Witnesses dead; charges dropped against caye shooter

Tonight a U.S. national who shot and killed two people is a free man. Charges of murder and attempted murder have been dismissed against forty-nine year Robert Moore, the caretaker at Frank’s Caye in the Sapodilla Range. Moore was charged following an incident on that caye on August eighth in which he fatally shot fifty-four year old Paul Westby and seriously wounded Westby’s common-law wife, forty-three year old Dorla Martin, both of Placencia Village. At the time of the incident, Moore told police the couple had trespassed on the caye and attacked him. The prosecution of the case was delayed given Martin’s critical condition, but when she succumbed to her injuries on October ninth, Director of Public Prosecutions, Kirk Anderson, recommended the charges against Moore be withdrawn. Pursuant to that directive, on November eighth, Punta Gorda Magistrate Clive Lino formally dismissed the charges against Moore. According to defence attorney Adolph Lucas, grounds for the dismissal included the fact Dorla Martin, the only witness to the crime, died before her statement could be heard by a jury. While Moore was cleared of murder, he was convicted on charges of keeping an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. Magistrate Lino fined Moore two thousand dollars and ten dollars court costs. News 5 understands Moore has already indicated that he plans to move back to the United States in the near future.