The damning investigation file against Nenel Cassy

A detailed report from the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police implicates Cassy in a murder case and lists other serious accusations

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The Criminal Affairs Bureau of the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police mentioned former senator Nenel Cassy in an investigation supplement sent to the public prosecutor’s office in August for his alleged involvement in the assassination of a former consul, the destruction of property and the suspicious possession of documents from the Social Assistance Fund.

This investigative supplement, obtained confidentially by AyiboPost, mentions the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the DCPJ’s information searches, but did not prevent the release of Cassy, ​​known for his high-level connections within the current government.

The first case detailed in the document concerns the attempted kidnapping and subsequent assassination, on February 3, 2021, of businessman and former consul Jacques Pierre Matilus in Delmas 40B.

The day after the violent murder, Cassy intervened at the Caribbean radioto explain, in great detail, that he was the victim of an armed attack on the same day, in the same vicinity, while he was in a car Honda Pilot. A man named Kenold Pierre, who accompanied him, had been injured during the supposed attack.

« I cannot say whether these same men killed the Foreign Ministry official, or whether it was not them, » Cassy said on the radio at the time.

But during his interrogation at the DCPJ, Cassy changed his story. He completely denied having been the victim of any attack.

Former Consul Matilus had used a dagger to defend himself during his assassination. The assailants took the dagger, which was later found by police in a black Honda Pilot.

« The vehicle that former Senator Nenel Cassy was talking about [on the radio], and in which he was traveling, was exactly the one in which Jacques Pierre Matilus’s dagger was discovered, taken by his attackers after his assassination, » writes the DCPJ in the report obtained by AyiboPost.

Cassy denies any involvement in the murder, although he admits to being in the vehicle in which the dagger was found, according to the report. It is unclear how the victim’s dagger—which was authenticated by a family member—ended up in Cassy’s car.

DCPJ investigations reveal that at least one of the attackers was stabbed during the attack.

The alleged injured bandit is Cassy’s collaborator, named Kenold Pierre, who matches the descriptions and has since disappeared from circulation, investigators conclude.

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Phone records obtained by the DCPJ place the cell phones of Nenel Cassy, ​​Kenold Pierre and other individuals cited in this case around Delmas 40B at the time of the assassination, according to the investigation supplement obtained by AyiboPost.

Nenel Cassy failed to appear in response to a summons from the DCPJ in connection with this case in February 2021. He was ultimately arrested and questioned at the beginning of last month.

Before investigators, the former senator offered a different version of events. He claimed to have left his home on the morning of February 3, 2021, in a Nissan Patrol. However, he claims not to remember the color of the car or its license plate number.

On the afternoon of the murder, around 4 p.m., Cassy reported being dropped off at the home of Magistrate Youri Chevry, in Delmas 40B, by his friend Kenold Pierre. Shortly after, the latter reportedly called him to inform him that he had just been the victim of an armed attack and that he had been shot in the buttock before disappearing.

After arresting Cassy at the La Réserve restaurant in Pétion-Ville, investigators raided the Djoune Bar & Grill hotel in Delmas 40B, where he regularly stayed.

At the scene, the person in charge led investigators into one of the rooms he occupied, according to the report.

Phone records obtained by the DCPJ place the cell phones of Nenel Cassy, ​​Kenold Pierre and other individuals cited in this case around Delmas 40B at the time of the assassination, according to the investigation supplement obtained by AyiboPost.

In this room, they discovered documents related to the Social Assistance Fund (CAS), including grant applications, slips for more than three million gourdes and copies of checks worth up to seven million gourdes.

When questioned by the DCPJ, CAS officials denied any connection with Cassy. They claimed to have rented a room for the institution’s accounting department at the hotel in question due to gang threats around their headquarters. The report does not say whether Cassy and this CAS department were in the same room and why.

The DCPJ report accuses Cassy of having links with gangs and with the group of troublemaking police officers called Fantom 509, responsible for the destruction of public property and the deaths of several people.

He also mentions an investigation published by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) on November 15, 2023, which recommended that the courts prosecute Cassy for illicit enrichment and false declaration of assets, in addition to his being placed under sanctions by the United States for significant corruption.

Regarding the allegations linking him to armed groups, the former senator defended himself to the DCPJ: « I have never participated in any act of banditry or financed terrorism to destabilize the country, » he told the DCPJ.

AyiboPost has not independently verified the DCPJ’s allegations. Contacted by AyiboPost on September 4, 2025, former Senator Nenel Cassy declined to give an interview about the facts raised by the report. In a brief exchange, he described the DCPJ’s investigation as « a literary text without any real basis and not deserving of a response. »

Cassy is a former Haitian senator from the Nippes department, elected under the banner of the Lavalas party of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

An opponent of Jovenel Moïse’s government, he was briefly arrested and then released on January 21, 2021, in Miragoâne. This arrest was denounced by his allies, including lawyer André Michel, spokesperson for the Democratic Sector, as well as former senator Joseph Lambert, sanctioned by the United States for drug trafficking.

His second arrest was also short-lived. Former government commissioner Frantz Monclair released him after seventeen days in custody on August 19, 2025. Less than 24 hours later, the Minister of Justice placed the magistrate on leave for serious administrative misconduct.

Cassy is a former Haitian senator from the Nippes department, elected under the banner of the Lavalas party of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

On August 29, the Je Klere Foundation published a report denouncing the « monstrous scandal » of the release of former Senator Cassy. The FJKL accuses the Presidential Transitional Council of « officializing impunity in Haiti. »

« The duty of the Government Commissioner is to transmit the additional information gathered on the accused to the various judges already dealing with the cases and to request new instructions on the new facts with which the former senator is accused, » writes the FJKL.

By : Widlore Mérancourt & Rolph Louis-Jeune