Andrew Donald Frederick, 47, was found dead on 4 January at the property where he was staying in Grenada. A privately commissioned post-mortem conducted that week concluded that his death was a homicide, while Grenadian authorities later treated the case differently. The findings described blunt-force injuries and alleged torture, including the removal of a toenail, but no public account has established who was responsible or what happened inside the property.
Grenada’s director of public prosecutions, Howard Pinnock, said in June that Frederick’s case would be sent to a coroner because there was no basis in the investigation to conclude that a homicide had occurred. The case was subsequently described as closed by police, despite the pathologist’s conclusion. Grenadian authorities said the matter would proceed to the coroner’s court for the parish of Saint George, leaving the cause of death disputed between the local process and the private examination.
After pressure from Frederick’s family, his body was exhumed and returned to the UK in August for further examination. The UK coroner then recorded the cause of death as unascertained and noted that organs, including the brain, heart and lungs, were missing when the body was examined. The family has said it was not told where the organs were or why they were absent, and has called the discovery devastating.
At a West London coroner’s hearing in September, senior coroner Lydia Brown said the Metropolitan police were investigating Frederick’s death, and the inquest was suspended while that work continued. The Met said no arrests had been made, that specialist officers were supporting the family and that its officers had contacted the Royal Grenada Police Force to discuss how the investigation could progress. UK officials also raised the case with Grenada’s senior authorities, and a formal request for cooperation was sent, but the family says it remains unsigned.
The family and Murdered Abroad, which has supported them, are urging the UK government and Grenada’s prime minister, who also holds the national security portfolio, to authorize cooperation without further delay. Former Scotland Yard homicide commander David Johnston said the early handling of the scene and prolonged delay could damage an investigation because evidence can be lost when a crime scene is not promptly secured and documented. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was supporting the family and was in contact with local authorities, while Grenada’s police had not publicly responded to the latest questions. Under UK guidance, British police cannot investigate overseas automatically and require the consent of the country where the death occurred, making Grenadian approval central to the next stage.