Escaped prisoners left bloody trail after hijacking Virginia couple’s yacht in Caribbean, likely tossed bodies overboard: cops

[The Bobster]

Escaped prisoners left bloody trail after hijacking Virginia couple’s yacht in Caribbean, likely tossed bodies overboard: cops

“Several items were strewn on the deck and in the cabin and a red substance that resembled blood was seen on board,” Simmons said.

nypost.com

Escaped prisoners left bloody trail after hijacking Virginia couple’s yacht in Caribbean, likely tossed bodies overboard: cops​

By
Social Links for David Propper



Published Feb. 26, 2024, 6:45 p.m. ET








Three escaped prisoners hijacked an American couple’s yacht and left a bloody trail after likely tossing the victims’ bodies overboard in the Caribbean, police revealed Monday.


Local authorities said Ralph Hendry, 66, and his wife Kathy Brandel, 71, both of Virginia, are presumed dead after they were last seen on Feb. 18 and the boat was found anchored and deserted days later.


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Abita Stanislaus is one of the three suspects police believe were involved in the bloody scene. BACKGRID
Royal St. Vincent and Grenadines Police Force official Junior Simmons said during a press conference Monday afternoon the officers who responded to the boat found a scene that was “consistent with signs of violence.”


“Several items were strewn on the deck and in the cabin and a red substance that resembled blood was seen on board,” Simmons said.


“There was no discovery of bodies on board the yacht.”

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Evidence suggests the couple were killed on board, the Royal Grenada Police Force previously said last week.


Royal Grenada Police Force Commissioner Don McKenzie also said during a briefing that evidence indicates the bodies were “disposed of” while the boat was traveling by sea between Grenada and St. Vincent after they “commandeered” the yacht.


The trio of suspects, Ron Mitchell, 30, Trevon Robertson, 19, and Abita Stanislaus, 25, were arrested in St. Vincent hours after the boat was searched on Wednesday. The three men escaped from police custody on Feb. 18.


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Trevon Robertson escaped prison and then got onto the yacht, police said. BACKGRID
They appeared in court Sunday on four counts each of immigration-related charges and pleaded guilty, officials said.


The trio were then held in custody ahead of sentencing on those charges, set for next Monday, Simmons said.


Each were previously facing robbery charges, with Mitchell also hit with rape and attempted rape charges before their escape earlier this month.


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Ron Mitchell appeared in court Sunday, authorities said. BACKGRID
They allegedly got on the boat called “Simplicity” while it was docked in the St. George part of Grenada, but have not yet been charged in the disappearance of Brandel and Hendry.


Officials are searching for the couple, but no bodies have been recovered.


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Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel lived on their boat named “Simplicity.” Family handout

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The family of Brandel and Hendry were holding out hope over the weekend their loved ones would be found alive.


One of their sons, Nick Buro, said he and his brother, Bryan Hendry, are “doing our best to try and get answers to find out what is next in terms of hopefully finding them safely recovered somewhere on the islands.”

 

[The Bobster]

Virginia woman killed alongside her husband was raped by escaped prisoner who stole their yacht: police

One of the three men charged with the couple’s murder allegedly raped Kathy Brandel, 71, before the trio killed her and her husband.

nypost.com

Virginia woman killed alongside her husband was raped by escaped prisoner who stole their yacht: police​

By
Social Links for Allie Griffin



Published March 10, 2024, 9:36 p.m. ET








The Virginia woman believed to have been killed alongside her husband by escaped prisoners who commandeered the couple’s yacht in the Caribbean was allegedly raped by one of their murderers, according to police.


One of the three men charged with the couple’s murder allegedly raped Kathy Brandel, 71, before the trio killed her and her 66-year-old husband, Ralph Hendry, on their sailboat last month, according to the Royal Grenada Police Force.


Ron Mitchell, Atiba Stanisclaus and Trevon Robertson were all charged Thursday with two counts of capital murder as well as escaping lawful custody, housebreaking, robbery and two counts of kidnapping, police said.


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Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry were last seen near their docked catamaran in St. George’s, Grenada, on Feb. 18. Sissons Handout
Stanisclaus, 25, was also charged with one count of rape in the deadly case. The Royal Grenada Police confirmed that the rape charge is related to an assault on Brandel in a statement to the Daily Mail.


The Royal Grenada Police did not immediately reply to a question about what evidence led to the additional charge, given that cops have not recovered Brandel’s body.






The bodies of the couple have not been found since they were last seen near their docked catamaran, the Simplicity, in St. George’s, Grenada, on Feb. 18 — the same day the three men allegedly broke out of a police holding cell on the island.


Police believe the escapees hijacked the sailboat while the couple were on board. It was found anchored and deserted days later.


Large amounts of blood were found on the ransacked boat, but Hendry and Brandel were nowhere to be found. Police believe their killers threw their bodies overboard while sailing to St. Vincent.


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Atiba Stanisclaus was charged with rape in connection to the US couple’s alleged murder. RSVG Police Force
The three men were arrested in St. Vincent on Feb. 21 and were sent back to Grenada on Monday, where they were arraigned in court and sent back to prison.


The men were originally being held on robbery charges before their escape.


They are expected back in court on March 27.


Brandel and Hendry, experienced cruisers, were living on their sailboat at the time of their brutal deaths.


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The couple’s sailboat, the Simplicity, was found anchored and abandoned days later with blood in the cabin. Family handout
The couple’s children remembered their parents in a touching statement.


“We live in a world that at times can be cruel, but it’s also a world of profound beauty, wonder, adventure, love, compassion, caring, and faith,” they wrote in a statement.


“Our parents encompassed all those values and so much more. If we have learned anything from this tragic event, it’s that we know they left this world in a better place than it was before they were born.”