29 de julio de 2008

DCAYO DISTRICT NOT DOING WELL WITH DEATH RATE BY CRIME



Police have the men they say killed Jerson Hernandez, 25, last week in San Jose Succotz and Nirba Bradley, 45, last week Thursday in Santa Elena, as well as the youthful murderers of American couple Michael and Donna Hill in Cristo Rey over the weekend.

On Sunday, June 29, police and BDF soldiers found Hernandez on the edge of the Western Highway in Succotz, and his last words to them were, “an accident, an accident,” which they took to mean that he had been involved in a traffic accident on the road.

However, subsequent investigations pointed to Hernandez having been murdered, which led to the arrest of Estevan Williams, 18, of Succotz. He has been arraigned for murder at the San Ignacio Magistrate’s Court.

Benque police say the post-mortem on Hernandez’s body, on which there were several cuts, indicated that he had been beaten to death with a pint bottle. According to police, Hernandez was simply left at the roadside, and he had never been in any traffic accident.

In another case, Ermitt Bradley, 45, was remanded on Friday for killing his wife Nirba, 45, early Friday morning at her workplace in Santa Elena Town.

San Ignacio police say Bradley visited his wife’s workplace at Espat Chicken Processing factory on the Cristo Rey road at 6:20 a.m. Friday and began to argue with her.

At some point during the argument, it is alleged Bradley took out a knife he was carrying with him and cut Nirba’s throat, leaving her dead in the road in a pool of her own blood.

Police detained Bradley soon after, and he, too, has been remanded from the San Ignacio Magistrate’s Court.

On Wednesday, police confirmed that on Tuesday evening they found the Toyota Hilux pickup that belonged to Michael and Donna Hill. Inside, they found various other items, such as a Garmin GPS device, a gray flashlight and a bottle of wine, also thought to have belonged to the Hills.

Two minors, 15 and 17 years old, are facing murder charges in connection with the murders of Michael and Donna Hill. The 15-year-old lives in Santa Elena, and the 17-year-old lives on the Cristo Rey Road, Santa Elena. They were arrested on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, pathologist Dr. Mario Estradabran certified that both Donna and Michael died due to head injuries caused by a single shot to the head. In Michael’s case, he was shot behind the left ear, and Donna was shot under her left eye.

In related news, the Belize Defence Force has just confirmed reports that first surfaced in May that a BDF soldier in Cayo lost his M-16 rifle to marauding Guatemalan bandits in the forests near Camp Belizario.

According to our source, the soldier was badly beaten and the rifle taken by the bandits when they surprised him in an outhouse at the El Pilar archaeological site.

He made a report and the patrol searched the area for the robbers, but found no trace of them or the rifle.

The rifle has since been linked to the recent murders and robberies in the area, we understand, but it has not been confirmed that it may be the weapon used, for instance, in the recent robbery of schoolteachers on Arenal Road. Our efforts, then as now, to contact the BDF about this matter were unsuccessful.

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