The wife of a New Zealander murdered in Jamaican capital Kingston frantically searched for him after hearing gunshots, a fellow guest says.
Tiki Hunia, a 27-year-old Hong Kong-based IT consultant and English teacher, was shot during an attempted robbery at the upmarket guest house in suburban St Andrew that he and wife Nickie-Jean were staying at.
The couple were on a second honeymoon after recently renewing their wedding vows in Las Vegas.
The pair were sitting in the outdoor area of their guest house in suburban St Andrew when two men ran through the crowd, and one tried to grab a mobile phone from Mrs Hunia's hand.
Mr Hunia was shot three times in the upper body when he intervened, and died later in hospital.
An American woman who was also outside when the incident happened said two gun-wielding men entered the property, yelling and asking for "Angelo".
One then put the gun to her partner's stomach and demanded money, while the other snatched Mrs Hunia's cellphone and hit her when she protested, the woman told the New Zealand Herald.
"He (Mr Hunia) got upset because he wanted to protect her so he jumped on the person and they just fell into the bushes in the garden and started to fight," she said.
"At that point I just said, `Okay, I have to get out of here'. So I ran. While I was running I heard shooting so I told the receptionist to call the police and then I went to hide myself.
"We were hiding in the room for a few minutes and then we walked out and his wife was frantically running around and looking for her husband."
They found Mr Hunia lying on gravel, wounded but breathing, behind a cottage, she told the newspaper.
She and three others helped carry him to a police car and he was taken to hospital but later died.
The murder put St Andrew householders on high alert, the local Jamaica Observer newspaper, reported on its website.
It said three gangs had been operating in the area and were responsible for a number of armed robberies in the past month.
Police said they were aware of the gangs.
"There is some possible collusion between the gangs and security guards and gardeners ... Persons need to be extra vigilant and exercise great caution, particularly at nights."
Police said they were trying to pull out all the stops to identify and arrest the criminals responsible for Mr Hunia's death.
"We have made some progress but at this early stage of the investigation, that is all we are prepared to say," a spokesman said.
