Murder suspect returned from States

He left town in a hurry … but today he’s back home. This morning I greeted an accused murderer at the Philip Goldson International Airport.

Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
Almost one month after twenty-four year old Ronell Gonzales fled Belize following his alleged involvement in the torture and murder of twenty year old David Daniel Pook, the fugitive was extradited back to the country this morning by two local police officers who had travelled to Los Angeles, California to bring back their wanted man. Police Press Officer G. Michael Reid says the process went smoothly because Gonzales simply agreed to come back to Belize.

G. Michael Reid, Police Press Officer
?It is a complicated process and as a factor it was done relatively quickly when you consider the way things are done in such situations. In fact he had waved his extradition right so it could have taken much longer actually. We got information as to where he was in L.A. and we passed it on to the American Embassy in Belize who passed it on the information to our counterparts in Los Angeles and he was picked up just about a day or so after he arrived.?

At the Philip Goldson International Airport the suspect?s father, Israel Gonzales, declined to comment on his son?s capture and arrest but the victim?s mother, Adelita Pook, says she is more at ease knowing that the person whom police alleged to be the mastermind behind her son?s murder has been found.

Adelita Pook, Mother of the Deceased
?Well I feel like a relief because at least I know the person who murder my son come back to Belize to get it. They murder my son already and I think it is about time that they go to jail for it.?

Pook says she only hopes the extradition will result in the conviction of all those who took her son?s life on August twenty-eight.

Adelita Pook
?We know for sure that is he because he has something to do with it. We are convinced and we are for sure that he has something to do with it.?

The family still struggles over the brutal way their loved one was killed. Pook had multiple slash wounds all over his body including a deep cut wound to the neck.

Adelita Pook
?They kill my son so I think that their son suppose to dead too. I don?t care who want say otherwise because I know what I am going through. I know what I am feeling. My son didn?t deserve for them to kill him so.?

Pook says this month her son was looking forward to attend the University of Belize and had already purchased his books.

Adelita Pook
?So I miss him, it is like a part of me gone. I just wish that it was my life they had taken instead of my son, because I just can?t go through life at all.?

The family says prior to Pook?s murder he had received as many as one hundred threatening text messages that allegedly have been linked to at least one of the suspects. According to Pook, the trouble started after her son met a young woman who had a previous relationship with Gonzales. In June the female left to go and study in the United States.

Adelita Pook
?Because the young lady called us one night from the states and she said that the boy was threatening her too that is why she had to stop work there. The boy was threatening her too. So I asked her why she didn?t tell us that the boy was threatening her? And she said that she didn?t take it serious.?

Sources tell News Five that it was at the woman?s address in the U.S. that authorities found Gonzales. Police press officer G., Michael Reid, however, would confirm report only that their suspect was found at a family?s residence.

Jacqueline Godwin
?Do you know where he was found in L. A??

G. Michael Reid
?I am not at liberty to reveal exact address. We can only tell you that it was in Los Angeles and that in fact it was at a residence of a relative we understand.?

This afternoon Gonzales who is represented by his attorney Simeon Sampson was arraigned in Magistrate Court on the charge of murder. He now joins his accomplices Clarence Grant and Edward Henry who are on remand at the Hattieville Prison. The police say they are now looking for a fourth suspect known only to them as Howard.

The police would not comment on what evidence they have against all three suspects but News Five understands the authorities do have a key eyewitness in protective custody.