Village lives in fear of escaped con
His escape from prison late last month caused a stir in the media, but as the days went by the public’s interest in Roberto Yatxol began to wane. Yet, as I found out this morning, while most Belizeans have turned their attention to other matters, the armed and dangerous convict is causing residents of one village in the Belize River Valley some major headaches.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
St. Paul’s Bank is a quiet village situated in the Belize River Valley with a population of only one hundred and fifty-seven people. Because there are few jobs in the area, most of the villagers work either in the city or fish, hunt and farm to make money. It’s a simple way of life that the residents have long accepted. So when news got around that escaped convict, Roberto Yatxol, has been hiding out in the village, people began to worry.
Adeliene Stevenson, Resident, St. Paul’s Bank
“We feel like we are prisoners are in our own community. This man is armed, according to the eyewitness that saw him, he’s dangerous, it’s very hard for the prison warder to capture him, so we are very, very concerned.”
Rupert Ledlon, Resident, St. Paul’s Bank
“We don’t know the individual, we don’t know what he is thinking, what is his desire. We would hope that they would catch him quick and let everybody feel more relaxed, because the villagers are very scared of him. Because even the officers and the police are afraid of him, so we have to be very careful too.”
Ardeth Belisle, Resident, St. Paul’s Bank
“We have a lot of young kids and we noh know what could happen, because they seh he armed and all ah that. And we noh armed, so he could come yah anytime and dah daytime we scared. So I noh know weh the authorities could do for we the villagers, because we really scared of it.”
Since June twenty-seventh Yatxol has been on the run after he escaped from a work programme in nearby Flowers Bank. It is strongly believed the reason why the convicted killer has been able to elude prison officers and the police for all this time is because he is a former Guatemalan soldier who has been well trained in jungle survival.
Lionel Fermin, Resident, St. Paul’s Bank
“To me, he got lot ah that, because sometime people see ah and when you get dah the area you noh see no part ah he, like weh he would go through. We only see like trek or something and from deh you noh see nothing else.”
The community also suspects that he may have been getting some assistance from other villagers.
Ardeth Belisle
“They always say Spanish help Spanish; Creole help Creole. And I think he have lot ah Spanish di help ah. I noh really sure about it, because I noh see, just weh yeriso (rumours) just going around.”
Residents told News 5 that on Thursday the police did take in three persons they believe assisted the fugitive. On Monday, Yatxol was first seen in St. Paul’s Bank at this well situated to the back of one of the villagers’ property. Two days later, another resident came face to face with the inmate as he stood by a tree.
Rupert Ledlon
“One of our neighbours, he’s an ex-B.D.F. too, and he come up on him and he try to apprehend him, but he don’t know what he has, so when he looked he saw like a gun. And it was just moonlight he said, so he didn’t have a light to know exactly, but he see and he said it’s a gun. So he back off on him and that’s when he made his escape again.”
One thing the witness did notice is that Yatxol appeared to have been wounded in his left thigh. The prisoner had tied what appeared to be a shirt around the leg and he walked with a limp. Authorities believe Yatxol may have been hit during a shootout he had with prison officers in the area three days earlier.
Jacqueline Woods
“This is the path villagers believe Yatxol is using to make his way into the community. Sometime on Thursday morning authorities came across a blood trail along side this path.”
Members of the community say they do not believe that authorities have been doing enough to capture the inmate and are appealing to the police, and even the Belize Defence Force, to help them.
Rupert Ledlon
“That would give other people a more relaxed mind, to know that they are protected by the law. And also, I would like to see that people who come to look for him are not scared of him, because many times they come and they don’t go in the bush. Some of the villagers track him and they see where he’s been hurt, but the officers and the police they don’t really get right on his trail.”
Adeliene Stevenson
“We would want to see the man get captured, but then we di appeal to the government try to send more reinforcement, the B.D.F., somebody who get jungle training to help capture this man.”
So, the residents have decided to help the only three prison officers assigned to the hunt, even though they know he is armed with a thirty-eight revolver.
Lionel Fermin
“Well due to the fact that the man deh inna the area and everybody noh really happy with ah, because they seh he dangerous and thing, so everybody would want get ah outta the village. That’s why everybody di try get together and se if they could catch ah.”
Lionel Fermin is one of the village hunters and is very familiar with the area. He says although the team has been in the bush all Thursday night, they were not successful.
Lionel Fermin
“All night, yes. We gone in this morning and the prison warder they tell me that we wah come out back eleven o’clock. That we wah come back fi hunt ah again.”
Jacqueline Woods
“What is it like going out there in the bushes looking for an escaped convict, who is known to be armed and dangerous?”
Lionel Fermin
“Well all you have to do is lookout for anything and you can’t go any kinda way and walk any kinda way, because if anything he might could hurt you too, cause you noh know what kinda weapon he got or nothing.”
Citizen of St. Paul’s Bank suspect that Yatxol may be lying low in the area of two plantations situated to the back of the village.
It is believed that Yatxol will eventually try to head west to Guatemala and residents, particularly those living along the Western Highway, are asked to be on the lookout.
