ST. JOHN — Rupert Walters, 51, was arrested Thursday on a warrant stemming from allegations that he threatened witnesses ahead of his October 13 trial, the V.I. Department of Justice announced Friday. Citing a probable cause fact sheet, DOJ said officers found a green-and-black brass knuckles knife in Walters’s front right pocket during a safety pat-down. The department said his pretrial release conditions prohibit him from carrying or possessing a dangerous weapon.
DOJ Special Agent Kenneth Arthur apprehended Walters in Susanaberg on October 8 with assistance from Special Investigations Division Director Homer “Jerry” Inniss, members of the V.I. Police Department’s Special Response Team and officers from the V.I. Waste Management Authority, according to the release.
Walters was taken to the Red Hook Ferry Terminal and then to the Richard Callwood Command for booking and processing. He was subsequently transferred to the Bureau of Corrections pending an advice-of-rights hearing before the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands. DOJ did not specify the charges arising from the latest arrest, describe the alleged threats or provide a bail amount.
The department said Walters was convicted in 2021 in connection with a stabbing that left a man paralyzed. In 2025, more than a year after his release, he was arrested following another alleged stabbing and charged with assault, use of a dangerous weapon, reckless endangerment and other offenses, according to DOJ. Friday’s release did not identify the specific charges scheduled for trial on October 13.
Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea said protecting witnesses and preserving the integrity of criminal proceedings were central to the department’s work. “We want victims and witnesses to feel safe and comfortable throughout the investigation and prosecution process,” he said. Rhea said the Special Investigations Division was committed to preventing threats or intimidation that could discourage witnesses from appearing in court, and that attempts to interfere would be addressed through the appropriate legal channels.
DOJ also said Inniss and Arthur, while on St. John for Walters’s apprehension, helped VIPD apprehend a person of interest in a separate police investigation. Rhea cited that assistance as an example of cooperation among law enforcement agencies and commended Arthur, Inniss, the VIPD Special Response Team and the VIWMA officers for their coordinated work in carrying out Walters’s arrest.
Walters is presumed innocent of the pending allegations unless and until proven guilty in court.
