Philipsburg:--- The three suspects currently in custody for the murders of American citizens Michael and Thelma King should appear in court sometime January 2013. Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos told SMN News on Sunday that the suspects are cooperating with police and the police and prosecutor's office are busy analyzing the statements that were made by the suspects. Mos said that while the investigating team is working vigorously to tie up all the loose ends, the case cannot go to trial before the Christmas holidays. The last day of court for the year 2012 will be December 12th, 2012 while the January session should start between January 10th -12th, 2013.
St. Maarten's Chief Prosecutor said the Dutch law allows the police to detain a person for a period of 116 days before they are officially charged and taken before the court for trial. Mos declined to say if the suspects will be charged with premeditated murder or if the prosecution will go for a lesser charge like manslaughter. Mos also did not say if police had to strike a deal with the suspected killers to get their cooperation. When asked by SMN News if the investigators already determined if the motive for the killing was robbery, Mos said that the police are looking at all angles of the case and they have not ruled out any other possible motive.
Police arrested the first suspect Meyshane Kemar Johnson (28) of Jamaica on September 21st, 2012. Johnson already admitted to police that he was directly involved in the brutal murders of the Kings. Johnson was a security guard at the time of the killings and his arrest. He worked at the Soualiga Service Point and the Scotia Bank for a reputable security company on St. Maarten. SMN News has been reliably informed that Johnson is the one who brutally took the lives of the Kings. A source close to the investigation said Johnson was working as security and bouncer for someone that was closely connected to the Kings but police has declined to say whether or not the illegal immigrant admitted to working for anyone that was connected to the Kings prior to his deportation. SMN News learnt that Jonhson's aunt, a naturalized Dutch national, is the one who brought him back to St. Maarten after he was deported from St. Maarten some years ago. The source said when Johnson applied for a job at the security company Veronica Young signed as one of his reference persons giving Johnson a good and clean bill. The other person that signed his application form was Pastor Mielchias Carbon. SMN News learnt that Johnson, a mechanic by trade, used to repair Pastor Carbon's car while he was a member of the church Carbon pastored.
One week after Johnson was captured as a suspect in the brutal murder, police managed to arrest his 17 year old cousin who was also at the scene of the crime. He has been identified as 17 year old Jeremiah Chevon Mills a former student of the St. Maarten Academy PSVE. Information gathered by SMN News shows that Mills was a school bully and one that threatened the lives of several teachers. He was expelled from the school last year October after beating another student with a baseball bat. Mills was also convicted for robbing the Global Wealth Trade store that is located at the Yogesh Building. He was convicted to 18 months for the armed robbery, 15 of which were suspended. At the time of his arrest for the murder of the Kings and robbery of Happy Star Chinese Restaurant he was on three years probation.
The third suspect in the murder of the Kings is 20 year old Guyanese national Jamal Jefferson Woolford. Woolford was also a student of the St. Maarten Academy PSVE and he was an employee of Eagle Tours located at Bobby's Marina. Woolford escaped from St. Maarten the same day the news broke that the first suspect Meyshane Kemar Johnson confessed to being involved in the murders of the Kings. Woolford, the holder of an American visa, left St. Maarten for St. Thomas and he was apprehended when he landed there. He waived his extradition rights and returned to St. Maarten two days later where he was arrested and remains in pre-trial detention.
The three culprits will also be charged with the armed robbery of the Happy Star Chinese Restaurant located on Cannegieter Street, Philipsburg. Happy Star Chinese Restaurant was robbed on the night of September 19th, 2012 while the Kings bodies were found in their Cupe Coy condominium on September 21st, 2012.
