7 Men Detained in Gruesome San Pedro Murder…
San Pedro police are tonight continuing their investigation into the grisly murder of fifty-seven-year-old Santiago Trapp whose remains were unearthed from a shallow grave in the Basil Jones area, approximately fourteen miles north of town. The officers, accompanied by coast guard personnel, initially responded to information of a fire at a fishing camp belonging to fifty-year-old Moses Campos. A search effort to locate the caretaker of the property subsequently led to the discovery of Trapp’s body a half mile away from the damaged structure. Trapp’s body was observed with multiple stab wounds and his neck completely severed. News Five spoke by phone with Superintendent Luis Castellanos, Officer Commanding San Pedro police.
Supt. Luis Castellanos, O.C., San Pedro Police
“On Monday, the eleventh of August 2014 about eleven a.m., we received information of a scene in San Pedro about thirteen and a half miles north of San Pedro Town. As a result, police visited the area and they saw a wooden structure measuring about sixteen by twenty feet completely burnt to the ground. The initially investigation revealed that the property belongs to Mister Moses Campos, a fifty year old Belizean laborer of San Juan area San Pedro town and it was valued at twenty thousand Belize currency. The caretaker of the place, Santiago Trapp, of the same area, could not be located. As a result police along with the family members conducted a search and whereby one of the family members found a shallow grave in where we found the gentleman.”
Isani Cayetano
“I understand that Mister Trapp’s body was seen with various stab wounds as well as his head was decapitated?”
Supt. Luis Castellanos
“No, he was in a shallow grave that measure about five feet by three feet in width. He was covered in a rug and with some crocus sack and covered with sand. He was taken out of the shallow grave and we did a postmortem on the spot whereby a pathologist from the forensic laboratory and as a result the body was washed because it was filled with sand. Upon observing the body, we noticed that he had two stab wounds to the chest, he had a stab could to the back of the head and his neck had a big gush.”
Isani Cayetano
“I understand as well that several arrests have been made. Can you give us an update as to where you stand regarding that?”
Supt. Luis Castellanos
“No, we haven’t made no arrests, but we have several persons detained for questioning.”
Police have detained seven men, all residents of San Pedro Town, pending investigation of murder.