Murder Accused On Bail After Canadian Foundation Raises Bail

CASTRIES, St. Lucia CMC – Eugene St. Romain, who spent the last 10 years in prison awaiting trial on the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl, has been released after a Canada-based charitable foundation raised the EC$60,000 (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) funds needed to secure his bail.

“The judge found that his constitutional rights had been breached for keeping him on remand for over nine years awaiting trial.

“I am really happy that the judge agreed with me that my client should no longer be allowed to languish in jail while the investigators got their act together,” said attorney Martinus Francois, who has challenged the State on numerous occasions regarding his client’s constitutional rights.

The name of the Canadian foundation was not disclosed, but officials note that Romain is the first national to have been given bail on a murder charge.

He will appear in court in December in relation to the death of his stepdaughter, Verlinda Joseph, whose body was found in a banana field in December 2002.