Honeymoon killers could face death

The killers of a British honeymoon couple could face the death penalty when they are sentenced on the holiday island of Antigua . Ben and Catherine Mullany were shot in the back of the head during a dawn raid on their chalet at the five-star Cocos Hotel on July 27 2008. Three years later, Kaniel Martin, 23, and Avie Howell, 20, were found guilty of their murders. In the aftermath of the killings, Antiguan justice minister Collin Derrick said his government would propose the death penalty for crimes involving weapons, even if the victim was not killed. But his words came as Britain, which dispatched Scotland Yard detectives to assist with the investigation, sought assurances that anyone convicted would not be sentenced to death. The director of public prosecutions (DPP) has yet to announce what penalty he will seek to impose on Martin and Howell. The pair were found guilty in July by a jury in the capital city of St John's following a two-month trial. The Mullanys, both 31, had been married for only two weeks when they were killed. The court heard that Mrs Mullany, a doctor, appeared to have fought off her attacker before she died, while student physiotherapist Mr Mullany was flown home to South Wales in a desperate attempt to save his life. Despite the efforts of his wife's medical colleagues in Swansea, his life-support was switched off a week after the shooting. Two weeks after the murders, Howell and Martin went on to kill again, this time targeting 43-year-old Woneta Anderson. Howell, of Golden Grove, Antigua, and Martin, of Tindale Road, were arrested after British officers were flown out to help local police. Following the convictions, Mr Mullany's parents Cynlais and Marilyn and those of their daughter-in-law, Rachel and David Bowen, broke down in tears. They said: "Ben and Cath will live in our hearts forever. They made our lives happy beyond measure and enriched every day that they were with us." The newlyweds, from Swansea, were buried in the grounds of the same church where they had married about a month earlier.