club …

www.the-sun.com