Police commissioner says killers will be caught
He’s been in office less than two months, but for Police Commissioner Carmen Zetina, it may already feel like a lifetime. Today, while his men mounted a manhunt for two multiple murderers, the commissioner answered some questions put by News 5’s Stewart Krohn. The first inquired whether Zetina was optimistic about catching the pair of fugitives.
Carmen Zetina, Commissioner of Police
“Well I’m very optimistic because we’re calling on the general public to assist us and we have a reward of ten thousand dollars just for the information leading to the apprehension. So there shouldn’t be any sort of conviction, it’s just for the apprehension of these people. Any person that calls and tell us where we can locate these two criminals, then have ten thousand dollars to get.”
Stewart Krohn
“Commissioner, let’s look at a series of events. You have over the last month of two a rash of gang related killings, you have the matter with Fuentes from Belmopan, several murders there and Fuentes is still at large, and you have the murder/rape last week in the North. Now you have this quadruple homicide, can the police control the situation of violent crime in the country?”
Carmen Zetina
“I think so, I think we are doing very good since I have taken office because-“
Stewart Krohn
“After what I just described to you, which has all happened since you took over, you think you’re doing good?”
Carmen Zetina
“Yes, the number of crimes that have been committed is…those are what I call sensational crimes. But certainly, crime statistics have shown for the past two weeks or three weeks that crime is going down. But some crimes will attract much attention to the public. But I am very optimistic that they’ll be caught. For example, we have the murder last week of the two Mennonites and the rape of a couple in Corozal. I’m proud to say that we have arrested one person at least and we know who is the other person. We are presently on a manhunt, Corozal and Orange Walk police have joined together in a manhunt to apprehend this fellow, Gabby Urbina. We’re trying to establish who are the other two persons. So we’re working very hard on that, and that is my position regarding these sort of crimes that are being committed.”
Stewart Krohn
“Commissioner, you’ve got the case of Estevan Sho. He killed Raleigh volunteer Anna Lightfoot, escaped from prison months if not over a year ago, said to be hanging around his home village of Red Bank. At large, a man who has killed, a violent killer and you can’t bring him in. You’ve got Jermaine Fuentes, who is certainly one of if not the most wanted man in the country, who has been at large for several months now. What are we to think of these fellows who are on the loose in such a small country.”
Carmen Zetina
“According to information I have regarding Sho, Sho is not in the country it’s just a matter of people speculating where he is. Our information is that he is in Guatemala, borderline to the village in the south, so Sho is not in Belize. And Fuentes is said to be in the United States of America. We’re trying to get his address in the United States and then we’re gonna pass it on to our counterparts in the United States.”
Stewart Krohn
“You don’t feel any sense of failure in the fact that he managed to get that far, to the United States, when he was such a wanted criminal, that he escaped?”
Carmen Zetina
“Well you must certainly feel a sense of failure, but again you have to realise that you have to work with what you have. In the sense that we had other commitments at the same time, but certainly we were doing the best we can at the time.”
Stewart Krohn
“Let’s look at the question of resources. If you had unlimited resources, what would be your plan now?”
Carmen Zetina
“If we would have unlimited resources I would utilise every piece of the resources I have.”
Stewart Krohn
“But what would be your priority?”
Carmen Zetina
“I would certainly go and do many roadblocks, twenty-four hours, high profile roadblocks. I would saturate the whole area where he was last night. But we have to work with what we had last night. We had patrols out, and again, we cannot forget our other responsibilities within the city limits. We got the assistance of the B.D.F., we got a couple of soldiers and we used them properly.”
Stewart Krohn
“Commissioner, tonight as this newscast airs the public out there watching, most of them are not feeling particularly good about their security in view of recent events. What message do you have to the Belizean public concerning how the police are going to provide for the public security?”
Carmen Zetina
“Well, we will continue on our patrols, we’re going to intensify on our patrols. People will be brought in from Belmopan, and other areas to assist in this connection. My thing is that this person can be captured if he is still in Belize City, and I’m very optimistic that he still is in Belize City. We just need the co-operation of the public to assist us in telling us the whereabouts of these people.”
It is believed that the ten thousand dollar reward will be supplemented by contributions by the private sector, but we have received no confirmation as of yet. Again, the public is urged to be on the lookout and report any helpful information to police immediately.
