New DNA evidence disclosed in Saba fireman murder case, trial set for June

The two men accused of the murder of Saban firefighter Sheldon Johnson will go on trial on June 4, the Court of First In­stance decided during a prelimi­nary hearing on Thursday.

However, suspects A.N.W. (26) and R.V.v.H. (36) will not appear in court in Saba. The judge ruled that the trial will take place in Bonaire due to security concerns at Saba’s small courthouse. Pro­ceedings will be conducted via video conference between Bo­naire, Saba and St. Maarten, as in previous hearings.

The suspects are being held in Bonaire on suspicion of killing Johnson, who was shot outside his home in Hell’s Gate on Sep­tember 12, 2025 — 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, as well as the possession of two kilo­grammes of cocaine found in a house search.

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 2025.

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.

New evidence
During the last prelimi­nary hearing in December 2025, the prosecutor told the court that investigators were waiting on test results from the Dutch Forensic Institute NFI. The only piece of evidence present­ed at the time was an audio recording of a conversation between W and V.H. that police had covertly taped after their arrest. What was said between the two has not been disclosed.

On Thursday, the prosecu­tor said forensic tests have linked W’s DNA to a black hoodie and backpack that police found “hidden in the bushes” outside the sus­pects’ home. The gunman has been described as wear­ing black clothing.

Footage from a surveil­lance camera at the sus­pects’ residence was also mentioned. According to the judge, this footage de­picted “people [dressed — Ed.] in black moving around the house” that night.

The prosecutor said the investigation is now “vir­tually complete”, with the case file only missing a re­port on the recovered nar­cotics, as well as the results of forensic tests for gunshot residue. He expects these to be ready in two to three weeks.

Additionally, the prosecu­tor said investigators will attempt to recover data from a water-damaged mo­bile phone that was recently found near the spot where the gunman is believed to have waited for Johnson to come home.

The murder weapon has still not been recovered, the prosecutor said.

Defence lawyer Shaira Bommel, who represents both W. and V.H., did not make any requests for ad­ditional investigation.

Claims of innocence
Both suspects have denied any involvement in the fatal shooting, with V.H. telling the court on Thursday that he and his cousin W. are be­ing “targeted and singled out” for “something we did not do”.

“Why we here is basically gossip,” he said. W. argued that the mixed black-and-white clothing found in the backpack did not match the all-black at­tire attributed to the shoot­er.

Compensation 
A large part of the hear­ing touched on whether Johnson’s relatives should be compensated for travel costs to attend the trial in Bonaire. The family’s law­yer, Sjamira Roseburg, ar­gued that since the trial is not being held in Saba, the authorities should cover these expenses.

The prosecutor said there is no legal obligation for the public prosecution ser­vice to do so. Meanwhile, the judge said the law only required the trial to be done in the same country as the crime, and that Bo­naire, St. Eustatius and Saba have been part of the same “country” since 2010. After hearing these deni­als, Roseburg said she will request support from local and national authorities. If unsuccessful, she intends to include the costs in com­pensation claims against the suspects.

The Daily Herald.