Members of the Police Arrest Team escorting M.M.B. into a vehicle to take him back to
Pointe Blanche prison, November 3, 2022. (File photo)
PHILIPSBURG--The man suspected of having stabbed 2016 Senior Carnival Queen Estika Halley multiple times, and who allegedly tried to slit her throat on July 31, 2022, appeared before a judge in the Court of First Instance on Wednesday, March 1, for a procedural hearing. He will be facing attempted murder and manslaughter charges, with the actual trial hearing set for June 28.
Halley had to fight for her life after she was stabbed multiple times, for instance, in her throat, her back and chest, hands and fingers, and her ankles. She was taken in critical but stable condition to the Intensive Care Unit at St. Maarten Medical Center, and survived the ordeal.
The attempt on Halley’s life unfolded at the parking lot of Emerald Funeral Home and Crematory in Cay Hill, across from the hospital entrance. The funeral company’s cameras recorded the brutal attack. The recording will be part of the evidence in this case.
The alleged perpetrator M.M.B. (39) fled the scene in the victim’s car, which was later found in French Quarter. He reported himself at the police station in Philipsburg later that day. He remains in preventive custody until his trial, considering the severity of the alleged crime.
During Wednesday’s preliminary hearing, it was announced that the investigation is still ongoing. Detectives still have to analyse telephone data, while a psychological report has to be drafted.
A request made by B.’s lawyer Shaira Bommel for facial comparison research by Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) was turned down.
Detectives said they recognised B. as the man visible on the funeral company’s camera recordings. They based this on the fact that they knew B. as a person and recognised him by his physique, posture and facial features.
Wednesday’s hearing took place in a well-guarded courthouse. Not only were there eight police officers in the courtroom, there also was a large police presence outside the courthouse.
The victim in this case will give a statement to the court during the trial hearing. The judge asked Halley to put her statement in writing and to submit it to the court a few days before the hearing.
