Accused Double Murderer Hid In South Eleuthera

Tidorange Noel - Shot two in cold blood

Tidorange Noel, a man wanted by Florida homicide investigators for 23 years, was hiding out here in Eleuthera. The story came to light in early July after US officials returned the fugitive from the Bahamas where he had been in custody since December 2007.

A resident of South Eleuthera who knew Tidorange Noel by his alias - Fred Tabor (or Tador, according to some sources), described him as a soft spoken hard working Haitian immigrant who was employed in the construction industry.

This contrasts the description given by the uncle of one of the victims of a murderous rampage 23 years earlier who told the Sun-Sentinel this month, "He killed my own family and ran away. He's a lion, he's a bad guy, and I'm 100 percent happy he's caught."

Tidorange Noel, a man wanted by Florida homicide investigators for 23 years, was hiding out here in Eleuthera. The story came to light in early July after US officials returned the fugitive from the Bahamas where he had been in custody since December 2007. Noel who lived in Tarpum Bay, under an alias, was wanted for a chilling act of brutality in 1985.

According to authorities in Florida, on Feb. 12, 1985, off Sunrise Blvd in Fort Lauderdale, Noel's ex-girlfriend, Agnes Atis (then 29), was in her apartment with at least four others when her ex-boyfriend-Noel, entered the residence without warning and started shooting immediately in an apparent attempt to kill his ex-lover. Miraculously the bullets missed Agnes and her new boyfriend; however the shooter took the lives of two of the other adults in the residence at the time, Immacula Herme, 24 and Clement Fatal, 22 and caught Herme's uncle, who was visiting his pregnant niece's apartment, in the thigh - she died in front of him. Noel allegedly fled in a blue 1980 Oldsmobile Omega and Florida Police say they have been looking for him ever since.

His luck changed when late in December 2007 he was arrested, in Eleuthera, for reportedly causing grievous bodily harm to his girlfriend, Mary Jacques, the mother of two of his children. According to Chuck Morrow, a Fort Lauderdale police detective who specializes in fugitives and also works with the FBI's fugitive task force, U.S. officials were tipped off about the arrest, but the Bahamian police force reportedly couldn't immediately confirm Noel's identity.

He apparently had different birth dates on his record and had lived under several versions of his name. A fingerprint match finally revealed the man in Bahamian custody was Noel. Steps were then taken to have him extradited to the US to face justice. He now faces charges of premeditated murder for the two deceased victims and attempted first degree murder for two surviving victims. Mary Jacques, his most recent girl friend, speaks little English and lives under poor conditions in Rock Sound with her children.

She expressed a sense of profound hardship to the The Eleutheran who met up with her and the two toddling sons of Noel - needless to say additional victims of his past actions.

Mary Jacques with her two sons.