Jurisdiction has emerged as a major issue regarding any charges against the three Grenadians suspected of killing two U.S. sailors after hijacking their yacht and fleeing to St. Vincent after escaping police custody on Feb. 18.
Police in Kingstown said that the suspects — Ron Mitchell, 30 years, Trevon Robertson, 25 years and Atiba Stanislaus, 23 years, all of Paradise, St. Andrew, Grenada — “committed several criminal acts including bodily harm to the couple”, Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel.
The men were recaptured in Petit Bordel on St. Vincent’s west coast on Wednesday.
On Monday, Commissioner of Police in Grenada, Don McKenzie, told a press conference in St. George’s that his constabulary had deployed five officers to Kingstown as part of the investigation.
He said that while the investigation is being led by Vincentian detectives, jurisdiction is a consideration in any charges brought against the men.
“Let it be known that in putting a trial before the court, jurisdiction will be a factor,” McKenzie said.
He said there were ongoing discussions between the SVG and Grenada attorneys general and the director of public prosecution in each country.
“All of that would be worked out with time,” he said.
On Monday, police in Kingstown said that their investigations so far suggest that Hendry and Brandel are dead.
The three accused men appeared in court in Kingstown on Monday and pleaded guilty to immigration offences and were remanded to prison for one week while awaiting sentencing.
Meanwhile, the Grenadian police chief told the press conference that he is limited in what he could say, because of the active investigation and the information he had was from his Vincentian counterparts and could be considered second hand.
“The conversation has most been centred upon procedural contingencies,” he said of the discussion he had had with his Vincentian counterpart.
He told the media that information suggests that after escaping from the South St. George Police Station, the three Grenadian commandeered a catamaran with the two U.S. nationals on board and headed to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“Information suggests that while travelling between Grenada and St. Vincent, they disposed of the occupants,” McKenzie told the media.
“Since their capture, we have dispatched a five-member team from Grenada, comprising CID personnel as well as representation from our Coast Guard. They were dispatched to St. Vincent to collaborate with the St. Vincent authority in having a complete and thorough investigation of the matters at hand.”
Asked why he felt that the U.S. sailors were dead, McKenzie said he would refer to comments that acting Assistant Commissioner of Police in Kingstown, Trevor Bailey told the Bubb Report on Sunday.
“… he referred many times to these individuals as missing persons and I would like to adopt that designation,” McKenzie said.
The Grenada police chief was reminded that he had said that police believe that the missing sailors are deceased.
“We have nothing conclusive to say that the individuals are dead. We still hold out hope that in spite of what might be a low probability that they turn up alive somewhere, that they are alive…” McKenzie said.
“What I can say to the family is my condolences and we are still hoping for a positive outcome, which is we still have the hope that the worst-case scenario would not be the reality,” he further stated.
“… but we understand the stress that they are going through and for that, we really, really, really send out our support and our prayers,” the Grenada police chief said.
He re-emphasised that as regards the investigation, “all of that is happening within the authority of St. Vincent.
“What we could have done from our end, which is assist in collaboration, we have done that by dispatching five persons. But the question of the investigation is under the jurisdiction of the St. Vincent authorities.”
Meantime, Bailey told the Bubb Report on Sunday that as regards the cross-border issues relating to jurisdiction, both countries are working “working assiduously” to have them resolved.
“Searches have been conducted by air; the Regional Security System, they have done some flights, our Coast Guard has done some checking. Unfortunately, we have not discovered the bodies of the two missing persons. We are hopeful that we may be able to recover the remains. Our sympathies go out to the family and relatives of the missing persons,” Bailey said.
“The legal process, there are some challenges and I am sure that we will be able to work together in overcoming these issues…” he further stated, adding that the challenges “are not necessarily legal but jurisdictional”.
Where are the politicians when you need them? The laws need to be changed to allow for capital punishment. Where is the deterrent? Mosaic laws says an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
There is a starking difference between the professionalism expressed by the Grenadian counterparts and those in St Vincent. The Grenadians demonstrated a great command of the English language and was very effective in doing so.
Those in St Vincent were horrible and indicates to me a level of under-achievment . Most definitely points to only ,”Mr US know “was certainly our chief fighting guru seven grade teacher.
Why did the escapee took refuge in St Vincent? Were their family or other social ties connecting the alleged murders? Only time will tell. The old adage that the higher the monkey climbs the more it exposes its rectum. Our man has apt to like to speak even unnecessary. He seems to have a penchant to rabble and is synonymous to a run on sentence.