King murder suspect is facing six charges

January 18, 2013 9:53 AM

PHILIPSBURG--Suspect M.K.J. (29) will be facing six charges in connection with the so-called Ocean Club-case. This case concerns the killing of Thelma and Michael King and the robbery of Happy Star Chinese restaurant on September 21, 2012.

 
Prosecutor Georges van den Eshof officially announced the charges during a hearing at the Court of First Instance on Thursday.
 
The Jamaican security guard will be charged with involvement in the armed robbery of the restaurant, as well as involvement in the deaths of the Kings', who owned a condominium at Ocean Club Resort.
 
M.K.J., who confessed to the role in the killings, will be charged with two counts of murder and of deprivation of liberty, Prosecutor Van den Eshof stated.
 
Thelma King (57) was found tied to a chair, and Michael King (53) was lying on the floor, partially over an overturned chair.
 
The suspect will also be charged with money laundering where the proceeds of the robbery and theft are concerned.
M.K.J. was initially to be led before a Judge to be formally charged on January 10. However, that hearing had to be postponed, because M.K.J. was not duly informed of the hearing's date, as the summons was not handed to him on time, namely at least seven days prior to the hearing.
 
Seeing that M.K.J. had not waived his right to be present at that hearing, Judge Tamara Tijhuis had no other choice at the time, but to declare the summons null and void. The Judge, however, also ordered that the suspect should remain in detention awaiting his trial.
 
The hearing was planned because a defendant needs to be formally charged within a certain timeframe or he has to be released from pre-trial detention.
 
That same day, M.K.J. was served a new summons, ordering him to appear before the Judge again, this time on Thursday, January 17.
 
Once again, the suspect declined to appear before the Judge. This time, however, he had waived his right to be present by signing for receipt, the Prosecutor's Office stated.
 
In a bid to get her client released from detention, attorney-at-law Brenda Brooks filed for appeal with the Joint Court concerning the first summons. It is not yet known when this case will be heard, but probably not before the start of M.K.J.'s trail, which is planned to start Tuesday, January 22.
 
The second summons should have the same fate as the first and also be declared invalid and the Prosecutor's case against her client thrown out, the lawyer contested Thursday.
 
The attorney's statement led to some frenetic telephone consultations between members of the Prosecutor's Office. After a 20-minute recess, Prosecutor Van den Eshof said the second summons was handed to the defendant according to the rules. The document's contents, which were in Dutch, were explained to the suspect, the Prosecutor added.
 
Attorney Brooks maintained her position that proper procedures had to be followed, and requested her client's immediate release.
 
The Judge said the handling of the summonses did not deserve a "beauty prize," but this did not mean that the suspect had been deliberately misled.
 
"The suspect knows the procedure and he knows what it is all about," Judge Tijhuis said, before declaring the second summons valid. She also turned down the request for the suspect's immediate release.
 
M.K.J.'s trial and that of the other two suspects J.C.M. (17) and J.J.W. (20) in the killings and the restaurant robbery are scheduled to begin next week Tuesday. This hearing will be largely formal, because the case files have not been completed yet.
 
During this hearing, the defendants' lawyers will have the opportunity to ask for the hearing of witnesses or for additional investigations into their clients' cases.
 
The actual trial is expected to start late March or April. Members of the Kings' families plan to travel to St. Maarten to attend the trial.
 
(The Daily Herald)
 

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