Post by HeadMarshal on Feb 8, 2015 15:28:11 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: pulitzer.com)
Ishmael LaBeet is still being sought by authorities for escape and airplane hijacking where he was serving a sentence for a massacre. I'm pretty certain he was never on AMW.
LaBeet, a Vietnam war veteran's first run in with the law in the US Virgin Islands was in early 1972 when he fired at officers while they were trying to arrest him on robbery charges. He escaped and he and several other men began planning a horrific crime. A St. Croix police officer took a machine gun from the property room and gave it to LaBeet during the preparation. On Sep 6, 1972, LaBeet and four other men went to a golf club to rob the patrons. However LaBeet and some of the men opened fire with their weapons, including the stolen machine gun at 16 people, eight were killed in the ensuing carnage. The resulting trial was chaotic, with fights between the defendants and authorities. LaBeet and the other defendants told the court that they were black defendants being railroaded by a white investigation.
In 1973, LaBeet and the other defendants were sentenced to eight life sentences. While they were sent to prisons in the mainland United States, in 1984, LaBeet returned to the Virgin Islands in a civil suit trial over his treatment. He got $12,000 in damages. On the flight back to the mainland United States, LaBeet went to the washroom where a gun was planted, it is not known who planted the weapon. LaBeet then held the passengers and authorities hostage, reportedly calm and allowed the other passengers to watch an in-flight movie. LaBeet then had the plane land in Cuba where he disembarked and allowed the plane to resume it's journey to the United States. He was last reported seen in Cuba in 1994.
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Thoughts? Despite the extreme media attention given to JoAnne Chesimard and Victor Gerena over the years, I only recently learned about this case. Eight people were killed and others were wounded but because this occurred in a US territory, that's probably why this case got less attention, and likely not an airing on AMW. I didn't include law enforcement contact information because I'm not sure who exactly is in charge of this investigation, and if LaBeet is still in Cuba, then he's not getting arrested at this point anyway. I just felt that the other members and guests on this forum should know about this case.
www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/cop-killers-half-brother-killed-8-hijacked-jetline/nZw6X/
www.pulitzer.org/archives/5770
stthomassource.com/content/news/local-news/2002/09/05/30-years-after-massacre-labeets-fate-uknown
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