By Dimetri Whitfield
(Published June 07, 2026 on his Facebook page)
(TLDR version)
No eyewitnesses identified the shooter. No murder weapon. No confession.
Prosecutors are seeking decades in prison, arguing that the mountain of other evidence – ranging from surveillance footage, forensic evidence, intercepted conversations and hidden items recovered near the suspects’ home – convincingly proves what happened on the night Sheldon Johnson was killed.
The defence disagrees, arguing that investigators have filled crucial gaps with assumptions and speculation and have asked the court to infer more than the evidence actually proves.
The judge will render a verdict on June 25. The key question on her mind will likely be whether the evidence is merely a series of suspicious coincidences, or a chain so strong that it proves guilt beyond reasonable doubt?
Charges
Against suspect Anthony W.
1) Murder of Sheldon Johnson on 12 September 2025
2) Attempted manslaughter of L.C. on 12 September 2025
3) Possession of more than two kilogrammes of cocaine
Against suspect Rudulfo V.H.
1) Co-perpetration of the murder of Sheldon Johnson
2) Co-perpetration of the attempted manslaughter of L.C.
3) Possession of more than two kilogrammes of cocaine
4) Substitute charges for (1) and (2): Being an accessory to the murder of Sheldon Johnson and the attempted manslaughter of L.C.
Both suspects denied all the charges against them, saying they are innocent.
Evidence
Witness testimony:
1) L.C.: Said she and Sheldon had went for a drive and came back to his apartment in Upper Hell’s Gate. She got out and he went to park the vehicle. She was walking to the door when she heard a loud crack. She turned around and saw Sheldon fall. A hooded gunman walked closer and shot twice more at Sheldon while he was laying on the ground. The gunman then fired once at her and ran away. She could not identify the shooter.
2) Anthony W.’s girlfriend, who lived with both suspects, provided an alibi. She said Anthony W. and Rudulfo V.H. were both at home between 8:00 and 9:00pm.
Ballistics: Four spent bullet cartridges were found at the crime scene. These were linked to a 9mm pistol, model Glock.
There were no DNA matches to either suspect.
Gunshot residue: Positive tests on the hands of Anthony W. and Rudulfo V.H. The tests were taken three hours after the shooting.
Anthony W. could not explain how gunshot residue got on his hand, saying he had never fired a gun before. Rudulfo V.H. said wind must have blown the residue onto his hands while he was hiking, because the hunters from the government’s goat culling programme were shooting on the trails.
Editor’s Note: Gunshot residue are microscopic particles discharged from a gun’s muzzle after a shot is fired. These particles travel only a short distance (up to 5 feet or 1.5 metres) and usually comes off human skin within six hours due to washing and constantly touching other surfaces. The presence of gunshot residue on someone’s hands therefore means they either a) very recently fired a gun, b) were standing very close to someone who fired a gun, or c) had the particles transferred to them if they touched someone who very recently fired a gun or handled a weapon that had been recently fired.
Confiscated items found in six searches of the suspects’ home and the surrounding bushes between 12-30 September 2025.
1) Hidden in the bushes, police found:
a) A bag containing a black hoodie with white lettering (positive for gunshot residue and DNA match with Anthony W. on inside collar), a black t-shirt, a black sweatpants (positive for gunshot residue), and a pair of black latex gloves (positive for gunshot residue).
b) A memory card wrapped in a towel. The memory card contained footage recorded from the suspects’ home surveillance camera system, up to 11 minutes after the shooting.
c) Milk cans containing a total of more than two kilogrammes of cocaine, wrapped in layers of plastic. All samples tested positive for cocaine and the packaging had a positive DNA match with Anthony W.
2) In the home, police found:
a) Three walkie-talkie radios.
b) A box of black latex gloves.
Footage from the hidden memory card, recorded on night of shooting:
7:08pm Anthony W. sitting in the tent in the driveway, looking in the direction of the road. Stays there for 20 minutes.
7:28pm Anthony W. walks to the road and stands there.
7:29pm Anthony W. walks inside the house.
7:38pm Rudulfo V.H. comes out of house and sits on balcony. Appears to be watching the road.
7:49pm Vehicle drives past the house. Rudulfo V.H. stands up as it passes and sits down. The prosecutor argued that this showed that Rudulfo V.H. was observing the road, but the suspect denied this, saying he was only “meditating” on the porch after a day’s work.
8:13pm Anthony W. emerges from the house dressed in different clothes than before (t- shirt and short pants). He walks under the tent and checks the road in both directions.
8:23pm Anthony W. joins Rudulfo V.H. on the balcony. They sit together and talk.
8:26pm Sheldon Johnson’s vehicle passes the house, heading out of Upper Hell’s Gate. Anthony W. immediately stands up, walks to a parked car in the driveway, retrieves something from inside, and disappears out of view.
8:37pm A hooded figure dressed in dark clothing appears near the tent. The prosecutor argued that this was Anthony W. based on a similar posture and build. Suspect denies this, saying he was inside the house at this time.
8:39pm Hooded figure climbs onto the balcony roof, facing the road. Appears to be talking to Rudulfo V.H., who was still on the balcony. Rudulfo V.H. denied this, saying he did not know anyone was on the roof.
8:42pm The hooded figure makes a gesture and runs off the balcony roof. He goes into the tent.
8:43pm Sheldon Johnson’s vehicle passes the house, heading to his house. Hooded figure follows the vehicle on foot. Rudulfo V.H. walks into the driveway, retrieves something from the parked vehicle and walks toward road. Rudulfo V.H. told the court that he saw a shadow by the parked vehicle in the driveway and went to investigate. However, seeing nothing, he decided to get his ankle weights from the car and go for a workout, which is why he walked toward the road.
8:46pm Sheldon Johnson is fatally shot from behind (off-screen). The hooded figure comes back into view 12 seconds later, running down the road. The hooded figure runs in the direction of Windwardside and slips out of view due to the position of the camera and nearby buildings. Rudulfo V.H. runs toward the main road and disappears behind the bus stop. Rudulfo V.H. said he was scared after he heard the gunshots and saw the running figure coming towards him. This caused him to flee in panic and hide behind the bus stop.
8:53pm Anthony W. is seen in the driveway, wearing the same t-shirt and short pants as before. He enters the parked car and then walks into the house.
8:55pm Rudulfo V.H. emerges from behind the bus stop and runs home.
8:56pm A police car passes the house, rushing to the scene of the crime.
8:57pm The camera system stops recording.
When asked why their camera system suspiciously stopped working only minutes after the shooting, Anthony W. told the court that his young son liked to play with the wiring and he must have inadvertently disconnected the system.
During the trial, it emerged that police on the night of the shooting had asked the suspects to voluntarily hand over their camera images, and the memory card they submitted was empty. Officers also reported that the suspects’ camera system had appeared to have been hastily disconnected.
Phone searches:
1) Anthony W.’s phones contained:
a) Conversations about buying drugs, guns and ammunition.
b) A picture of him holding a Springfield 9mm pistol and a stack of money.
c) ChatGPT conversations, some as far as three months before the shooting, where he asked the chatbot about how alibis are weighed against other types of evidence and whether he was compelled to hand over his surveillance footage if a shooting happened near his home, among other legal questions. Sometimes he asked to chatbot to answer about how these things specifically worked for Saba.
2) Rudulfo V.H.’s phone contained:
a) ChatGPT conversation, nine days before the shooting, about the possibility of entering Canada with a criminal record.
The prosecutor described these ChatGPT conversations as “striking” because the suspects later handed over an empty surveillance camera memory card. Anthony W.’s girlfriend also provided an alibi and later moved to Canada herself.
3) Anthony W.’s girlfriend phone contained:
a) A conversation with her mother five days after the shooting about Anthony W.’s memory card.
b) A conversation with her mother, saying she hopes Rudulfo V.H. does not give in under the pressure and get Anthony W. in trouble.
Wire-tapped conversations:
1) The suspects were secretly recorded at St. Eustatius’ F.D. Roosevelt Airport during their prison transport to Bonaire on 19 September 2025. Rudulfo V.H. drops his voice to a whisper and told Anthony W. that “police couldn’t find it”. Anthony W. stammers and clarifies: “They find the gun?”
They told the court that they were discussing another recent case where police came up empty during a house search of a Saba man suspected of gun possession. The prosecutor did not think this explanation plausible, saying they did not need to whisper if it was not about them.
2) The suspects were secretly recorded at Bonaire’s prison. They were reportedly discussing what they each told investigators during interrogation. Anthony W. tells Rudulfo V.H. that he should say that he was inside his room that night. However, Rudulfo V.H. says that he already mentioned that he was outside when he heard gunshots. According to the prosecutor, Anthony W. got aggravated and said: “Only thing we need to do is stick to the same thing and we gone. You check?”
Anthony W. denied coaching Rudulfo V.H. about what to say to police. He said he was only encouraging him to tell the truth.
Prosecutor’s Argument
Theory: This was a highly-organised, “cold-blooded execution”.
Motive: The prosecutor said this is uncertain because the defendants have not confessed. He did point out that Sheldon Johnson and the suspects were on opposing sides of a public brawl in The Bottom in May 2025.
Prosecutor’s reconstruction: The suspects planned how to get away with the murder in the proceeding months with the help of ChatCPT. They gathered all the supplies, including the radios and latex gloves. This was clearly premeditated, the prosecutor argued.
On the night of the shooting, they carefully watched the road to monitor when Sheldon left the area, using walkie-talkies to prevent their from conversations being tracked. After Sheldon passed, they quickly sprang into action, with Anthony W. changing into black clothing. He climbed onto the balcony roof, which has a clear view of vehicles approaching from a distance, and watched to see when Sheldon would return home. Anthony W. followed Sheldon’s vehicle on foot after it passed and immediately opened fire when he had the opportunity. He aimed at vital organs, which clearly showed the intent to kill.
Anthony W. likely did not know L.C. was with Sheldon that night, the prosecutor argued, because she does not live on-island and had only arrived that afternoon. In the eyes of the prosecution, Anthony W. made a “split-second” decision to fire at L.C. to “eliminate a witness”. The fact that he shot at her can be proven by bullet damage to the wall behind where she was standing, the prosecutor argued. However, because it was a spontaneous decision and not premeditated, it cannot be qualified as attempted murder. It therefore falls to the lesser charge of attempted manslaughter. However, the prosecutor argued that there was no evidence that Rudulfo V.H. would have made the same decision to fire at L.C. had he been the shooter.
Anthony W. then flees the scene and hands the gun to Rudulfo V.H. at an agreed meeting point. Rudulfo V.H. disposes of the weapon behind the bus stop. According to the prosecutor, this is only plausible explanation for how the gunshot residue got on his hands and why he was behind the bus stop for nearly 10 minutes. These are actions consistent with co-perpetration and not the lesser charge of being an accessory, the prosecutor argued, as the murder could not have succeeded without Rudulfo’s assistance, both before and after the crime. For example, while he was getting rid of the murder weapon, Anthony W. was changing back into his previous clothes and beginning the process of erasing “as much evidence as possible,” the prosecutor said.
According to the prosecution’s theory, in the intervening 85 minutes until their arrest, one or both of them had to:
a) pack the black clothing and gloves into a bag,
b) wrap the unplugged surveillance camera memory card into a towel,
c) place the cocaine into the milk cans, and
d) hide all of these items in the bush near their home.
Prosecutor’s recommendations:
1) Anthony W. should be found guilty of the murder of Sheldon Johnson and the attempted manslaughter of L.C.
2) Rudulfo V.H. should be found guilty of co-perpetration of the murder of Sheldon Johnson, but should be acquitted of the attempted manslaughter of L.C.
3) Anthony W. should be found guilty of cocaine possession because his DNA matched the packaging, proving he handled them at some point. Rudulfo V.H. could not be linked and therefore should be acquitted.
Sentencing recommendation:
a) 28 years in prison for Anthony W., because he should found guilty on all three charges and his 2021 conviction in St. Maarten for gun possession.
b) 21 years in prison for Rudulfo V.H., because he should be found guilty on only one charge. He has no prior convictions.
According to the prosecution, the hefty sentences are appropriate because they reflect the irreparable damage to the family, the shock to the small and close-knit Saba community where murders do not happen often, the fact that defendants have remained silent and show no remorse, and the fact that the murder was carefully planned and done in a public place.
Defence’s argument
Lawyer’s recommendation: Anthony W. and Rudulfo V.H. should be acquitted on all charges based on insufficient evidence, arguing that:
a) It cannot be proven that the hooded figure in the surveillance footage is Anthony W., as someone’s posture and build are not specific enough to identify someone, especially if their face, arms and legs are covered.
b) It cannot be proven that the hooded figure was even the shooter, because the surveillance footage does not capture the location where the shots were fired. These were out of view so it cannot be assumed that the hooded figure was the gunman.
c) The surveillance footage is too unclear to show that something was handed over to
Rudulfo V.H. That is merely the prosecutor’s assumption, the defence lawyer argued.
d) There is no direct evidence, such as DNA, linking Anthony W. to the crime scene.
e) The presence of gunshot residue does not mean that Anthony W. and Rudulfo V.H. fired a weapon that night, arguing that it could have been on their hands for days or weeks, depending on “lifestyle”.
f) It can be questioned whether the hoodie found in the bag was the same one worn by the hooded figure in the surveillance footage, as the white lettering could not be seen in the video.
Verdict
The judge will render a verdict at 1:30pm on 25 June 2026.
