Man Known as the Caribbean area's Pioneering Multiple Murderer Gets 30-Year Prison Sentence

An individual labeled as the Caribbean's first multiple murderer has been handed a three-decade jail term for the torture and murder of a woman, shortly after he was given a life imprisonment for another two murders.

Kathron “Cuchi” Fortune, forty-seven, was accused of “extreme brutality” in the Assize court in the city, in the overseas department of the island, where multiple court cases were held in the autumn months.

On 25 September, Fortune was handed a life term with a 22-year minimum sentence, for the murders of the victims in 2005 and 2006 on the territory, which is shared by French and Dutch territories.

Midweek, he was given a different 30-year sentence, with at least a long period to be served, for torturing and killing of Angélique Chauviré in that year, additionally in the territory.

The decision was greeted positively by the legal representative supporting the Chauviré family.

“It is comforting, given the cruelty that this 31-year-old woman endured. Her relatives said very few words to me. But I think they approve of this latest decision,” the lawyer commented.

A second lawyer acting for the family of Hyman commented: “This trial is rare and it will be remembered mainly since we are facing a defendant who is a multiple murderer.”

Fortune had already been sentenced of additional homicides which were committed on the Dutch jurisdiction of the territory, known as Sint Maarten.

The individual is hailing from Grenada. In that year, he was handed a 21-year sentence by the Dutch court of appeal for the 2005 murder of Ervin Margarita, 23. But he fled during a health check in that year.

Later that year, he murdered Luis Sarante Diaz and Edwin Rosario Contreras in what was thought to be a botched drug deal at the Simpson Bay Resort in Sint Maarten. Their remains were located months afterward in a body of water several miles from the resort.

Fortune fled to the adjacent island territory of the location in July 2017, armed with a rifle, wearing body armour, and in possession of a significant funds. He was quickly apprehended and deported back to the territory shortly after.

Not long after, the storm struck the island in September 2017 and harmed parts of its detention facility. He was relocated to a facility in the area before being transferred to a secure institution in the Netherlands. In mid-2019, Fortune was found guilty for Diaz and Rosario’s killings.

While still in prison in the Netherlands, Fortune was prosecuted without presence by a French court in the period for the deaths of the individuals and sentenced to life. But he was able to submit an challenge to the trial occurring in his non-attendance, which resumed the proceedings for a court case at which he could be in attendance.

A prosecutor told the court that Fortune’s case had been complicated by the fact that his crimes had been carried out in different jurisdictions, which each had their own legal systems. “I reopened the case to ensure fairness. But it took a long time. Under global treaties you need the right authorisations, document translations, everything in place. That procedure took an extended period,” the individual commented.

Over the course of the cases in the region, the accused has claimed innocence. During final statements he informed the court: “I believe the reality will emerge 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 offense I did not do.”

The defense attorney has announced that an appeal has been submitted for the two trials. He will be returned to the region soon and his legal challenge is scheduled for in Paris.