PHILIPSBURG--Judge Monique Keppels meted out life sentences to two men who had become known as the "gypsy taxi bandits," in a dejected atmosphere at the Courthouse on Wednesday.
Following the request of Prosecutors Manon Ridderbeks and Bart den Hartigh, the judge sentenced Curtley A. Richards (32) and Sherwan Roberts (20) to the maximum allowed under St. Maarten law.
Escorted by members of the Police Arrest Team and with their hands tied, the two men, both born in Dominica, listened to the judge in silence, not showing any emotion.
The Court found the two men responsible for eight crimes involving aggravated manslaughter, rape and theft, theft with violence and severe mistreatment, all committed between February 13 and March 4. In less than three weeks no fewer than three persons fell victim and lost their lives to the two men who had posed as gypsy taxi drivers.
Most of these crimes were committed with the culprits following the same routine. While Richards lured their victims into the car, a black Hyundai Tucson belonging to Roberts' mother, Roberts hid in the back seat. The car was locked on Roberts' signal, after which their victims were taken to a remote spot where they were robbed violently and, in one case, raped.
Six men were robbed and three of them killed "atrociously," the judge wrote. The victims were beaten, stabbed with a knife and stoned. The shirt of one of the victims was set on fire while he was still alive, causing third-degree burns to approximately five per cent of his body.
In this way, Roberts and Richards took the lives of French chef Ludovic Guillevin in Simpson Bay on February 25; electrician and former pastor Eduardo Nova Valdez on Alexis Arnell Road, better known as the Cake House road, on March 3; and Foidel Louis on Chopin Road near Learning Unlimited in Cay Hill one day later.
They also raped a young woman several times and severely mistreated another woman.
In sentencing, the judge took into account both men's state of mind, which had been subjected to observation by a psychiatrist and psychologist of the Forensic Observation Unit FOBA of the Detention and Correction Centre in Cura�ao.
The forensic experts had found an "antisocial development with psychopathic tendencies" in Roberts, whom they considered less accountable for his acts. This would explain the excessive violence of the robberies and rape, the experts stated in their report to the Court, but did not mean that Roberts had not been of sound mind when he committed his crimes.
The experts indicated that Roberts had continued his robbing of people as a way to obtain "easy" money without scruples. Stating that they considered recidivism highly likely, they advised the Court to impose a lengthy sentence.
Despite the fact that Roberts is only 20, the judge deemed it necessary to impose a life sentence, considering the "nature and severity of the committed crimes."
The forensic assessment of Richards' state of mind found low intelligence and antisocial traits, as well as an addiction to alcohol. It was also found that Richards had attempted to put co-suspect Roberts in a bad light by attempting to put all the blame on him while posing as a "stool pigeon."
The psychiatrist came to the conclusion that Richards could be held fully accountable and that in his case also there would remain a chance of recidivism.
Attorney-at-law Shaira Bommel stated immediately after the verdict that she was considering an appeal in Roberts' case. She said that in case of an appeal, she would also request a contra-expertise by the Pieter Baan Centrum forensic psychiatric observation clinic in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
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