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Murder on the High Seas and the Joe Cool Yacht. Direct from the FBI is the sad but true story of this Charter Fishing Yacht and her fate. Found off the coast of Cuba... We are situated on the north shore of the Dominican Republic to the west of Puerto Plata. Santo Domingo is on the south coast. The International airport of Puerto Plata (POP) is approximately one hour away by taxi. Our sales people speak several languages including English, Spanish and French. Luperon Boat and Property Sales is here to help you follow your ultimate cruising dreams. Cruise the Caribbean, sailor, and make the exquisite and protected Luperon Bay your home base. This harbor provides perfect hurricane protection as well as a super boating community both afloat and ashore in the town of Luperon. At Luperon Boat and Property Sales we sell sailboats, yachts, power boats, trawlers and dinghies powered with gasoline or diesel fuel engines. We can even sell you a yola!
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Serving Luperon and area with Pride and Integrity since 1999...
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Murder on the High Seas ~ Joe Cool
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MURDER ON THE HIGH SEAS
The Strange, Sad Tale of Joe Cool
02/26/09
On a warm Saturday afternoon in September, a fishing boat named the Joe Cool set sail from the port of Miami. Its destination: the beautiful island of Bimini in the Bahamas.
On board were four crew members — a husband-wife team, one of their relatives, and a good friend — along with two men who’d chartered the vessel to visit their girlfriends.
What the crew didn’t know was that this was no ordinary charter cruise. One of the passengers, Kirby Logan Archer, was on the run from the law. And there were no girlfriends waiting in the Bahamas. Only trouble — and tragedy — lay ahead.
The following evening, when the boat didn’t return to port as scheduled and the crew could not be contacted, worried family members called the Coast Guard.
On Monday morning, when agents from our Maritime Seaport Squad were called in, the facts were still hazy, but one thing was becoming clear: a gruesome crime had been committed at sea. There was blood on the deck. All four crew members were missing. And the two passengers — Archer and another man named Guillermo Zarabozo — were soon found adrift in a life raft, telling a wild story about how the boat had been attacked by Cuban pirates.
We took the lead in the investigation, based on federal law regarding crimes on the high seas. After getting the call from the Coast Guard on Monday, September 24, 2007, Special Agents David Nunez and Herbert “Skip” Hogberg in our Miami office knew they had to act fast. It would take a day or more to tow the recovered 47-foot fishing boat back to Miami, and all the exposed evidence would be subjected to the elements — wind, rain, and sea spray that would wash away blood, fibers, fingerprints, and more.
So Nunez, other agents, and representatives of the Coast Guard boarded a jet to the Florida Keys, hopped on a helicopter to a Coast Guard cutter, and from there took a “fast boat” to the deserted Joe Cool, which was about 30 miles from Cuba. They quickly collected and preserved the evidence (see sidebar), and interviewed Archer and Zarabozo after they were picked up from the raft.
Investigators soon realized that the men had planned all along to hijack the boat to Cuba, where Archer hoped to escape the U.S. legal system. He was being investigated in Arkansas for child molestation and was charged with robbing a Wal-Mart of $92,000. Investigators believe Archer duped Zarabozo — described as a “CIA-wannabe” — into thinking he was joining a CIA mission to Cuba.
The pirate story never held up, least of all because credit cards, electronics, and $70,000 worth of fishing gear had been left behind on the Joe Cool. “Pirates would have taken all of that,” Hogberg said.
With their story in tatters and evidence mounting against them, Archer accepted a plea of life in prison rather than face the death penalty at trial. Zarabozo maintained that he took no part in the murders, but a Miami jury last week didn’t buy it and returned guilty verdicts on all counts.
In the end, nothing about Archer’s plan worked. After the murders, the boat had run out of gas, and he and Zarabozo were forced into the raft, with nothing to do but wait for justice to arrive. And it surely did.
Credit for this interesting story...
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Investigation at Sea
How do you solve the murder of four people when the murder weapon and the bodies have never been found? In the Joe Cool case, our agents used strong circumstantial evidence and the suspects’ own statements:
- 9mm shell casings found on the boat matched those used in a Glock pistol. The investigation revealed that one of the suspects, Guillermo Zarabozo, owned a Glock, and that he had bought the same type of ammunition that was found on the Joe Cool.
- Forensic analysis showed that blood on the boat matched several of the victims.
- Zarabozo and Archer admitted they were on the Joe Cool when the murders occurred, though their original story was that Cuban pirates hijacked the boat and killed the crew.
- Archer later admitted to two of the murders and agreed to life in prison rather than face trial and the possibility of a death sentence. Zarabozo maintained that he took no part in the murders, that he didn’t know about the plan to hijack the boat to Cuba, and that he had been tricked by Archer. His first trial ended with a hung jury.
- Subsequent e-mail evidence recovered from a computer hard drive between Zarabozo, his girlfriend, and friends showed that he knew all along about going to Cuba, believing that he was joining a CIA mission. At his second trial, which concluded last week, the jury found him guilty on all counts.
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Be sure to check out our Miscellaneous Stuff section with everything in there but the kitchen sink... and don't be surprised to see one of those turn up here one day! Seriously, things seem to just show up around here and they don't appear to fit in any other department. If it does not fit anywhere else then we put it in Miscellaneous Stuff!
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Featured Business Opportunity...
 Hotel Restaurant and Bar located right in Luperon! Operating now and ready for you to take over. Great opportunity. Priced right to sell real fast. CLICK PHOTO or Read more here...
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Featured Luperon Villa...
 For those who can afford the very best! This exclusive villa simply needs to be seen. Absolutely unbelievable ocean and mountain vistas. Priced right. CLICK PHOTO or Read more here...
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You will find some very excellent articles there with some having been written by some of our boating friends. Many of them are pretty funny so you might want to have a look. If you are a writer send your article to us and we will publish it here for the benefit of other boaters. We sometimes have boaters wanting to sell their personal cars or motorcycles or dinghies or whatever and we try to accommodate that with this section. Things do change in this department from time to time so you might want to keep checking it out.
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Luperon Yachts Boats and Property Sales is located on the North Shore of the exquisitely beautiful Dominican Republic and is exactly where you need to purchase your yacht or property. Tropical living is the good life! You can absolutely forget about YachtWorld, Iboats, BoatUS, BoatQuest, BoatTrader, Apolloduck, BoatsAndOutboards and the rest of the Big Guys. Simply remember that Luperon Yacht Boats and Property Sales sell boats, yachts, business opportunities, Gated Community homes and Real Estate of all types in and around the town of Luperon, Dominican Republic.
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Tourist Project in Luperon Creates 4 Thousand Jobs
Invested 1.2 Billion U.S. Dollars ~ Read more here about the visionary PUNTA ALMA PROJECT |
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Luperon Bay is actually named Bahia de Gracia and was named this by Christopher Columbus where he sought refuge on one of his voyages throughout the Caribbean. Luperon is an excellent place for any sailor to start his or her Caribbean Dream Cruise from. The Thorny Path problems have already been taken care of. Luperon is also the home of Bruce Van Sant. Bruce is the author of the very popular boating guide book called Gentlemans Guide to Passages South. Read some of our great articles by Julia Bartlett, James Baldwin and Peter Swanson and others. Write your own article and let us present it here. Purchase your Dream Boat or yacht from Luperon Boats and Property here in Luperon and begin your Caribbean Dream Cruise now!
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All of the Caribbean Islands such as the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe and Haiti are fascinating places to visit. Stop and "shop til you drop" in Guyana, Kingston, Montego Bay, Negril, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, Martinique, Montserrat, Cancun, Puerto Rico, Saba and Saint Barts. Discover and enjoy the cultures of St Eustatius, Mexico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Maarten, St Martin, St Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad, Tobago, Turks & Caicos, St Thomas, St Croix and St John. Just imagine stopping with your very own private yacht at all of these exotic places! Purchase your boat or your yacht here at Luperon Yacht Boat and Property Sales in the Dominican Republic and simply start cruising! Remember, no hotels in your future either, as your own yacht or boat is your own personal floating home so you have no hotel expenses to be concerned about. Contact Us Today! Or just simply take a Caribbean Cruise...
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North Coast Sports Fishing! Luperon or Ocean World Marina Pick-up
Junk Rigged 93' Yacht Opportunity Knocking
Luperon Love Ocean View Estates
Sixty-five feet of sheer elegance! This 1996 Fairline Squadron 65 Motor Yacht must be seen to be fully appreciated. Simply incredible and price to sell. 
Charter Sports Fishing! Pick up from Ocean World or Luperon and fish with your own fully qualified and licensed captain. Affordable and fun! 
