Poisoned Syringes and Other Allegations Against a Haitian Prosecutor

An investigation by AyiboPost and Forbidden Stories unveils a brutal system responsible for numerous illicit actions, attributed to the former prosecutor of Les Cayes, Ronald Richemond

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Former Les Cayes prosecutor Ronald Richemond finds himself at the center of several cases of expropriations, unjustified deprivation of liberty, abuse, illegal executions and even allegations of using poisoned syringes, according to an investigation conducted by AyiboPost and Forbidden Stories.

Three former collaborators of Richmond and a dozen other witnesses expose the reality of the « system » put in place by the former representative of the State in the judicial system in Les Cayes.

Richemond was dismissed from his duties in April for abandoning his post, according to a letter signed by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, obtained exclusively by AyiboPost from a source familiar with the matter.

Ronald Richemond’s dismissal letter

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This ouster comes at a time when the former prosecutor is facing persistent accusations concerning the brutal murder, in October 2022, of journalist Garry Tesse, host of the program Gran Lakou on Lebon FM station.

This case was assigned to a new magistrate for investigation by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security in Les Cayes last month, following the transfer of the previous judge.

However, the resolution of this highly publicized homicide remains uncertain. The newly appointed judge, Jean Michelet Seide, is considering withdrawing from the case, fearing for his own safety.

Richemond was dismissed from his duties in April for abandoning his post, according to a letter signed by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, obtained exclusively by AyiboPost from a source familiar with the matter.

The judge claims to have requested protective measures from the authorities. These requests have gone unanswered, he laments.

Interviewed by AyiboPost and Forbidden Stories, Tesse’s family, his colleagues, and three former close associates of Richemond—one of whom claims to have been involved in the alleged plot—accused the former senior official of coordinating the assassination.

Ronald Richmond rejected these accusations in 2023. However, he was placed on leave the previous year, before being officially dismissed.

According to Anthony Cyrion, the family’s lawyer, contacted by AyiboPost, Richmond’s status as a magistrate hindered the progress of the case.

No court decision has yet been handed down against Ronald Richemond, nor against any member of his entourage, in connection with the events reported in this investigation.

***

Appointed prosecutor in 2019, Richemond distinguished himself for nearly two years in the fight against the Kilikou armed gang, which spread fear in Les Cayes.

« The population was very grateful to him for dismantling this criminal network, » Amos André, a former security agent who worked with Richemond for three years, told AyiboPost.

The former prosecutor’s team, made up of police officers and private agents, is allegedly involved in numerous human rights violations denounced by citizens and local journalists, including Garry Tesse before his death.

About six residents of Les Cayes hold Richemond and his collaborators responsible for expropriations, unjustified incarcerations, inhumane treatment, unauthorized executions, and even alleged cases of poisoning.

« I think that power and the thirst for wealth have profoundly transformed him, » Amos André told AyiboPost, claiming to have known Richmond well before his appointment to the prosecution.

The case of the alleged use of poisoned syringes remains one of the most opaque aspects of the prosecutor’s actions.

Annonce Daudier, from the Fonfrède area of ​​Les Cayes, now lives with a partially paralyzed right arm following a suspicious arrest made by Richemond and his agents.

It all began in October 2023 over a land dispute between him and Richemond and the lawyer Pierre Antoine Borgart, who was killed last June in Les Cayes.

According to notarial documents and cadastral maps consulted by AyiboPost, the one-hectare plot in conflict had been transferred to Daudier by his adoptive father.

According to Daudier, Richemond and the lawyer had contacted him to discuss leasing the land in order to install irrigation pumps for growing fruit and vegetables.

« But I refused to give up this land which provided a livelihood for my family, » says the 51-year-old.

The prosecutor, frustrated by this refusal, ordered his arrest after having « accused him of murder », according to Daudier.

While he resisted arrest in 2023, a member of Richmond’s team allegedly injected an unknown substance into his right arm using a syringe while he was blindfolded.

Photo of Annonce Daudier from behind, showing the effects of the injection, obtained on June 13

Daudier has not received any medical attention. Since this episode, he says he has suffered from acute pain in his arm, marked by progressive muscle atrophy.

Released in April 2025, Daudier is now trying to recover his health, while hoping to regain possession of his property occupied, according to him, by the former prosecutor Ronald Richemond.

But he fears reprisals from the latter.

« He’s an influential man. I’m sometimes afraid of having to confront him. An older person once advised me to give it time, » he explains, his voice trembling.

Contacted by AyiboPost, Ronald Richemond blames a former member of his team, Georges Checo Banatte, nicknamed Checo, whom he accuses of having used the syringe without his knowledge.

Banatte left the team shortly after. The former prosecutor said he was surprised to hear Banatte claim on the radio that he had injected substances into individuals under his command.

***

Many residents of Les Cayes, who lived there through the time when Richemond was a prosecutor, say they have painful memories of it.

Met by Forbidden Stories, Ricardo Bain, known as Chito, a former close friend of the prosecutor, admits to having been involved in a supposed plot to eliminate the journalist Tesse in 2022, alongside other close friends of Richemond: Patrick Clervil, Winkens Thiogène, Montimer Jean Michel and Richemond himself.

Arrested shortly after Garry Tesse’s disappearance, Bain was released in February 2025.

From his cell at Carrefour, Bain had recorded a voice note in 2024, in which he assured that he had not condoned the assassination, declaring that he had always considered Garry Tesse “like a brother”.

According to him, this refusal, combined with Richmond’s fear that he would reveal the plan, would explain his arrest.

Ronald Richemond defends himself.

He claims to have seen Bain as an « informant » from whom he borrowed « unmarked vehicles » to carry out surveillance.

A man from whom he says he distanced himself in August 2022, after the latter was arrested on various charges, « including vandalism and looting in the town of Les Cayes. »

But Bain maintains his version.

« The prosecutor used his position to enrich himself, » he said, adding that he had maintained good relations with Richemond until 2022.

***

Max Angelo Narcisse, a journalist, also says he was the victim of an injection in the arm during his arrest by Richemond’s men in 2023 for vehicle theft.

However, Narcisse, presented as a former close friend of Richemond, disputes the reason for this arrest.

He claims that the arrest took place after his refusal to delete a recording in which a certain Didier Chabat – described as an informant of the former prosecutor – discussed, at the latter’s request, the details of the assassination of Garry Tesse, implicating Richemond.

Chabat was killed shortly after.

Narcisse believes that Richemond ordered his arrest after learning of the existence of this recording.

Richemond claims to have never known Chabat.

He accuses his « opponents » of wanting to harm him by associating him with sensitive cases, under the pretext that « he was tracking down criminals. »

« I have never harmed anyone. If it happened, it was without my knowledge, » Ronald Richemond said.

Narcisse says that after receiving the injection, he quickly consulted a doctor, which would have allowed him to avoid « the worst. »

Contacted by AyiboPost, Ilriche Gilles, the doctor who treated Narcisse at the time, confirmed that he hesitated to intervene, « for fear of being accused of homicide by the prosecutor if things went wrong. »

Gilles specifies that he required written authorization from the patient’s family before administering care.

The contents of the syringes remain unknown. Nothing in Haitian law authorizes the use of toxic syringes in arrests.

« The number of injustices I have witnessed here, committed by the prosecutor’s men, is enormous, » Dr. Gilles told AyiboPost, referring to the case of two individuals, Peterrous and Ti Wesly, who were allegedly executed by the prosecutor’s agents.

Lawyer Anthony Cyrion, based in Les Cayes, recalls defending agronomist Beljean, who was accused of failing to honour a debt owed to a close friend of the prosecutor.

According to him, the prosecutor had ordered the arrest of his client and forced him to acknowledge the debt and pay 100,000 gourdes to his complainant in exchange for his release.

« I initiated legal proceedings against the prosecutor for extortion. A few days later, I learned that he had attempted to deal directly with my client, » the lawyer told AyiboPost.

Sometimes victims disappear without a trace.

Mr. Cyrion, who visited Daudier in detention after his arrest, confirmed that he found him in a worrying state, with a swollen arm and a mark resembling a puncture.

According to the lawyer, a police officer present at the scene told him that the prosecutor had asked him not to enter Daudier’s name in the police report, specifying that he « would come and collect him. »

Which the agent told Cyrion he refused to do.

« The officer told me that Richemond did indeed come back to pick up Daudier around three in the morning and that he became angry when he learned that his name had been written in the notebook, » Cyrion told AyiboPost.

Daudier, who claims to have been gagged during these exchanges between the prosecutor and the officer, said he sensed the his fury after the officer told him that he had noted his identity despite being asked not to.

According to Daudier, the prosecutor was planning to kill him, an intention compromised by the entry of his name in the register.

According to lawyer Josias Jean Pierre, contacted by AyiboPost, other individuals were eliminated in similar circumstances.

According to Ricardo Bain, a former ally of the prosecutor, Richemond allegedly had a man named Ti Wesly, a former inmate of the national penitentiary, killed after he gave him two kilos of drugs to sell, but the individual did not respect the agreed terms.

Furious, the prosecutor had him captured, executed, and then had his body thrown into a pit in Lévy, according to Bain’s statements.

Another well-informed source in the city of Les Cayes, contacted by AyiboPost, corroborates the details of this homicide.

***

Before being appointed prosecutor at the court of first instance in Les Cayes, Ronald Richemond was first deputy prosecutor.

Contacted by AyiboPost, Amos André, a former member of the ex-prosecutor’s security team, described him as a « respectful and thoughtful » man with whom he had collaborated on the Baptist mission in the city of Les Cayes.

André says he disapproved of some of the team’s practices before being expelled in 2024. According to him, he managed to thwart an elimination plan orchestrated by the prosecutor’s men against Mazile Jean Roland, himself a former collaborator of Richemond who had left the group a few months earlier.

Contacted by AyiboPost, Mazile Jean Roland claims to have filed a complaint following anonymous threats received on his phone after his departure.

According to him, the team members were afraid that he would reveal « wrongdoings they had committed. »

Three sources informed of the prosecutor’s actions, contacted by AyiboPost, maintain that Ronald Richemond enriched himself in particular through « land theft ».

Ricardo Bain claims to have acted as a mediator on several occasions on behalf of the former prosecutor in negotiations relating to plots of land.

Deed related to the land of Annonce Daudier. Courtesy: Annonce Daudier.

According to this former activist, close to ex-president Jovenel Moïse, the former prosecutor allegedly used his influence to occupy or sell land after having evicted the occupants or when the owners resided abroad.

A couple managed to resist pressure from Richemond’s men and win their case in court in 2023.

Evens Bernavil, who has been disabled since the 2010 earthquake, tells Forbidden Stories that he was forced to abandon his family and his business for three months to escape the armed men of Richemond in 2023.

According to him, after obtaining, with his wife, permission from the municipality to build on land acquired for 8,000 US dollars, Richemond intervened, following a denunciation by a « so-called heiress », by suspending the work and attempting to seize the property.

He allegedly threatened to charge the couple with forgery and intimidation against the heiress.

But at the trial, the court of first instance in Les Cayes described this pretext as « fallacious » and deemed the arrest warrant « illegal and arbitrary. »

The absence of a land registry, which is advantageous for usurpers, aggravates conflicts.

Contacted by Forbidden Stories, sociologist Michèle Oriol explains that the city of Les Cayes is the jurisdiction where the most land disputes have been recorded in the country, « particularly because the archives of the General Directorate of Taxes were destroyed by fire in 2010. »

This problem, combined with the lack of a national land registry in Haiti, makes the situation all the more alarming.

According to the former executive secretary of the Interministerial Committee for Regional Planning (CIAT), Richemond has been involved in numerous land conflicts and « is even at the origin of some of them. »

She claims to have written at least two letters to the Ministry of Justice to report the prosecutor’s actions.

Tensions over land ownership in the region precede Richemond’s arrival at the prosecutor’s office.

According to lawyer Jean Fritz Nosile, « a whole network of counterfeiters » operates in the town of Les Cayes.

This network would involve lawyers, DGI agents, notaries, court deans and various individuals.

« They have the means to produce fake documents as well as techniques to make them look like old and authentic , » he explained to AyiboPost.

« The situation became all the more worrying when the prosecutor, who was supposed to enforce the law, found himself involved in this system, » says Mr. Nosile.

The former prosecutor denies these accusations.

« It’s false and completely false, » Richemond complains, adding that all these accusations against him are aimed solely at « tarnishing his reputation. »

***

The accusations against Ronald Richemond come at a time when some analysts and former prosecutors are increasingly concerned about the illegal activities of certain prosecutors in recent years.

Many prosecutors, escorted by heavily equipped armed groups, hunt down criminals and sometimes engage in extrajudicial killings or other illicit practices.

In December 2023, the interim Minister of Justice and Public Security (MJSP), Emmelie Prophète, had sent a letter reprimand to prosecutors Jean Ernest Muscadin, of the jurisdiction of Miragoâne, and to Ronald Richemond.

The latter was blamed for his behavior during the arrest of an individual in Port-Salut.

« The MJSP is surprised to note that this interrogation has nothing to do with what a prosecutor seeking the truth could have conducted, as the method is similar to that of a journalist wanting to give a presumed guilty person a platform to justify himself, when you should and could have summoned him to the public prosecutor’s office, » wrote the former minister in Ariel Henry’s government.

Paul Eronce Villard, the minister’s chief of staff at the time, told AyiboPost in April 2025 that « Muscadin was not dismissed for fear of provoking hostile reactions in society, because his interventions respond to a pressing security requirement. »

Three sources close to the Garry Tesse case, contacted by AyiboPost, dispute the reason given for Ronald Richemond’s dismissal from the prosecution. They claim that he had not deserted his post, but had instead been placed on leave because he was facing multiple accusations for acts that occurred within his jurisdiction, including the murder of Garry Tesse. His status prevented the normal pursuit of investigations.

« Saying that the former prosecutor had abandoned his post, when he had been placed on leave, amounts to giving him an opportunity to reintegrate the system if he decided to file an appeal, » a source close to the Court of First Instance of Les Cayes, who is well informed about the case, told AyiboPost.

For Guyler C. Delva, former Minister of Culture and Communication under the administration of Jovenel Moïse and president of SOS Journaliste, former prosecutor Ronald Richemond benefits from the cover of very influential figures within the judicial system and the executive branch, who have done everything to cover up the Garry Tesse affair.

Max Angelo Narcisse denounces complicity that undermines the integrity of the judicial system in Les Cayes.

This network, according to him, makes the former prosecutor « untouchable » despite the serious accusations against him.

« The whole town lives in terror of the prosecutor. He’s been handing out bribes left, right and centre. He’s handed over evidence to individuals. That’s why the justice system here remains silent, » Angel told AyiboPost.

Ricardo Bain mentions the case of an individual arrested by the former prosecutor, who complained of having found his motorcycle – the one used during his arrest – in the hands of Jean Michel Montimer, one of Richemond’s armed men, some time later.

This man had spoken on the program Gran Lakou, hosted by Garry Tesse, shortly before his assassination.

The investigation into Tesse’s death is part of a series of cases involving other Haitian journalists killed in unclear circumstances, lost in the twists and turns of the Haitian justice system.

In 2024, a ranking of the Global Impunity Index of the Committee to Protect Journalists placed Haiti at the top of the list of countries where journalist murderers most often escape justice, ahead of Israel.

In parallel with this impunity, the attacks on press organs and media professionals continue.

Since February 2024, members of the criminal coalition « Viv Ansanm » have attacked at least four radio stations in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, killing two journalists, wounding seven others and kidnapping one for ransom, according to a report by the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH) dated March 17, 2025.

Ronald Richemond has returned to Les Cayes after spending some time in Mirebalais, according to sources informed of his movements.

Two sources confirmed to AyiboPost that the former prosecutor is still escorted by armed individuals in the city.

« There are a multitude of accusations that the former prosecutor must answer here, » lawyer Nosile told AyiboPost.

But according to him, for fear of reprisals, many victims prefer to remain silent. They are waiting for Richmond’s possible arrest before coming forward.

By : Wethzer Piercin & Éloïse Layan