Two sisters killed by deranged neighbour
It would be easy to say that the double murder that occurred on Monday morning in Belize City was not your typical Belizean homicide … but these days, when it comes to crime it seems that the old rules no longer apply. News Five’s Jacqueline Godwin reports.
Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
Seventeen year old Blanca Rosa and eighteen year old Sandra Esquivel were preparing lunch when thirty year old Ryan Elston Horne entered the sisters rented apartment situated on the lower flat of this two storey wooden house at the corner of Dean Street and Euphrates Avenue. Exactly what happened next is known only to Horne, but when police arrived on the scene they observed the sisters bodies with multiple stab wounds. The murder weapon was left inside one of the victims.
G. Michael Reid, Police Press officer
?It is still somewhat of a mystery why this individual really wanted to go in there and hurt these two young ladies. There are lot of speculation involve as to maybe he has fantasies about them, maybe he was making advances that they were not accepting or accommodating. We know at the end of the day that he did go in with a dagger and inflicted several stab wounds to both of the sisters.?
Police Press Officer G. Michael Reid says there were no visible signs of a forced entry.
G. Michael Reid
?We imagine that these young ladies were not in fear for any reason. They didn?t expect this to happen. They?ve lived there and they?ve lived there for at least a few months, so they were familiar with the area and felt pretty safe.?
Police say they are also investigating another report that earlier that morning one of the sisters had called her boyfriend in the Cayo District asking him to come and pick them up but apparently the friend could not make the trip.
The Esquivel sisters lived with their guardian for six years Dora Alisia Avelar. Avelar says that morning she went to work at the Queen Square Market where she sells vegetables. Avelar says after she heard what had happened she rushed home but it was too late. Blanca Rosa lay dead at the door entrance and Sandra was lying on the floor inside the house. It is believed Blanca Rosa tried to run outside to get help. Two young men who were in the area apparently heard the cries for help and were able to hold Horne tie him up until the police arrived.
G. Michael Reid
?We are still interviewing witnesses that were in the area and we are trying to find out exactly what occurred. We know they were some young people in the area who were able to apprehend the individual as he was trying to escape. We understand that he was trying to get away in a car and they were able to pull him from the car and hold on to him until the police arrived.?
Today a handcuffed Horne was taken to Magistrate?s Court where he was charged with the double homicide. According to police Horne resided in this other apartment next door to where the Esquivel sisters lived. Avelar however says they do not know him and only heard that three days ago he had been released from the hospital.
Dora Alisia Avelar, Adopted Mother
?I did not see that man before. We heard that three days ago he came out of a hospital because he had mental problems. I do not know if he lived there because we never saw him because we worked for most of the day.?
People in the neighbourhood describe Horne as a mental patient who recently caused a commotion at St. Ignatius Parish by running nude through the church. As police try to determine a motive for the killings, Horne reportedly has told police the girls disrespected him by saying something bad about his mother. Then there are also reports that Horne was obsessed with one of the victims and God told him to do it.
G. Michael Reid
?We know that he had a history of mental disorder that he lived in the same area. As a matter of fact I understand the same yard as the young ladies lived. But certainly he has a history of actions that weren?t normal. This is all we know at this point we still do not know if he was under any kind of treatment.?
Today Marcus Esquivel says there are no words to describe the pain he feels over his daughters? senseless death.
Marcus Esquivel, Father of Deceased
?I would simple like to ask the man why he decided to confront two young girls who had no experience and could not defend themselves. He should have confronted a man.?
Esquivel says his daughters were quiet and friendly young girls who worked hard and did not interfere with anyone. Today a black bow hangs from the door at Gon?s Saloon where Sandra Esquivel worked as a cook.
Marcus Esquivel
?Good girls good girls. Pain my heart of their death too much. They were hard workers, everything good.?
The Esquivel sisters had only been living at the apartment for three months. Their guardian is doing her best to cope with the tragedy.
Dora Alisia Avelar
?I am taking this very badly but I give thanks to the people who work at the market who have been supporting me morally and financially and I am asking God to help me survive this ordeal.?
?I want justice. I want the law to take its course and let this man serve time instead of just going to jail serving a few months and then come back out.?
On Tuesday Blanca Rosa and Sandra Esquivel will be laid to rest in Cotton Tree Village where the father resides. Jacqueline Godwin for News Five.
This afternoon Ryan Elston Horne appeared before Magistrate Sharon Fraser. When asked what kind of work he does, Horne replied, “I do carving and yard work”, then said, “I free up my mind.” Following Fraser’s order of remand to Hattieville Prison, Horne shouted, “I am full with his spirit; sometimes he just full me with joy.” His next court appearance is set for June twenty-third. According to Dr. Mario Estradabran, who performed the post mortems, Blanca Rosa’s body was perforated by between forty and fifty stab wounds. Her sister Sandra suffered twelve, primarily to the upper body.
