Australian businessman found dead in Vanuatu residence

January 13, 2024 4:53 am | Posted in Business News | Share now TwitterFacebook

By Doddy Morris.

An expatriate was discovered dead in his residence on January 8, 2023. 

The deceased was identified as Paul Richard Derrick, an Australian and the owner of Pentecost Vanua Trading. The late Derrick is a longtime businessman who had moved to Vanuatu many years ago and lived in the Tassiriki area, having rented the residence.

According to his employees, upon returning from their Christmas holiday, they noticed that Mr. Derrick had not shown up for work, and there was no communication explaining his absence.

“Normally, when he didn’t come to work, he would contact us. However, on Monday, we waited for him for a long time, but there was no contact. We instructed his maid to check on him later that afternoon and also secure our bus fare for the next day,” one of his employees shared.

The maid, upon reaching the boss’s residence later that Monday afternoon, witnessed a strange scene as there was no sign of their boss or activity at the residence.

She immediately called the other two employees, urging them to come as soon as possible.

“When I arrived later that Monday afternoon, I witnessed a strange scene and knew that something was not right,” recounted the maid.

Upon their arrival, they opened the first and second doors. As soon as they entered the sitting room, they found him.

The exact date of his passing could not be confirmed, but they believed it could be during the weekend or the week of the New Year, as his last shopping receipt indicated his final purchase on December 30, 2023.

The deceased’s body has been taken to the mortuary at the Vila Central Hospital. The cause of his death remains unknown.