Juan Carlos Novelo Arraigned on Murder in San Pedro

Juan Carlos Novelo

Forty-four-year-old Juan Carlos Novelo was arraigned today at the San Pedro Magistrate Court. He was read a single charge of murder. He is accused of murdering his girlfriend of six years, Leslie Verde, sometime on Saturday morning at their house in Caye Caulker Village. Due to the nature of the offense, no plea was taken from Novelo and he was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until January twenty-fourth, 2024. But why would Novelo kill the woman who he had been living with for more than half a decade? The family has its beliefs. Hipolito Novelo reports.

Hipolito Novelo, Reporting

Investigators believe that forty-four-year-old Juan Carlos Novelo murdered his girlfriend of six years, Leslie Verde. The couple lived at this house with Verde’s three children in Caye Caulker Village. On Saturday morning, Verde’s body was found in the bathroom, five hours after she was murdered. Her brother, Gilbert Lopez, believes she was strangled. Like investigators, the family suspects Novelo.

Voice of: Gilbert Lopez

Voice of: Gilbert Lopez, Brother of Deceased

“So now, her boyfriend came to my mind. Where is “Bigs” because that is what we called him. Charlie, but his real name is Carlos Novelo. So we said, where is the man. So I called him. My next brother in law called him. My sister called him. My sister-in-law called him. Everybody is calling him. And he is not answering anyone. Like after an hour and twenty minutes, he showed up playing like he didn’t know anything. Nobody accused him of anything. Nobody accused him of killing anyone.”

The family says that Novelo’s reaction to his girlfriend’s death was strange.

Leslie Verde

Voice of: Gilbert Lopez

“If he didn’t do anything to my sister, why didn’t stay around us and say, ‘bro, I didn’t know anything. If you want to kill me then kill me because I know I didn’t do anything. He didn’t react that way.”

According to Verde’s family, Leslie and Juan Carlos were like any other normal couple. They had their ups and downs and arguments. Lopez says that the night before Verde was found murdered, she showed him some texting messages.

Voice of: Gilbert Lopez

“The only time they had issues is when she goes out. They do not fight. I won’t lie. That is a normal couple thing. “Oh you went out, I am vex with you”. That is it right there. I got my sister phone where he sent the messages when my sister asked him to pick her up and he didn’t want. He didn’t want. He sent her a bad man like text. “I am not going with you. Better you stay with your friends because your friends come before.” He was already vex. The way I saw that message on the phone he was always vex with my sister.

Hipolito Novelo

“And this was this Saturday?”

Juan Carlos Novelo

Voice of: Gilbert Lopez

“Yes, because Saturday was his birthday. My niece was telling me that he was mad because she was suppose to bring in his birthday with he. He use to always tell my sister, if you want me out of this house you have to pay me ten thousand dollars. He always used to tell my sister that. The whole yard knows this. When they had there little issues and she use to tell him get the [bleep] out of my house”. He use to tell her, if you want me out of this house I want ten thousand dollars.”

And now, Verde’s family wants justice, swift justice.

Voice of: Gilbert Lopez

“He de locked down and not saying anything but that he doesn’t know anything. How will you not know anything when you live up there? You suppose to know something. This is common sense. A man who is eats out of the garbage can in Belize would have figure this out. It’s hard for us to believe that our sister is dead. She goes to work every day. If she didn’t want to work she wouldn’t go to work. He just have a problem when she goes to take a walk. All Man, especially if you jealous. Jealousy make you kill people. All what I am going with is why was he not here. Why he ran when the policeman asked him questions. He jumped in his cart and he left us here crying. He went to his sister. He didn’t stay with us. He didn’t ask where his girl was. I need to see her. Nothing like that. All he told me was that he left five o’clock in the morning when my sister reached. My sister didn’t reach five o’clock in the morning. My sister reached four-thirty in the morning. But he told me that he left five o’clock in the morning because I asked him in a nice way. I didn’t threatened him because I will not threatened him because I don’t know if he do whatever. Nobody was accusing him of killing my sister. Like I told my family, let your conscience be your guide and let his conscience be his guide.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Hipolito Novelo.