Man, 35, Faces Assault and Battery Charges After Strangling Woman At Paradise Mills

FREDERIKSTED — Police are investigating after a woman said she was strangled at Paradise Mills last week, authorities said.

Elvis E. Hansen, 35, was arrested and charged with second-degree assault-domestic violence, simple assault and battery and disturbance of the peace-domestic violence in connection with an April 18 incident, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.

VIPD mugshot of Elvis E. Hansen, 35, of St. Croix.

According to police, the 911 Emergency Call Center received a report of an assault in the Paradise Mills housing community on St. Croix. Officers who responded to the call contacted a woman who said she was strangled by Hansen.

Members of the Criminal Investigation Bureau investigated and said the woman sustained injuries and received medical attention because of the assault. Police said several witnesses came forward and corroborated the woman’s account of the attack.

Hansen turned himself in at the Wilbur H. Francis Command police station. at 7:00 a.m. on Monday. He was advised of his rights and while police said he admitted to assaulting the woman, Hansen denied strangling her.

Hansen was placed under arrest and no bail was set. He was transported to the John Bell Correctional Facility pending his advice-of-rights hearing, which was scheduled for tomorrow.

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.