Leighton Levy, STAR Writer

The Jamaican suspected to be involved in the murder of two Americans in St Maarten just over a week ago has confessed.

According a statement released yesterday from the Prosecutor's Office in the eastern Caribbean Dutch colony, the 28-year-old suspect with initials M.K.J. admitted to police that he was involved in the murders of Michael and Thelma King. King and his wife were found at their house in Cupecoy on Friday, September 21.

There were stab wounds on the bodies and police initially believed that robbery was the motive behind the killings.

The suspect also confessed to his involvement in a robbery of the Happy Star Chinese Restaurant a few days earlier. In that incident, police had fired shots at the vehicle but the robbers still managed to escape.

Meanwhile, a second suspect in the murder case was taken into custody on Monday after being apprehended in Cole Bay. He is 17 years old and is a cousin to M.K.J, who was arrested on September 23, two days after the bodies of the Kings were discovered. The teen is to appear today before a judge who will determine if he remains in police custody. The media in St Maarten is reporting that the teen, who was born in St Maarten to a Jamaican mother, was recently released from prison after being convicted in June for armed robbery. He was expelled from a high school in St Maarten in October last year.

Both suspects are reportedly on full lockdown during which they will only be available to speak to their lawyers.