Man Known as Caribbean's First Multiple Murderer Is Handed 30-Year Jail Term

A person described as the Caribbean area's pioneering multiple murderer has been handed a lengthy prison sentence for the violent death of a woman, shortly after he was given a life imprisonment for a different double killing.

The defendant, forty-seven, was accused of “shocking cruelty” in the Assize court in the city, in the overseas department of Guadeloupe, where dual legal proceedings were conducted in the fall season.

During the autumn, Fortune was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 22-year minimum sentence, for the deaths of Jomo Maynard and Gilbert Hyman in 2005 and 2006 on the island of Saint Martin, which is divided between French and Dutch territories.

Midweek, he was given a distinct three-decade term, with at least a long period to be served, for the brutal murder of a woman in that year, also in the territory.

The ruling was greeted positively by the attorney representing the surviving relatives.

“It is comforting, given the brutality that this victim experienced. Her relatives said very few words to me. But I feel they approve of this recent ruling,” she said.

A different attorney acting for the victim's family commented: “This case is exceptional and it will be remembered simply because we are confronting a defendant who is a serial killer.”

Fortune had already been sentenced of additional homicides which were carried out on the Dutch side of the territory, referred to as the location.

The person is originally from the country. In the period, he was handed a two-decade term by the judicial body for the killing of an individual, twenty-three. But he fled during a medical appointment in February 2016.

In December that year, he murdered two individuals in what was believed to be a failed transaction at the Simpson Bay Resort in Sint Maarten. Their remains were found months afterward in a waterway some way from the building.

The individual ran to the nearby Caribbean island of the area in that summer, equipped with a gun, protected by armor, and in possession of a substantial amount of cash. He was immediately arrested and sent back to the territory that same month.

Weeks later, the storm devastated the island in September 2017 and damaged parts of its jail. He was moved to a prison in Curaçao before being transferred to a secure institution in the region. In June 2019, Fortune was convicted for Diaz and Rosario’s killings.

While detained in the region, the accused was tried in absentia by a legal authority in 2020 for the killings of Maynard, Hyman, Chauviré and handed a life term. But he was able to successfully file an challenge to the proceedings taking place in his non-attendance, which resumed the proceedings for a legal process at which he could be there.

A legal official stated to the authorities that the matter had been challenging by the fact that his actions had been perpetrated in different jurisdictions, which each had their own laws. “Proceedings were resumed to see justice done. But it took a long time. Under international agreements you need the proper permissions, legal paperwork, all elements ready. That process took five years,” the official said.

During the proceedings in Guadeloupe, the accused has maintained his innocence. During closing remarks he stated to the panel: “I am certain the reality will be revealed but I cannot give you the reality because I don’t know anything about it. I did a lot of bad things in my life. I’m ashamed of them, but I don’t see why I should be convicted for a crime I did not commit.”

The legal representative has recently stated that an review has been submitted for the two trials. He will be returned to the Netherlands in the coming weeks and his case is set to occur in Paris.