Category Archives: headline

headline

Haiti: Prison Break Death Toll at 25, 400 Escape

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian authorities announced Friday that more than 400 inmates escaped and 25 people died in a prison breakout, making it the country’s largest and deadliest one in a decade, with the prison director and a powerful gang leader among those killed.

Some believe Thursday’s jailbreak at the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison in northeast Port-au-Prince was to free gang leader Arnel Joseph, who had been Haiti’s most wanted fugitive until his 2019 arrest on charges including rape, kidnapping and murder.

Joseph was riding on a motorcycle through the Artibonite area in the town of L’Estère on Friday a day after his escape when he was spotted at a checkpoint, police spokesman Gary Desrosiers told The Associated Press. He said Joseph pulled out a gun and died in an exchange of gunfire with police.

Joseph ruled Village de Dieu, or Village of God, a shantytown in downtown Port-au-Prince, and other communities, including some in Artibonite, which is Haiti’s largest department.

Authorities have not yet provided much details on the breakout except to say that 60 inmates have been recaptured and the investigation is ongoing. State Secretary Frantz Exantus said authorities have created several commissions to investigate who organized the breakout and why. Among those killed was the prison director, identified as Paul Joseph Hector.

Residents who declined to be identified because they feared for their life told the AP that they saw gunmen shoot at prison guards on Thursday before inmates escaped from the Croix-des-Bouquets penitentiary.

The prison is known for a 2014 breakout in which more than 300 of the 899 inmates being held there at the time escaped. Some believed that attack was designed to free Clifford Brandt, the son of a prominent businessman, who had been imprisoned since 2012 for allegedly kidnapping the adult children of a rival businessman. Brandt was captured two days later near the Dominican Republic border.

After the 2014 breakout, officials said they were taking steps to up security at the prison that Canada built in 2012, including installing security cameras and placing ankle monitors on the most dangerous prisoners. It wasn’t immediately clear if any of those measures were taken. At the time of Thursday’s breakout, the prison held 1,542 inmates, nearly twice its capacity.

Haiti’s largest prison breakout in recent history occurred after the devastating 2010 earthquake in which more than 4,200 inmates fled the notorious National Penitentiary in downtown Port-au-Prince.

President Jovenel Moïse tweeted on Friday that he condemned the most recent jailbreak and asked people to remain calm. He added that Haiti’s National Police “is instructed to take all measures to bring the situation under control.”

Meanwhile, Helen La Lime, Haiti’s special representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said in a statement that she was deeply concerned with the mutiny and prison escape.

“I encourage the police to speed up investigations on the circumstances surrounding this incident, redouble its efforts to re-apprehend the escapees, and strengthen security around prisons throughout the country,” she said. “This prison break further highlights the problem of prolonged preventive detention and prison overcrowding which remains matter of concern that must be urgently addressed by Haitian authorities.”

AP reporter Dánica Coto contributed from San Juan, Puerto Ri

The post Haiti: Prison Break Death Toll at 25, 400 Escape appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

headline

Iconic Mad Max house up for sale in Victoria

One of Victoria's most-famous beach houses, which holds a special place in Australian movie history, has been listed for sale for an eye-water $11 million.

Once just a shack on the sand dunes of Fairhaven beach, the property is known as hideout from the original road warrior Mad Max.

Four decades later and the house isn't a shack anymore.

In 2000, the iconic property was bought by Boost Juice founder Janine Allis for $1.1 million before an enormous renovation.

The house now includes five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a pool, and uninterrupted views on 3000 square metres surrounded by crown land.

For locals, it's an exclamation point on a year that's seen surf coast prices jump 13 per cent.

"The market down here's been going berserk anyway, so that might just top it out i think," Agent Marty Maher said.

The sale is expected to attract a few die hard fans.

"When you look at the movie, this is the actual spot they sat in. It's in the movie a lot," she said.

Before Bruce Willis and Arnie captured our hearts - it was <i>Mad Max</i> who held the post-apocalyptic action crown! It was the role that made Mel Gibson famous, and spawned a million tiny faux-leather biker costumes come Halloween.<br/>

To top it off, the house has a second film credit with a clear view to a piece of legendary Aussie TV with views of the lighthouse from Round the Twist — another nudge towards a record-breaking price when offers close in mid-April.

"We have some beautiful properties down here but this one is by far the best," Ms Maher said.

"To get total privacy, this close to the beach… that's the rarest combination on the whole coast of Victoria."

headline

Melissa Caddick investors likely to face 'significant shortfall'

The mystery behind suspected Sydney fraudster, Melissa Caddick, is deepening following the grisly discovery of a second body part expected to be linked in the coming days through DNA testing.

The remains were found just hours after police revealed a foot belonging to the 49-year-old had washed up, on a remote stretch of beach on the NSW south coast.

The remains found last night at Mollymook are now undergoing analysis with officers close to the case telling 9News they're likely linked to Caddick.

READ MORE: More human remains wash up on NSW coast

"There was mass of a fairly bleak substance that had a really peculiar stench to it," local resident Craig O'Donnel told 9News.

Last night's discovery turned up 200 kilometres north of where three teenagers found a shoe with remains inside last Sunday.

Experts had predicted a body which entered the water in Dover Heights on November 11 — the day Melissa went missing — could feasibly drift that far.

While the police investigation has now turned to compiling a report for the coroner, the probe into Caddick's alleged fraud is continuing with the watchdog releasing a statement saying: "ASIC's priority is to seek the return of funds to investors… the hearing should go ahead as a priority."

READ MORE: How Melissa's remains were found

Experts have told 9News many of Caddick's investors, some of whom were also close friends of the missing woman, are unlikely to be reimbursed.

Melissa Caddick flaunted her luxury lifestyle with expensive clothes and pricey holidays making the seizing of assets to retrieve funds a near impossible task.

"Money which is spent on those things is gone, never to be recovered," Innis Cull, Bankruptcy trustee and Liquidator from Pitcher Partners said.

READ MORE: Investigation into Melissa Caddick's alleged Ponzi scheme to continue

Caddick's investors have now been left out of pocket close to $25 million.

"There's going to be a significant shortfall for the investors. Investors will line up behind the cost of the investigation," Mr Cull said.

A hearing has been set for April when the Federal Court will also look to examine people close to Caddick's business.