Judge in Grenada sentences 3 escaped prisoners found guilty in killing of US yachting couple
Ron Mitchell, a sailor in his 30s who was accused of being the ringleader, received two life sentences late Wednesday in the killings of Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel.
Atiba Stanislaus, a farmer in his late 20s, received 60 years for manslaughter and nearly 18 years for the rape of Brandel, among other sentences, for a variety of crimes including kidnapping.
Trevon Robertson, an unemployed man in his early 20s, received 56 years for manslaughter and other sentences for different crimes, according to local media reports.
The New Today, a local newspaper, reported that prosecutors said the men bound and gagged the couple before throwing them overboard, with Mitchell accused of steering the yacht over Hendry.
The two bodies were never found.
Police at the time said the men had escaped in late February 2024 from the South Saint George Police Station. They hijacked the catamaran Simplicity on the following day and then headed to nearby St. Vincent, where they were arrested, according to authorities.
The nonprofit Salty Dawg Sailing Association had said that Hendry and Brandel were 'veteran cruisers' and longtime members of the association, calling them 'warm-hearted and capable.'
It said the couple was spending the winter cruising in the eastern Caribbean.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
3 hours ago
- CBS News
Sean "Diddy" Combs wants to go back to Madison Square Garden, his attorney says
As Sean "Diddy" Combs awaits his sentencing, his lead attorney Marc Agnifilo sat down with CBS News' Jericka Duncan in his first network interview since the highly publicized trial in which a New York jury found Combs guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted him of more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. When discussing the hip-hop mogul's future goals, Agnifilo said Combs told him "he's going to be back at Madison Square Garden." Asked about what Combs wants the public to know, Agnifilo explained that Combs has been reflecting on "the blessings that he's been given, on the imperfections that I think he sees in himself." "I think he wants to get out of jail, reestablish a loving, present relationship with all of his seven children. He wants to take care of his mother," the defense attorney added. "I think he's someone who's always going to strive to do something, you know, exceptional and probably demanding and challenging," Agnifilo said about Combs' potential plans for the future. "But I think the most demanding and challenging thing in front of him right now is to get back with his kids and get back with his mother, and the people who love him and miss him." See more of CBS News' Jericka Duncan's interview with Agnifilo Thursday on "CBS Mornings."
Fox News
6 hours ago
- Fox News
Border Crisis in the Caribbean: Homeland Security Fights Silent War in Puerto Rico
Rebecca González-Ramos, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, details how the operations have been affected under President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill.'
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Man appealing sentence for drug trafficking in Yellowknife
A man convicted on drug trafficking charges in Yellowknife is appealing his sentence. Noel Tesfazion, 37, was sentenced in July to an 18-month conditional sentence, sometimes called house arrest, for possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. In 2019, Tesfazion was found with bags of cocaine in the Yellowknife Walmart parking lot. He admitted the drugs were meant to be sold. Tesfazion has filed an appeal on his conviction, first reported by Cabin Radio, and said his Charter rights were breached in two ways. The first is about how RCMP arrested, searched and detained him. He argued that his right to be protected against unreasonable search or seizure was violated by the manner in which he was detained in RCMP cells after his arrest. Tesfazion was held for about six days, and his whole cell was under 24-hour video surveillance, including the toilet area. In his second Charter challenge, Tesfazion argued that he has a right to be tried within a reasonable period of time and after 72 months since his arrest, that right had been violated. The courts had already previously ruled on both Charter challenges. N.W.T. Supreme Court Justice Shannon Smallwood ruled that Tesfazion did have the right to a degree of privacy while using the toilet and his rights had been violated. She said she had taken that Charter breach into consideration with her sentencing. For the second Charter challenge, she said the excessive delays were attributable to, among other things, court shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tesfazion changing lawyers three times, and other defence delays. In his appeal, Tesfazion is arguing that Smallwood erred in those rulings, and that the challenges be reconsidered.
