Three escaped inmates from the jap Caribbean island of Grenada have been charged within the killing of a U.S. couple whose catamaran they hijacked, police mentioned Thursday.
Ron Mitchell, a 30-year-old sailor; Atiba Stanislaus, a 25-year-old farmer; and Trevon Robertson, a 23-year-old unemployed man, have been charged with capital homicide, escaping lawful custody, burglary, theft and kidnapping. Stanislaus additionally was charged with one rely of rape, in accordance with a press release from the Royal Grenada Police Drive.
Kenton X. Likelihood/AP
The lads appeared in court docket on Thursday and have been ordered held in jail till their listening to in late March.
They have been accused of escaping from a police holding cell on Feb. 18 and hijacking a catamaran owned by Ralph Henry and Kathy Brandel whereas they have been aboard. Authorities mentioned they imagine the couple was thrown overboard because the suspects sailed to close by St. Vincent, the place they have been arrested on Feb. 21.
The three males have been ordered deported from St. Vincent on Monday.
The nonprofit Salty Dawg Crusing Affiliation described Hendry and Brandel as “veteran cruisers” who participated in final 12 months’s Caribbean Rally from Hampton, Virginia, to Antigua, and had deliberate to spend the winter cruising within the jap Caribbean.
Their our bodies haven’t been discovered.
“Heat-hearted and succesful” sailors
The Salty Dawg Crusing Affiliation has described Brandel and Hendry as veteran cruisers and long-time members who have been “warm-hearted and succesful.” It famous that Brandel served on the affiliation’s board for 2 years.
The affiliation mentioned the couple had sailed their boat within the 2023 Caribbean Rally from Hampton, Virginia to Antigua and deliberate to spend the winter cruising the jap Caribbean. A GoFundMe donation web page said that Brandel had turn into a first-time grandmother.
The GoFundMe web page had raised over $75,000 as of Friday.
GoFundMe
Household and buddies have described the couple as seasoned sailors who had been vacationing in Grenada, the place their boat was docked.
“It is simply actually unhappy,” mentioned longtime good friend Okay.C. McAlpin, who added that Brandel and Hendry had deliberate to make this their “final grand journey” on Simplicity.
McAlpin mentioned the couple all the time made buddies simply and he hoped they might be remembered for his or her large hearts.
“They have been only a pleasant couple and an actual blessing in my life, and the lives of so many different individuals,” he mentioned.
