Christian Espat’s Sister, “He was with Five of Us in Chetumal.”

The two men who are accused of the gruesome Sunday night triple murder in San Pedro were arraigned today in Belize City, due to the absence of a magistrate on the island. At 9:55 this morning, police escorted Christian Espat and Michael Brown inside Magistrate’s Court number three, where they were read nine indictable criminal offenses of three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder. The duo is accused of the murder of three-year-old Amarie Rodriguez, the child’s father, Delmar Rodriguez and Carlos Chi, a friend who had just started to work that week with Rodriquez. The three counts of attempted murder were upon Jose Hernandez, Ruben Guerra and Randy Guerra. There were also three more charges of use of deadly means of harm upon Hernandez and the two Guerras. The family of Christian Espat claims that since he handed himself over to police on Thursday, that the department has been withholding information from them and also that Espat has an alibi. Stephanie Espat told reporters today that her brother was in Chetumal, along with five other persons on Sunday night when the slayings occurred. Aside from that, she claims that the police misinformed the family that her brother would be arraigned in San Pedro, when they had already transported him to Belize City.  Espat and Brown were remanded to the Belize Central Prison until December twenty-eighth, when they will appear in the San Pedro Magistrate’s Court.  During the interview, Stephanie Espat offered condolences to the families of the deceased victims, but says her brother is innocent of the crime.

Stephanie Espat

Stephanie Espat, Sister of Christian Espat

“I am not only a witness to the cruelty that has been happening with Christian Espat, but also a witness stating that he was – I was with him the night the murder occurred. Sadly, it is a tragic thing that happened, but he is innocent. All of this because it was not only one or two people that were with him. There were around five people that were with him that night that can state that he was in Chetumal. We were there with him for the hospital and we were at the hotel with him. We were even eating pizza the night that everything happened. My condolences to the family, but my brother is innocent. With all of this that is happening, even today, they – the injustice that’s been happening with the police, they didn’t even tell us they were bringing him to the magistrate’s court here in Belize [City]. We had to arrive late, around 11, when he was already carried out to Hattieville because nobody wants to give us any information.”