Glum-faced assassination suspect, family remanded in immigration breach case
The wife of the ex-Haitian opposition senator linked to the assassination of then President Jovenel Moïse wept on Thursday as she was being led away from the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court after she and her husband and their two sons were remanded.
The demure-looking 38-year-old lawyer, Edume Joseph, who was dressed in a pink dress and white cardigan, and her husband, 56-year-old John Joel Joseph, both had glum expressions when they appeared in court before Senior Parish Judge Lori-Ann Cole-Montaque.
The French-speaking couple, along with their 18-year-old son, Schopenhauer, and his nine-year-old brother were all remanded on a charge of illegal entry after their lawyer, Donahue Martin, indicated that “there are particular discussions to be had”.
The Josephs, who were apprehended on January 14 during a police operation in Warminster district in St Elizabeth, were then advised by an interpreter that their matter would be adjourned and that they would be remanded until February 15.
According to a senior police officer, John Joel, 59, was listed among five fugitives for whom Haiti’s Justice Minister, Rockefeller Vincent, said the country would offer six million gourdes for their arrest.
According to excerpts from a Haitian police report, Joseph had reportedly rented four vehicles that were used by the Colombian assassins on the night of the deadly attack.
Moϊse was killed at his private residence overlooking the capital on July 7, 2021.
He was reportedly shot 12 times and had bullet wounds to his forehead and several to his torso.
His left eye had been gouged out and bones in his arm and in his ankle had reportedly been broken.
His wife, Martine Moϊse, was also shot in the incident but survived.
The other key suspect in his murder plot, ex-Colombian military officer Mario Antonio Palacios, was deported from Jamaica on January 3 in keeping with an order by the Supreme Court here after his immigration breach conviction.
Palacios was intercepted in Panama by US law enforcement agents and taken to Florida, where he was charged with various crimes related to Moïse’s assassination.