The Virginia woman believed to have been ki*lled alongside her husband by escaped prisoners who commandeered the couple’s yacht in the Caribbean was allegedly rap*ed by one of their mur*derers, according to police.
One of the three men charged with the couple’s m*urder allegedly ra*ped Kathy Brandel, 71, before the trio k*illed her and her 66-year-old husband Ralph Hendry on their sailboat last month, according to the Royal Grenada Police Force.
Ron Mitchell, Atiba Stanisclaus and Trevon Robertson were all charged Thursday with two counts of capital mu*rder as well as escaping lawful custody, housebreaking, robbery and two counts of kidnapping, police said.
Stanisclaus, 25, was also charged with one count of ra*pe in the deadly case. Royal Grenada Police confirmed that the ra*pe charge is related to an assault on Brandel in a statement.
Royal Grenada Police did not immediately reply to a question about what evidence led to the additional charge, given that cops have not recovered Brandel’s body.
The bodies of the couple have not been found since they were last seen near their docked catamaran named “Simplicity” in St. George’s, Grenada on Feb. 18 — the same day the three men allegedly broke out of a police holding cell on the island.
Police believe the escapees hijacked the sailboat while the couple were on board. It was found anchored and deserted days later.
Large amounts of blood were found on the ransacked boat but Hendry and Brandel were nowhere to be found. Police believed their ki*llers threw their bodies overboard while sailing to St.Vincent.
The three men were arrested in St. Vincent on Feb. 21 and were sent back to Grenada on Monday, where they were arraigned in court and sent back to prison.
The men were originally being held on robbery charges before their escape.
They are expected back in court on March 27.
Brandel and Hendry, experienced cruisers, were living on their sailboat at the time of their brutal de*aths.
The couple’s children remembered their parents in a touching statement.
“We live in a world that at times can be cruel, but it’s also a world of profound beauty, wonder, adventure, love, compassion, caring, and faith,” they wrote in a statement.
“Our parents encompassed all those values and so much more. If we have learned anything from this tragic event, it’s that we know they left this world in a better place than it was before they were born.”
