PHILIPSBURG:--- The Court found H.F.M. (27) and H.H.M. (24) guilty of the murder of Franky Brunache in Hope Estate on January 24th, 2017 and sentenced them both to 25 years in prison, today, December 12, 2018.
In the closing arguments, the judge noted that by law prison time for murder starts at 18 years. The judge said this case involved the strategically cold-blooded murder of Franky Brunache on a public road in a densely populated neighborhood with a semiautomatic rifle. Therefore a long prison sentence was justified.
The judge further pointed out that the high firearm possession on the island was also a determining factor in the sentencing. Referring to a point also made by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the judge noted that gun violence on Sint Maarten is 20 times higher than in the Netherlands.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office would like to thank the Police Force of St. Maarten for the well-conducted investigation, which together with the Public Prosecutor’s Office was successfully completed in challenging circumstances and with limited investigative capacity.
Prosecutor's Office Press Release.
