Haitian gang leader added to FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list for kidnapping and killing Americans
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/11/2023 (1063 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
MIRAMAR, Fla. (AP) — The FBI added a Haitian gang leader to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on Wednesday for the kidnapping and slaying of American missionaries in that country, but conceded capturing him will be a difficult task in the often lawless nation.
In conjunction with the announcement, the U.S. State Department said it will pay up to $2 million for information leading to the arrest of Vitel’Homme Innocent, who is known by his first name only. He has already been indicted in the United States for the armed kidnapping of 16 Christian missionaries in 2021 and the slaying of missionary Marie Franklin and kidnapping of her husband, Jean, in 2022.
Most of the first group from Christian Aid Ministries, which included five children, escaped after 61 days in captivity and the others were released. Jean Franklin was released after three weeks when his family paid a ransom.
The FBI says Vitel’Homme leads the Kraze Bayre gang and worked in concert with the 400 Mawozo gang in the abductions. The agency believes he is still in Haiti and would face a possible death sentence in the U.S. if he were ever captured and convicted of Franklin’s murder.
“He is a menace to the island and he is clearly a menace to American citizens,” Jeffrey B. Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami office, said during a news conference.
Veltri conceded that even if authorities had information about Vitel’Homme’s whereabouts, capturing him would be difficult given the chaos in Haiti. Just Wednesday, a heavily armed gang burst into a hospital and took hundreds of women, children and newborns hostage.
The country’s gangs have grown more powerful than the government since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and have bigger and better weapons than the police. Gang leaders continue operating with impunity, brushing off previous U.N. sanctions and criminal charges filed by U.S. federal authorities.
In early October, the U.N. Security Council voted to send a multinational force led by Kenya to help fight the gangs, but that country’s leaders are now balking. They say Kenya’s personnel need more training and funding, and they have not announced a deployment date.
Veltri said if Vitel’Homme is located, “we will work with our international partners, but it is an ongoing process. … Haiti presents unique challenges.”