Police handcuff together the escaped prisoners Atiba Stanislaus, far left, and Trevon Robertson in the back of a truck in Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Monday, March 4, 2024. Photo: AP/Kenton Chance

The men, Trevon Robertson, a 19-year-old unemployed man; Abita Stanislaus, a 25-year-old farmer and Ron Mitchell, a 30-year-old sailor, had pleaded guilty to immigration charges in a court in the eastern Caribbean island of St Vincent.

Senior Magistrate Colin John ordered that they be repatriated "as soon as practicable."

The men had escaped from a police holding cell in Grenada on February 18 and are suspected of hijacking the catamaran while Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel were aboard.

Police have said they believe the couple were thrown overboard as the suspects sailed to St. Vincent, where they were arrested on February 21. They have not been charged in the case.

The investigation is ongoing, with authorities noting there were signs of violence aboard the couple's boat found abandoned in St Vincent.

The nonprofit Salty Dawg Sailing Association described Hendry and Brandel as "veteran cruisers" who participated in last year's Caribbean Rally from Hampton, Virginia, to Antigua, and had planned to spend the winter cruising in the eastern Caribbean.