(Tribune News Service) — The United States has extradited a third suspect in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
Former Senator John Jöel Joseph is in Miami after arriving from Jamaica, and is scheduled to have his first appearance in federal court Monday afternoon. Joseph, who also uses the last name John on his passport, is expected to be charged with the same charges as two previous suspects who were extradited earlier this year. Those suspects Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios, a former Colombian soldier, and Rodolphe Jaar, a convicted cocaine trafficker, are both in U.S. custody in federal lockup accused of providing material support in the July 7 assassination.
Joseph, according to Haitian police, provided vehicles for the assassination and participated in meetings with chief suspects in the weeks leading up to the killing. He is identified by sources as a key suspect who can help shed light on what happened. FBI investigators have said that the plan initially was to arrest Moïse but then turned into an assassination. Why remains unclear.
There are currently about 40 suspects in jail in Haiti including 18 former Colombian military soldiers who stormed the presidential compound in the hills above Port-au-Prince in the middle of night. They are accused of shooting the president multiple times and leaving his wife, Martine, for dead.
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Haitian police display some of the weapons they say they took from men who were involved in the July assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. (Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald/TNS)
