Paul Wolfgang Ritter
Cruise Ship Passenger Murdered
Norwegian Spirit - November 06, 2009
Paul Wolfgang Ritter, 73, a German of Danish ancestry, arrived in Santo Tomás de Castilla, Guatemala on Wednesday November 4, 2009 aboard the Norwegian Cruise Lines' Norwegian Spirit.
Once in port, Ritter and another passenger booked a tour of the city, crossing the bay to visit Livingston, Rio Dulce and Puerto Barrios.
Paul Wolfgang Ritter
Event Date: November 6, 2009
Event: Murder
Location: Santo Tomás de Castilla, Guatemala
Age: 73
Cruise Line: Norwegian Cruise Lines
Ship; Norwegian Spirit
Details:
While they were on the tour, Ritter and his companion asked the driver to stop at a Hindu shrine in a small, public cemetery at Puerto Barrios so they could take photographs. Puerto Barrios is 185 mi northeast of Guatemala City.
The cemetery is a favorite photo opt for tourists. This particular shrine is an Indian Mausoleum with elephant carvings on each side. It dates back to the 19th century when Hindus immigrated from Jamaica to work the banana plantations of Puerto Barrios.
The pair were confronted by armed robbers demanding their cameras. During the attack Ritter, who didn't understand he was being robbed and what the robbers wanted, was shot. He was transported to the Puerto Barrios hospital and then transported by life flight to Hospital Universitario Esperanza in Guatemala City.
Ritter died at 2020 local time on Friday October 6th as a result of severe blood loss due to hemorrhaging caused by perforation by bullet in the right thigh artery. He suffered cardiac arrest as a result of the blood loss and passed away.
Arrested in the attack were Alexander Mendez Sosa, 20, and Rony Daniel Eta, 21. The pair were found in Santo Tomás de Castilla and arrested on illegal drug related charges initially.
Guatemala has one of Latin America's highest homicide rates, with more than 5,000 people killed a year, and many of the killings are blamed on gang warfare.
A small launch boat that only holds 15 passengers runs several times a day from Puerto Barrios. Another launch boat of about the same size runs from Punta Gorda (Belize). Another launch boat communicates Livingston with the town of Rio Dulce, and runs every day. It is impossible to travel in and out of Livingston by car since there are no thoroughfares to the rest of Guatemala.
These side tours via launch boat are not advised for travelers striking out on their own, who are not aquatinted with the local customs, language and places that are safe for tourists.
Puerto Barrios was named after President Justo Rufino Barrios in 1884. It is Guatemala's main Caribbean Sea port, together with its more modern twin port town just to the southwest, Santo Tomás de Castilla. In 2003 the estimated population of Puerto Barrios was 40,900 people.
The Norwegian Spirit arrived in Santo Tomás de Castilla on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 0800 hours, having spent two days at sea after leaving Oranjestad, Aruba at 1700 hours on Sunday October 1.
The ship continued on to Belize City and Costa Maya, before arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday November 8.
