Investigation into Saba fireman murder nearly complete, prosecutor tells court – Updated December 12

The investigation into the murder of Saban firefighter Sheldon John­son is 80% complete, and a trial could take place as early as May 2026, a prose­cutor told the Court of First Instance in a preliminary hearing on Thursday.

Two men — A.N.W. (26) and R.V.v.H. (36) — have been charged with murder­ing Johnson, who was am­bushed in front of his Hell’s Gate home on September 12, three days before his 33rd birthday.

The gunman fired four times during the attack, according to an audio re­cording from a neighbour’s surveillance camera, which had been widely shared on social media.

W. and V.H. have also been charged with the attempted murder of Johnson’s girl­friend, who was with him at the time of the fatal shoot­ing, as well as the posses­sion of two kilogrammes of cocaine.

W. and V.H., who lived on the same street as the vic­tim, were arrested at their home about 90 minutes af­ter the shooting. Johnson and the two suspects were on opposing sides of a pub­lic brawl that occurred in The Bottom in May.

The prosecutor told the court on Thursday that more witnesses still need to be interviewed, and author­ities are continuing to ex­amine mobile phones and other digital devices seized from the suspects.

Investigators are also wait­ing on test results from the Dutch Forensic Institute NFI. The prosecutor did not disclose what types of forensic evidence have been collected so far.

Another preliminary hear­ing has been set for March 19, 2026, which will again assess the status of the in­vestigation and whether the case will be ready for trial in May or June 2026. The sus­pects have been remanded into custody until then.

Defence lawyer Shaira Bommel did not make any requests for additional in­vestigation during Thurs­day’s hearing, but said she might have some in March after reviewing the out­standing evidence.

However, Bommel did request that an audio re­cording be added to the case file. It emerged during the hearing that police had covertly recorded a con­versation between W and V.H. sometime during their transport to Bonaire, where they are being held in pre­trial detention.

Near the end of the hear­ing, the judge asked the prosecution about the pos­sibility of holding the trial in Saba or Bonaire. The prosecutor said his office had not discussed this yet, but lawyer Sjamira Rose­burg, who represents John­son’s relatives and girl­friend, argued that the trial should be held in Saba.

Lawyer Bommel wants the trial in Bonaire, argu­ing that her clients’ safety would be at risk in Saba’s small courtroom. She pointed out that Thursday’s hearing was conducted via a three-way video confer­ence between the court­houses in Bonaire, Saba and St. Maarten, and the connection had worked “very well.”

Bommel’s security con­cerns appear justified.

Hours after her clients’ ar­rest, the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard was called to transport one of them to the jail in St. Eustatius. A handful of men had gath­ered at Saba’s harbour for the occasion, and mobile phone videos shared on so­cial media depicted them cursing and hurling threats as law enforcement led the suspect to the waiting boat.

Johnson’s murder deeply shocked the island’s close-knit community, where killings happen once every several decades. Saba’s previous homicide, a case of strangling, occurred in 2015, while the last fatal shooting took place in 1989.

Following the shooting, some residents criticised local policing and border control practices on social media.

The Daily Herald.

Update from St. Maarten news:

The site St. Maarten News has published a review of the sequence of events. Read that HERE.