Two murderers dodge hangman

Two more convicted murders will not be heading to the gallows. Late this afternoon the Belize Court of Appeal, while upholding the conviction of Jeremy Harris and Deon Slusher, ruled that Justice Troadio Gonzales did not allow the defendants and a social officer a proper hearing with regard to the sentencing phase of the trial. As a result, the death sentence was quashed in favour of life imprisonment. Harris and Slusher were convicted in January of this year for the murder of businessman Philip Chin, which occurred on February fourth, 2002. The Appeals Court considered sending the case back to the Supreme Court to hear the mitigating testimony and reconsider the sentence, but decided that the two murderers deserved the benefit of the doubt.