‘Thorium’ convicts extradited to Sint Maarten

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten (26 November 2023)– After a lengthy extradition proceeding in the United States, the two men convicted by the Court of Appeal in March 2022 for the 2018 fatal shooting outside adult entertainment club El Capitan in Sucker Garden were transported to Sint Maarten on Saturday and are now detained in the Pointe Blanche Prison awaiting the ruling of the Supreme Court (Hoge Raad).

The two convicts in the “Thorium” case have been arrested by United States law enforcement in September 2022. The arrests were made on the request of the Office of the Attorney General of Curacao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba. The two were arrested in Fulton County, Georgia.

The two men were released from prison in early 2020 after the Court of First Instance ruled that they acted in self-defense when they shot and killed a man and seriously injured another during an altercation at El Capitan, December 31, 2018. The Prosecutor’s Office Sint Maarten OM SXM appealed the verdict of the Court of First Instance.

The verdict of the Court of Appeal overturned the 2020 decision of the Court of First Instance. D.O. was convicted to 20 years imprisonment and S.R. to 18 years. The arrest of the two men was ordered immediately by the Prosecutor’s Office after the verdict was rendered in March 2022, however, neither was in court at the time. They have been sought by justice authorities ever since. The search was carried out first by the Police Force of Sint Maarten KPSM with international authorities going on the alert for the fugitives. International legal cooperation led to the arrest and extradition of the fugitives.

OM SXM will oversee the execution of the sentences of the two convicts.