PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Two suspects arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing in Ebenezer on August 5, 2026, have been remanded in custody for eight days by the examining judge. The investigation into the fatal stabbing remains ongoing.
Keeping both suspects in pre-trial detention was achieved through the coordinated use of the instruments available to the justice chain, notwithstanding the continuing shortage of detention capacity in Sint Maarten.
The female suspect has been transferred to a detention facility in Curaçao under the mutual arrangement between Sint Maarten, Curaçao, Aruba and the Netherlands concerning the shared use of detention capacity (ORD). The arrangement operated as the four countries designed it to and the authorities in Curacao responded without delay to the investigation.
The male suspect remains detained at the Pointe Blanche prison.
Where available capacity is insufficient to secure custody in a case of this seriousness, the Prosecutor’s Office signals that need to the Ministry of Justice. Such a signal was given in this matter. On receipt of the signal, the Director of the Point Blanche Prison provided a list drawn up on the basis of sentence calculations for the detained population, and the Minister of Justice exercised her authority under Article 1:37 of the Criminal Code to grant early conditional release to the detainee identified by that calculation.
When considering early conditional release because of a shortage of detention capacity, the law identifies the convicted person who, relative to the total sentence imposed, is proportionally closest to the statutory conditional-release point. This is not necessarily the person whose regular conditional-release date is closest on the calendar. Any early conditional release remains a decision of the Minister of Justice and must be exercised with great restraint.
The result is that both suspects were secured in pre-trial detention and the investigation proceeds without interruption.
