Bz. City youths charged with Burgess murder

Tonight, Belize City teenagers have been charged with murder in connection with the death of an elderly man. Last week Wednesday, sixty-four year old Cleophas Burgess succumbed to injuries he received after he was hit in the head with a blunt instrument. This afternoon, two of the accused, fifteen year old Lionel Sampson and eighteen year old Keon Marconi Joseph were escorted to Magistrate Court to be arraigned. Both men have been charged with murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery and burglary. Meanwhile, eighteen-year-old Kenroy Clarke Smith, Burgess’ next door neighbour, has been charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery and burglary. According to police, the teens charged with murder, Sampson and Joseph, have already confessed to the crime. Authorities say the young men told them that they had gone to Burgess’ house after they heard the retired shopkeeper had fifty thousand dollars at his house. The men allegedly told police that on Wednesday, June nineteenth, they lured Burgess downstairs and knocked him in the head with a baseball bat. Burgess’ hands were then tied and a bucket was placed over his head. Following the attack, the men made their way upstairs to look for the money. It is then alleged that when they only found five dollars, they decided to steal some electronic equipment. The police would later find the equipment abandoned in nearby bushes. One week after Burgess was attacked he died while undergoing treatment at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.