By Howard Koplowitz
Childhood friends Charlier, 24, and Roberts, 25, were visiting the island to attend the wedding of Charlier's cousin.On Monday, Virgin Islands police posted pictures of Charlier and Roberts on their Web site and the men's photos were also being circulated throughout the island. The authorities asked to speak to anyone who had been to several spots the men visited on the night of the June 15.Police targeted the Greenhouse Bar and Restaurant prior to and following its closing on June 15, which is one of the first places where the two had been spotted; Gottlieb's Quickway Service Station Ð surveillance cameras confirmed they had entered the establishment; and the bus stop opposite the Frenchtown Post Office, where Charlier and Roberts were found shot to death in the capital of Charlotte Amalie. The murder scene is about a half mile from the capital's downtown shopping district and there is little or no traffic in the area at that hour of the morning, police said.Charlier would often help Roberts, a skilled carpenter, paint his home and mold doors on Roberts' two-family home 110th Avenue in Jamaica, as recounted by Roberts' father Desmond Roberts. He said the two were so close that he considers Charlier his son. On the police Web site, the department said it was aware of an “alleged incident” between Charlier and two men at the Greenhouse after speaking with the groom from the wedding Charlier and Roberts were to attend. Police said they were “actively investigating this lead.”The department's investigative team found no evidence of a crime being committed at the Bunker Hill Hotel where the two had been staying. The island's Major Crime Unit determined that the two left the Greenhouse at around midnight before going to Club 75, a nightclub, followed by a visit to the Gottlieb's Quickway, police said. No evidence was found to suggest that Charlier and Roberts were followed from New York to the Virgin Islands, police said last week. Three million people visit the U.S. Virgin Islands each year. There have only been five visitor-related homicides in the territory in the last 15 years, all of which were solved, according to police.Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173
