Latest update December 23rd, 2024 3:40 AM
St Maarten-based Guyanese jailed for 22 years in US couple killings
St Maarten (Daily Herald) – It was an emotional day in the Court of First Instance on Wednesday when Judge Tamara Tijhuis sentenced Jamaican national Meyshane Keymar Johnson, 29, to life imprisonment for what she referred to as the “cruel, “inexplicable” and “uncalled for” murders of Michael and Thelma King in their St. Maarten
Jailed for 22 years – Guyanese, Jamal Jefferson Woolford
condominium on September 19, 2012.
Jeremiah Chevon Mills, 18, from St. Maarten, who committed the crimes while on probation for another robbery, was acquitted of the murder charge and sentenced to 28 years as an accomplice, while Guyanese Jamal Jefferson Woolford, 21, was acquitted of the murder charge and sentenced to 22 years as an accessory to the murders.
Mills immediately asked for a glass of water and uttered the word “boy” after his sentence was read out.
All three were also sentenced for their involvement in the robbery at the Happy Star Chinese Restaurant on September 19; theft with violence of the Kings, which resulted in their deaths; deprivation of liberty of Thelma King and laundering of the proceeds of both armed robberies. Johnson, who worked as a security guard, was acquitted of charges that he stole jewellery from the Kings.
Family members of the Kings were openly sobbing and hugging each other after the verdicts were delivered. Michael’s brother, Todd King, asked for privacy and asked that the family’s photos not be taken at this time. He promised to issue a statement to the media.
“You have not shown any remorse,” Tijhuis told Johnson. “Only life sentence is justified.”
Before delivering her verdict, the judge said it was legally and convincingly proven that Johnson had committed the brutal slayings and that he had done so with premeditation. She said it cannot be ruled out that Johnson would commit a similar act again. She said he committed his act out of “greed” and that the murders were for “no other purpose” than for Johnson and his accomplices to “leave with the loot and to escape detention.”
Johnson’s was the last of the three verdicts to be read out. As he was walking out of the courtroom, he turned and looked towards the gallery, where Michael and Thelma King’s family members and friends were sitting, smiled, then left the courtroom, resulting in gasps from among some persons in the courtroom.
Johnson’s lawyer, Brenda Brooks, said she will appeal the judge’s decision. Appeals have to be filed within 14 days.
The judge said all three suspects were “responsible and accountable” for their actions. She said the Kings were “murdered in a cruel manner” and that they “suffered a lot of anguish in their last moments.” She said the murders were “unnecessary, cruel and uncalled for.”
Tijhuis said the murders negatively impacted St. Maarten’s economic and tourism industries.
“The Kings were slaughtered in their Ocean Club apartment in Cupecoy on September 19, 2012. The US nationals, who owned the vacation home in St. Maarten, were killed because three young men decided they needed easy money,” Prosecutors Dounia Benammar and Georges van den Eshof said in their joint closing speech.
After committing a robbery at Happy Star Chinese Restaurant in Cannegieter Street on September 19, the three went to Cupecoy, climbed down the rocks and walked along the beach towards the Ocean Club’s beachside apartments. Because the shutters were up and the lights were on in the King’s apartment, it was decided to make a move there.
Murdered: Thelma and Michael King
The couple was raided while they were asleep around 11:00pm. Michael King had fallen asleep while watching TV downstairs. He was awoken by two taps to his head with the butt of a BB gun. The pathologist reported two cuts to King’s throat, a stab wound to his back with the point of a knife still in it and three deep stab wounds in his neck, which cut the carotid.
Michael King died shortly after through blood loss. Thelma was killed by two violent slashes, cutting her throat and trachea.
The three robbers did not show remorse after their crimes. First, Johnson allegedly had washed off the blood with seawater and whisky, after which the loot, consisting of cash, an iPod and laptop and reportedly also an undisclosed amount of jewelry, had been divided.
The three then closed off the night with a couple of drinks and adult entertainment at a club in Oyster Bay until the early morning hours.
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