‘Kuchi’ makes confession in ‘Mars’ murder investigation

November 08, 2018 10:05 AM
PHILIPSBURG--Murder suspect Kathron “Kuchi” Fortune (41) has confessed to killing two men in a Simpson Bay Resort hotel room on December 5, 2016.
 
He made his confession in a brief statement to the Court during a preliminary hearing in the “Mars” murder investigation on Wednesday.
 
Speaking via video-conferencing from the penitentiary in Vught, the Netherlands, where he is currently detained, Fortune started his statement by saying he did not see any reason why his co-defendants T.J.F. (29) and K.K.K.S. (32) are being locked up, as they are innocent.
 
According to Fortune, T.J.F. was only at the resort because he had asked his brother to book a room at the resort for the two victims, Luis David Sarante Diaz and Erwin “Eggy” Rosario Contreras.
 
Fortune also said his former girlfriend and mother of his child K.K.K.S. had nothing to do with the killings.
 
He explained to the Court that he had gone to the resort make a deal with the two Spanish-speaking men and said he had been “totally surprised” when he opened the door to the room where the two men were staying and was confronted with one of them pointing a gun to his brother’s back.
 
He said he had managed to knock that person out with his gun after he was told that they were sent to hurt and kill him. The other person met the same fate.
 
Both men were killed in the room, one on the bed and the other in the bathtub. Their bodies were wrapped in bedsheets and their remains dumped at Belair Pond.
 
Fortune, who had declined to give statements after he was arrested, said he was willing to speak now as he was represented in Wednesday’s procedures by two lawyers, Sophie Hof in the Netherlands and Sjamira Roseburg in St. Maarten.
 
He gave the statement because he was afraid something bad could happen to his brother T.J.F. and to the mother of his child K.K.K.S, who are also charged with involvement in the double murder and who are currently detained at the Pointe Blanche prison.
 
The lawyers for K.K.K.S. and T.J.F. filed requests to suspend or lift their clients’ pre-trial detentions, but these requests, which the Prosecutor’s Office opposed, were refused by the Court.
 
The Judge said that even though Fortune had given an “interesting” statement, there are still serious accusations against his two co-suspects.
 
According to the Prosecutor, Fortune’s brother was armed with a semi-automatic weapon when the two men were killed and K.K.K.S. allegedly assisted in cleaning the room and disposing of the two corpses.
 
In the so-called “Swordfish” investigation, Fortune is accused of escaping his detention during a visit to orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Paul de Windt’s clinic in Cay Hill on February 15, 2016. He was rearrested in St. Kitts on July 29, 2017.
 
The circumstances under which Fortune managed to escape remain unclear. Fortune claims that he seized the opportunity when he noticed that his legs were not tied, but a different scenario speaks of a premeditated plan involving a firearm.
 
As the Prosecutor promised that Fortune would only be charged with the prison break and not with possession of an illegal firearm or exertion of violence, the Judge deemed additional investigations into the escape unnecessary.
 
The case will continue during two days of hearings January 30-31, 2019.

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