PHILIPSBURG:--- An autopsy was conducted on the robbery suspect identified as Michael Carty who died while held under restraint and it does not outline the exact cause of death, Prosecutor Tineke Kamps told SMN News on Friday. Prosecutor Kamps said the autopsy was conducted on Thursday afternoon but the body has still not been released to the family because the report on the cause of death is not clear. When asked if strangulation was completely ruled out, Kamps said that too was not ruled out therefore further analysis has to be conducted to determine the exact cause of death of Michael Carty (22) of French Quarter who died while trying to break into a home at 162 Oyster Pond on Tuesday January 28th, 2014. Prosecutor Kamps said the prosecutor dealing with the case did not indicate when the body will be released to the relatives of the deceased. "Right now a decision has to be taken on who exactly will conduct the further analysis to determine the exact cause of death."
The tourists that were in the home at the time of the incident held on to Carty who died before police reached the scene, the two other culprits that were with the suspect at the time of the robbery managed to escape towards the French side of the island. SMN News learnt that police are busy looking for the two other suspects whom they believe could shed more light on the incident. When asked where the tourists are from and if they have to remain on St. Maarten while the analysis is conducted, Prosecutor Kamps said they were interrogated as suspects in the ongoing investigation but they were not arrested. This means the tourists whom she said are Swedish can leave the island pending the investigation, the public prosecutor said the police will make some arrangements with the tourists prior to them leaving the island.
While the young man is well known in French Quarter, several residents of the area said that what happened to Carty was something waiting to happen. Some said Carty was part of gang that were busy committing a string of robberies on both sides of the island. However, his mother is refuting the allegations because her son was never arrested by law enforcement on neither side of the island. The bereaved mother is also saying that her son and Charles Robinson are not friends but mere acquaintances yet Michael Carty's Facebook page states otherwise.
One of his good friends Charles Robinson whom several residents said robbed them, died in a motorcycle accident last Friday in French Quarter. "The two deaths caused some concern among family members of both youngsters that died. They said statements were made by someone that this will coming to pass and that is not something the families of the young men will accept," one resident told SMN News.
