By IANTHIA SMITH, Guardian Staff Reporter, ianthia@nasguard.com

Police officials said they have not yet ruled out the possibility that there might be a connection in the recent gay killings.

Chief Superintendent Glen Miller said they are "concerned" that information circulating the island is leading Bahamians to believe that the gruesome murders of Wellington Adderley and Marvin Wilson this year, College of The Bahamas Dean Thaddeus McDonald, and handbag designer Harl Taylor last November, all happened because they were gay. While he refrained from confirming or denying reports that murders are connected, he did say that the police are looking into the possibility.

"To say that we have information to connect all of these murders, I wouldn't say that," Miller said. "But I would say it's something we're looking at to see if there's a trend. If there is a trend where homosexuals are being targeted we'll certainly address it."

On November 17 and 19 last year, respectively, McDonald and Taylor were found brutally killed in their homes. The killings sent shock waves through the country as news of the murders of two prominent Bahamians spread. On May 26, Adderley, a well-known AIDS activist became the country's 29th murder victim after he was found lying in a pool of blood in his Delancey Street apartment. And exactly a week ago, Wilson, a Jamaican man, was stabbed to death in his Collins Avenue apartment but later succumbed to his wounds at the Princess Margaret Hospital, becoming the country's 31st murder victim. Police officers reported that none of the crime scenes had any signs of forced entry. All of the men were said to be homosexuals and to date, no one has been arrested in connection with the murders.

However, Miller did say that over the weekend authorities have had a number of people in for questioning in connection to Wilson's murder, adding that, "we're at that point where we don't want to put anybody before the courts as yet." He added that they have been talking to some "interesting people" during their investigations into both Adderley's and Wilson's deaths.

Talk of a serial gay killer quickly spread throughout the island after Wilson's death and had members of the gay community up in arms over what appeared to be an attack on them. Members of the gay community were outraged at the news and said that they did not think the four murders were random killings, claiming a gay serial killer homosexuals might very well be on the loose.

Miller said police officers are not taking the possibility that the murders could be connected lightly, adding that they are doing all they can to figure out exactly what is going on.

"We're putting a lot of effort into these matters and in fact, as we speak there is an incident room where we are looking at all four matters to see is there is a connection," he said. "And once we establish that there is a connection between the four matters we certainly will deal with it.

"We have spoken to a number of people, claiming to be members of the gay community, who were connected with these individuals. They have been giving us info and we are getting some good information from the public."

Miller assured the public that members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force are doing all they can to solve these outstanding matters.