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Three males who escaped from a jail in Grenada and had been accused of hijacking an American couple's yacht earlier than escaping have been charged with their homicide, police mentioned Thursday.
The couple, Ralph Hendry, 66, and Kathy Brandell, 71, went lacking whereas crusing off the coast of Grenada. They had been spending the winter cruising within the Caribbean on their catamaran named Simplicity, which was discovered deserted off neighboring St. Vincent and the Grenadines on February 21.
There was no indication within the newest police assertion that the couple's our bodies had been recovered as of Thursday.
Trayvon Robertson, 23; Atiba Stanislaus, 25; And Ron Mitchell, 30, is charged with two counts of “capital homicide by deliberately inflicting the demise of Ralph Hendry and Kathleen Brandell,” the Royal Grenada Police Power mentioned.
Officers from police forces in Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gave totally different ages and title spellings for the escapees.
The lads had been additionally charged with escape from lawful custody, burglary, theft and two counts of kidnapping; Police mentioned Mr. Stanislaus additionally faces rape fees, however gave no particulars on these fees. All three males appeared in courtroom for the primary time on Thursday and are due again on March 27. The Royal Grenada Police Power didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Police mentioned in a press release launched on February 22 that three males escaped from a jail in Grenada on February 18 and headed to St. Vincent utilizing a ship moored within the St. George space of Grenada.
The prisoners had been recaptured on 21 February, the identical day because the couple's boat was discovered. On the time, police mentioned they had been “at the moment following leads which recommend that two folks on board the yacht might have died within the course of.”
At a press convention on 26 February, Commissioner Don McKenzie of the Royal Grenada Police Power mentioned that “Info means that, whereas touring between Grenada and St. Vincent, he dislocated the occupants.”
Throughout a press convention on 26 February, Superintendent Junior Simmons of the Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Power mentioned {that a} joint investigation into the disappearance with Grenada Police was ongoing, and added that the couple was presumed useless.
The investigation revealed that whereas crusing from Grenada, “the suspects dedicated a number of legal acts, together with inflicting bodily hurt to the couple,” he mentioned.
The couple, who had been married for 27 years, had been “seasoned cruisers,” based on the Salty Canine Crusing Affiliation, a non-profit group that brings collectively a neighborhood of sailors engaged in long-distance crusing on their boats. The couple had been longtime members, and “they each contributed to the creation of SDSA,” the group mentioned in a press release.
In a joint household assertion posted on the affiliation's web site on February 27, Ms. Brandell's son Nick Burrows and Mr. Hendry's son Brian Hendry mentioned that “If we’ve realized something from this tragic occasion, it’s that we all know That they’ve left this world a greater place than it was earlier than they had been born.”
“Ralph and Kathy lived a life most of us can solely dream of,” the message mentioned. “Crusing down the East Coast of the USA, dwelling merely of their dwelling, making buddies with everybody, singing, dancing and laughing with family and friends – that's who Ralph and Kathy had been and that's how they are going to be remembered in our hearts . ,