Philipsburg:--- The judge of instruction of the Court of First Instance released the two suspects that murdered 20 year old Kimberly Illidge on March 24th in Middle Region. According to information provided to SMN News on Thursday evening, Judge Luicks released the two suspects that were being held at the Pointe Blanche Prison claiming that the prison facilities did not provide the two minor suspects with the necessary recreational programs. Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos confirmed on Thursday night that the two suspects were released by the Judge of Instruction, Mos said reporters should contact the judge for an explanation because he was unable to provide the judge's reasoning for releasing two suspects who admitted to killing someone.
In an invited comment, Minister of Justice Roland Duncan told SMN News Thursday that the people of St. Maarten will soon understand what he is being faced with on a day to day basis because St. Maarten lacks certain facilities. Minister Duncan said the Prosecutor's Office is expected to appeal the decision rendered by Judge Luicks on Thursday afternoon.
Duncan said that politicians and certain parliamentarians including the CFT do not understand why he needs to move forward in building the Justice Park which will create more space and a juvenile detention center. He said the two suspects that were released Thursday, one is a male and the other is a female, both of them are 17 years old and they cannot be held in the same area, neither can these two suspects be held with prisoners that are over 18 years of age. The Minister of Justice said that currently there are two female prisoners at Pointe Blanche that are over the age of 30 years and the 17 year old female suspect cannot be in the same holding area as these two suspects, neither can she follow the same recreational program as the two adults. Duncan said the same thing applies for the male 17 year old who was also involved in the murder of 20 year old Kimberly Illidge.
