Repeat offender facing six years for attempted murder

August 18, 2017

PHILIPSBURG–The Court of Appeals, in July, convicted and sentenced Rolandito O.N. Richardson (31) to twelve years for raping, robbing, assaulting and extorting several women ages 19 to 67 years, on February 27, 2016, March 27, 2016 and April 27, 2016. He was also ordered to pay damages. On Thursday, he was in Court again, hearing the Prosecutor call for another prison term of six years for attempted murder and threats to the victim’s son and daughter on December 28, 2015.

He would also have to pay damages to the victim to the tune of US $1,008.
Similar to his involvement in the crimes committed in the so-called Orchid investigations, Richardson denied he had anything to do with the December 2015 incident.
The crimes, the Prosecutor pointed out, were all committed according to one and the same pattern. All crimes were committed in the early morning hours in the vicinity of Front and Back Streets in Philipsburg.
Several victims were robbed of pieces of jewellery and small amounts of money and mistreated by Richardson. The violence ranged from sexual assault to punches in the face, the pulling of hair, strangulation, kicking and threatening with a knife.
Also, the December 2015 crime fit this pattern. At 6:20am, the victim was confronted with an unknown man inside her Back Street house. He told her he was going to kill her. The young man of light complexion and short hair held a knife in his hand. He was offered valuables, but he declined and kicked the woman to the floor, where she was stabbed in her back, arms and hands.
Alarmed by their mother’s screams, the woman’s son and daughter came to her rescue. They were threatened by the perpetrator who attacked the daughter and pressed the knife against her throat.
Fighting for her life, the victim got hold of the perpetrator’s T-shirt and did not let go. The perpetrator dragged her along the floor until he cut loose his shirt and ran away.
Forensic investigations of the piece of clothing provided a match with Richardson and no match with a previously held suspect.
Confronted with his photo, the victim’s daughter said she had no doubt that Richardson was the culprit. Considering the fact that he matches the description of the perpetrator, and that he has been seen on surveillance-camera footage prior to the incident, the Prosecutor has no doubt that Richardson also committed this crime.
Richardson, however, denies any involvement in this crime. He did not make a statement to the Police, and was asked by the Judge if he has anything against women, he said: “no, to the contrary.”
Confronted with his apparent fascination with the number “27,” Richardson said he had no idea what the Prosecutor was talking about.
The Prosecutor considered it proven that the suspect had used excessive violence and had attempted to rob the victim of her life. He held it against the defendant that the “gruesome stabbing,” without any apparent motive had sown fear among the residents of Philipsburg.
He said the victim barely survived the vicious attack. The stabbing damaged a nerve in the woman’s hand, making it impossible to continue working as a seamstress. Due to the incident she no longer wanted to live in the house and has moved to another location. “In many respects the life of the victim has been destroyed,” the Prosecutor said.
In formulating his demand, the Prosecutor took into account the severity of the crime, the modus operandi of the suspect and the “outright terrifying” circumstances under which the victims were randomly selected, “while he roamed the streets like a predator in the early morning.”
It was also taken into consideration that Richardson already has an extensive criminal record, not only in St. Maarten but also in Anguilla. When he committed last year’s crimes Richardson was a free man for little more than a year. In Anguilla, he was sentenced to eight years for rape on March 16, 2009. He was released in November 2014.
According to the Royal Anguilla Police, Richardson, who was born in St. Maarten, has been known to the Anguilla Police since 2002. “From 2007 his modus operandi turned to house breaking, aggravated burglary and rapes where he targeted private villas and tourists as his victims. He would carry out these acts on several nearby locations in one night, sometimes three or four within five hours. In 2007, he was arrested and charged for robbery, rape and burglary,” the Anguilla Police stated.
Lawyer Marlon Hart pleaded for his client’s acquittal. He said a small kitchen knife had been used in the attack which had only inflicted minor injuries. According to the lawyer, there were no indications that the perpetrator had had any intention to inflict severe bodily harm.
In stating that the witness statements were unreliable, video-camera footage and DNA-evidence not useable and photo recognition questionable, the lawyer called upon the Judge to fully acquit his client. The Judge will give his decision September 6.