• Four Grenada police officers have been charged with lying and permitting the escape of prisoners after three inmates escaped and killed an American couple 
• The three escapees were meant to be imprisoned in individual jail cells with a ‘secure locking mechanism’ but were instead placed in a ‘corridor’
• Kathleen Brandel and Ralph Hendry were sailing around the Caribbean when their yacht was hijacked and they were murdered by the escaped prisoners  
• Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told reporters four officers have been arrested and charged under the country’s Police Act 

Four Grenada police officers have been charged with lying and permitting the escape of prisoners who allegedly went on to murder an American couple on their yacht.

Ron Mitchell, 30, Trevon Robertson, 23, and Abita Stanislaus, 25, were meant to be imprisoned in individual jail cells with a ‘secure locking mechanism’ but were instead placed in a ‘corridor’ with burglar bars they bent and escaped from.  

The trio hijacked the yacht of Virginia couple Kathleen Brandel and Ralph Hendry before allegedly raping Brandel and throwing their bodies overboard on February 18. Their remains have not been found. 

Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told reporters on Wednesday that four officers ‘so far’ have been arrested and charged under the country’s Police Act, including for making a false statement, permitting the escape of prisoners and breaches of the Standing Orders. 

They haven’t been named or pictured.  

‘It is also clear that the leadership at the station is a matter that requires attention as well, and the commission of police has commissioned an investigation into the role of leadership at the time’ Mitchell said at the press conference. 

Despite the arrests Mitchell expressed his support for law enforcement and said ‘disrespecting the police will not be tolerated.’ 

The murder suspects were captured and returned to Grenada last week where they where they were all charged with two counts of capital murder, escaping lawful custody, housebreaking, robbery and two counts of kidnapping. 

Stanislaus was also charged with rape.

Robertson was shot in the foot by police on St. Vincent during his arrest. 

Kathleen Brandel and her husband Ralph Hendry were on a trip of a lifetime sailing around the Caribbean when their yacht was hijacked and they were murdered.

The trio made their first court appearance in St. George’s Magistrate’s Court in Grenada last week and are next due in court on March 27.

It was originally not clear if Stanisclaus’ rape charge was linked to the case, but police told DailyMail.com: ‘Atiba Stanisclaus was charged by the Grenadian police with one count of rape on Kathy Brandel.

‘I believe he is also facing another rape charge from a separate incident in Grenada.’

The victims’ bodies have not yet been recovered but information suggests the suspects ‘disposed of the occupants’ while traveling between Grenada and St. Vincent, which is about 80 miles away.

The men had escaped from prison where they were facing charges of entering the country by boat and disembarking without the consent of Immigration officer, entering without a passport, entering at a point other than an official port of entry and landing as a prohibited immigrant.

They were being held at the South Saint George’s Police Station on the island when they escaped and are believed to have killed the couple before traveling to St. Vincent.

Hendry and Brandel had lived on their yacht, Simplicity, since 2013, after they decided to sell their home and the majority of their possessions to buy a boat.

They spent most of their time stationed in Florida, but would travel to Rhode Island during hurricane season. This winter was the first time the pair had sailed to the Caribbean.

Although Brandel ‘worked her whole life’ and has since retired, Brandel’s son Nick Buro said that Hendry – who is in the financial services industry – had ‘continued to work from the boat.’

The couple, who were lifelong sailors and married 27 years, have been able to travel to ‘many parts of the world’ due to their boat lifestyle and were living a ‘life of joy and love.’

Bryan Hendry, son of Hendry, revealed that his parents just ‘wanted to immerse themselves in different communities and share love and spread joy.’ 

The St Vincent Times reported that the boat was found with bloodstains on the interior, but no sign of the couple.

‘Copious volumes of blood were discovered in the master stateroom. Numerous personal belongings were also lost.