High seas pursuit of murder suspect

TONGA – A murder suspect in Tonga continues to evade police on the high seas, after he escaped from a police station in Vava’u on Thursday.

54-year-old Dean Jay Fletcher, a United States citizen, faces a charge of murder following the death of his wife while their yacht, Sea Oak, was anchored in Vava‘u.

But Fletcher escaped from a local police station in the early hours of Thursday morning and sailed away on his yacht.

Police officers managed to track him down about 16 kilometres northwest of Vava‘u, but the pursuit was called off when Fletcher fired flares at their boat.

The police commissioner, Steve Caldwell, said that aerial searches were continuing, and the Tongan navy had also been called in to help with the search.

He said a full investigation had been ordered into the escape.