PHILIPSBURG:--- The Public Prosecutor's Office has requested another eight days pre-trial detention for the Haitian suspect they have in custody regarding the death of a two year old toddler who died of suspicious causes. Prosecutor Maarten Noordzij confirmed to SMN News that he received the preliminary autopsy report which gave him enough reason to ask the judge to extend the pre-trial detention of the suspect they have in custody. Noordzji said that this is the second eight day extension the prosecution got because they had to send the body of the toddler all the way to the Netherlands for a proper autopsy and forensic examination to be conducted. The toddler it was reported is believed to have been raped, however, Prosecutor Noordzij refused to say what caused the child's death. "All I can tell you is that the preliminary autopsy report from the Netherlands gives the prosecution enough reasons to ask the judge for extension. This will give the police more time to confront the suspect with the information from the autopsy report and to further investigate the case. We are still conducting more tests in the Netherlands in order to gather much more information on how the toddler died."
The two year old boy was rushed to the St. Maarten Medical Center some three weeks ago where he died, the pediatrician that was attending to the child alerted police when he said that he noticed something suspicious and that the child may not have died from natural causes.
SMN News learnt from well placed sources that the two year old toddler was murdered. The source said that it is not yet clear how the child was killed but further forensic testing are being conducted in the Netherlands to find the exact cause of death. SMN News further learnt that until the real cause of death is found the body will not be released to the family for burial. SMN News asked Prosecutor Maarten Noordzij if he could rule out rape or murder based on the preliminary autopsy report he recieved from the Netherlands, Noordzij said he could but preferred not to release any more information since the case is still under investigation.
