Three inmates who escaped prison in Grenada last month have been charged with capital murder in the deaths of an American couple presumed dead after their yacht was hijacked.
Ron Mitchell, 30, Atiba Stanisclaus, 25, and Trevon Robertson, 23, were charged with two counts of capital murder “by intentionally causing” the deaths of Ralph Hendry and Kathleen Brandel, the Royal Grenada Police Force announced Thursday.
The three men had escaped custody on the island of Grenada on Feb. 18, "commandeered" a yacht called Simplicity docked in the St. George area, and made their way to the nearby island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where they were recaptured on Feb. 21, police had said.
Simplicity was Hendry and Brandel's sailing yacht and they were on board at the time.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police said last week the couple is presumed “deceased.”
Royal Grenada Police Commissioner Don McKenzie also said last week the couple was most likely “disposed of” at sea by the escaped prisoners. McKenzie said there’s a “low probability” Brandel and Henry might be alive.
The scene on the couple’s boat was “consistent with signs of violence,” St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Superintendent Junior Simmons said last week.
“Several items were strewn on the deck and in the cabin, and a red substance that resembled blood was seen on board,” he said. “There was no discovery of bodies on board the yacht.”
The three inmates were also charged with escaping lawful custody, housebreaking, robbery, and two counts of kidnapping. Stanislaus was additionally charged with one count of rape — though police did not say who Stanislaus is accused of raping.
All three made their first court appearance in court Thursday and were remanded to prison. They are due back in court on March 27.
Hendry and Brandel, American retirees and sailing enthusiasts, traded their life in Alexandria, Virginia, for their longtime dream of life at sea, experiencing "a different adventure every day," Brandel’s son, Nick Buro, told NBC Washington.
The couple had been planning the trip down to Grenada — their first to the Caribbean island — for “years and years and years, training themselves, preparing the boat, preparing themselves ... to make the trip,” Hendry’s son, Bryan Hendry, told the station.
The family of Hendry and Brandel released a statement on Feb. 27 through the Salty Dawg Sailing Association, which the couple had made their voyage to the Caribbean with.
“We are incredibly saddened to hear the news that our parents Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry are now presumed dead. We remain optimistic in the on-going search led by the St. Vincent Coast Guard," the statement said.
"While the end of their life may have been dark, they brought light, and that light will never be extinguished from the hearts and minds of the people who knew, loved and cared so deeply about them," it continued.
“Ralph and Kathy lived a life that most of us can only dream of, sailing the eastern coast of the United States, living on their home Simplicity, making friends with everyone they encountered, singing, dancing and laughing with friends and family — that’s who Ralph and Kathy were and that’s how they will be remembered in our hearts."