The three Grenadian inmates that are suspected of killing a Virginia couple were seen in court on Monday
Trevon Robertson, Ron Mitchell and Atiba Stanislaus, were all charged in relation to their illegal entry into the country
Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel had been sailing around the Caribbean island and have not yet been found
The three Grenadian inmates suspected of killing a Virginia couple on their yacht and tossing their bodies overboard appeared in court as the family has desperately pleaded for answers.
Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel had been sailing around the Caribbean island and had docked near Saint George’s when their catamaran was hijacked on February 18.
Police fear they may have been murdered by suspects Trevon Robertson, Ron Mitchell and Atiba Stanislaus, who were seen leaving Kingstown Magistrate Court on Monday in St. Vincent.
The trio has been charged with entering the country by boat and disembarking without the consent of an Immigration officer, entering without a passport, entering at a point other than an official port of entry and landing as a prohibited immigrant.
They have only been charged in relation to their illegal entry into the country, and are expected back in court on March 4. Ralph and Kathy’s bodies have not yet been recovered but ‘copious amounts of blood’ were found in their bedroom aboard the vessel.
The trio were were being held at the South Saint George’s Police Station on the island when they escaped and are believed to have killed the couple before travelling to St. Vincent.
The couple, who were lifelong sailors and married 27 years, have been able to travel to ‘many parts of the world’ due to their boat lifestyle and were living a ‘life of joy and love’. Pictured together: Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel.
The couple, who were lifelong sailors and married 27 years, have been able to travel to ‘many parts of the world’ due to their boat lifestyle and were living a ‘life of joy and love’. Pictured together: Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel
The couple’s family was hopeful they would be found, but evidence on their boat indicates ‘they were likely injured
The couple’s family was hopeful they would be found, but evidence on their boat indicates ‘they were likely injured’
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According to investigators, each of the inmates was charged with violent robbery before they managed to escape. Mitchell was also previously charged with rape, attempted rape and indecent assault.
Brandel’s son Nick Buro said the family was hopeful that his parents will be found, but evidence on their boat indicates ‘they were likely injured.’
‘The boat itself was ransacked and everything was strewn about in the entire cabin so clearly there was an altercation of some type that took place on the boat,’ he told CNN Sunday, adding: ‘We are doing our best to try and get answers.’
Police later said that the couple is presumed dead and their remains were likely tossed into the ocean. He added there was no proof they were dead, but admitted it was a ‘low probability’ they are alive.
The couple, who are in their 60s, live aboard the vessel, named ‘Simplicity’ and were enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime trip which they had been planning for 12 years.
AIS data indicates that the vessel left Grenada around 10 pm from Grand Anse Beach before it was discovered the following Wednesday at Wallilabou Bay.
The Salty Dawg Sailing Association, which the couple were members of, said a cruising skipper reported Simplicity abandoned off of the coast of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The person ‘found evidence of violence’ on the boat, it said
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