Paguada Brothers Found Guilty of Murder; A Third Suspect is Acquitted
Chaos erupted inside the courtroom of Justice Nigel Pilgrim this morning when brothers Delson and Tionne Paguada were found guilty of murder and a third suspect was freed of the same charge. We’ve been covering the trial of the siblings since they were arrested along with Timothy Carcamo for the murder of Paul Jex in 2018. This morning, the trial came to an end when the High Court convicted the Paguadas. Upon learning his fate, twenty-one-year-old Tionne Paguada jumped up and hurled insults at the judge, pointing a finger in his direction. Outside of the chamber, the pair’s mother lost consciousness briefly, before being revived. The young men were then placed inside a holding cell where Tionne Paguada attempted to make a daring escape. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Earlier today, following a guilty verdict handed down by Justice Nigel Pilgrim, the mother of siblings Delson and Tionne Paguada was beside herself and had to be assisted to her feet by officers assigned to the High Court. Her sons were convicted of murder, but a third suspect, charged jointly with the brothers for the January 2018 shooting death of Paul Jex, was set free. Timothy Carcamo regained his freedom this morning, after spending the last five years and seven months on pretrial detention.
Timothy Carcamo
Timothy Carcamo, Acquitted of Murder
“I know I neva have nothing to do with it, yoh undastand me, I just get picked up wrongfully, charged and sent to prison eena less than sixteen hours.”
Court Reporter
“How long have you been on remand, how many years?”
Paul Jex
Timothy Carcamo
“Five years, seven months.”
On the evening of January 23rd, 2018, Paul Jex was dispatched on a backstreet in San Pedro. The well-known street figure moved to Ambergris Caye from Belize City when he was released from prison after being acquitted of murder. He was callously rubbed out almost four years later.
Voice of: First Responder
Voice of: First Responder (File: January 24th, 2018)
“It was about 5:20, I would say, when I was coming out of my yard, going to do some exercise, when I saw, actually I heard the shots before coming out of the gate, so I told my sister, “This is not pop-shot, this is gunshot.” And we counted it, it was five. So we, well actually I came out and when I went on the street which was right in front of my gate, there I saw this guy laying down in the street in a pool of blood.”
In the days following the deadly encounter, three men would be picked up and later arraigned for Jex’s murder, including the Paguada brothers. Amancia Martinez vehemently denied her sons’ involvement in the gruesome homicide, much the same way she repudiates Delson’s participation in the murder of US national J‘Bria Michelle Bowens in late December 2022.
Voice of: Amancia Martinez
Voice of: Amancia Martinez, Mother of Paguada Brothers (File: January 3rd, 2023)
“We were at home like about nine, nine-fifteen, nine-thirty, so I took my phone, I went on the social media when I saw one of my friends posting on a shooting in the center of town, Central Park. So I turn back, I tell my son, Delson Paguada, I said, “Delson, this young boy just post that they have gunshot da town.” My son replied back to me, ih seh, “Mommy, maybe some drunken man di spend Christmas and ih di get crazy. Soh anyway, that was it. Less than ten minutes, I look, I see the police truck run to my house and pick up two of my sons out of their beds and handcuff them and I seh, “Weh unu wah do with my kids?”
That would be the second murder charge added to Delson’s growing rap sheet. Today’s guilty verdict for the murder of Paul Jex erupted in chaos at the courthouse. While he was being led away by police, he uttered the following.
Delson Paguada
Delson Paguada, Convicted of Murder
“Dehn chance you mother. Dehn chance me mother.”
His younger brother, equally brazen, appeared moments later, their mother was inconsolable.
Tionne Paguada
Tionne Paguada, Convicted of Murder
“Let America know that you guys are not doing your job well. They found us guilty for a crime that we didn’t do. They said they paid a witness. Excuse me sir, America has no rights. They paid a witness to find us guilty. Please, I’m a twenty-one-year-old teenager, they took me away from school when I was fifteen years old. Please, let America know.”
Timothy Carcamo, now fifty-one years old, says that he intends to sue the state for wrongful imprisonment. Carcamo was exonerated because Justice Pilgrim was not satisfied that he could rely on the witness’ identification of him as the third person at the scene of the murder.
Timothy Carcamo
“My intention right now, I need fi bring wah lawsuit pan dehn people because I spend wahn lotta money, lotta ups and downs. You deh right ya all di time and you sih weh happen. From San Pedro to ya, da wahn lotta money yoh spend fi cohn da this place fi di deal wid this, fi mek dehn people find yoh guilty fi wahn crime weh yoh noh have nothing fi do with.”
