Judge in Grenada sentences 3 escaped prisoners found guilty in killing of US yachting couple

SAN JUAN Puerto Rico AP Three escaped prisoners from the eastern Caribbean island of Grenada who were accused of killing an elderly U S couple last year after hijacking their catamaran have been sentenced Ron Mitchell a sailor in his s who was accused of being the ringleader received two life sentences late Wednesday in the killings of Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel Atiba Stanislaus a farmer in his late s received years for manslaughter and nearly years for the rape of Brandel among other sentences for a variety of crimes including kidnapping Trevon Robertson an unemployed man in his early s received years for manslaughter and other sentences for different crimes according to local media reports The New Nowadays a local newspaper communicated that prosecutors mentioned the men bound and gagged the couple before throwing them overboard with Mitchell accused of steering the yacht over Hendry The two bodies were never located Police at the time explained the men had escaped in late February from the South Saint George Police Station They hijacked the catamaran Simplicity on the following day and then headed to nearby St Vincent where they were arrested according to bureaucrats The nonprofit Salty Dawg Sailing Association had reported that Hendry and Brandel were veteran cruisers and longtime members of the association calling them warm-hearted and capable It reported the couple was spending the winter cruising in the eastern Caribbean Source