BBC Caribbean News in Brief

Wanted Haitian detained
A Haitian born man wanted by police in Miami for questioning in the killings of his wife and their five children, has been detained in Port-au-Prince.

Miami police say Mesac Damas, 33, is a person of interest in the slayings but have declined to call him a suspect.

Damas boarded a flight from Miami International Airport on Friday, a day before police found the bodies.

He told the Associated Press from a Port-au-Prince police station where he’s being held, that he had planned to surrender, but he returned home to say goodbye to his family.

Records from Florida’s Department of Children and Families show that Damas’ wife, Guerline, endured regular abuse from her husband.

But she felt overwhelmed by trying to raise the children alone and wanted him around as a father figure.

Travolta trial
In the Bahamas, jury selection has begun in the trial of two people accused of trying to extort US$25 million from movie star John Travolta.

Travolta himself is on a list of 14 witnesses against the defendants – former Bahamas senator Pleasant Bridgewater and paramedic Tarino Lightbourne.

The pair allegedly threatened to release a document related to the treatment of Travolta’s chronically ill son Jett, who died from a seizure at a family vacation home on Grand Bahama island on 2 January.

The defendants have pleaded innocent to charges including conspiracy to commit extortion.