Two murders, one shooter, no motive

We’ve reported all kinds of homicides over the last fourteen years and the vast majority–although committed for a variety of reasons–at least had some kind of motive, be it robbery, revenge or passion. But the two brutal murders that occurred last night in Belize City seem to have been perpetrated against innocent citizens for no reason at all. News Five’s Jacqueline Woods has the story.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
When the Belize Emergency Response Team arrived at the crime scene there was nothing the technicians could have done to save the life of forty-three year old Winston Charles Castillo. Castillo lay dead on George Street with a visible deep wound to the centre of his chest. The initial police investigation reveals that sometime around nine-forty on Monday night Castillo was seen running away from two men. They finally caught up with him at this location where one of the men fired several shots from a handgun. The cold-blooded murder has left area residents in shock because they say Castillo, who lived just a short distance away from where he was killed, was not the type to cause problems. Quite the contrary, he was well-known for his willingness to help out in the neighbourhood.

Voice of Neighbour
“No, he is not a trouble maker; he is a very nice guy. He sit out here and talk with us and do errands for the whole neighbours around here.”

Today those persons who knew Castillo returned to his regular hangout spot at the corner of Church and George Streets where he was reportedly sitting on the steps outside of this establishment when he was approached by the suspects. It is here that the first shot was fired, but it missed the victim and bored through the business’s steel shutters. That’s when Castillo made a run for it. It is believed that Castillo was killed with a thirty-eight revolver, the same handgun used in another homicide that occurred just eighteen minutes after the police had arrived on George Street. In fact, people who had gathered at the first crime scene reported hearing several gunshots. This time, the bullets claimed the life of fifty-nine year old Eugene Whyte, better known as “Witch”. Whyte, who had no apparent enemies, was found lying on Dean Street with bullet holes to the chest and abdomen.

Regina Whyte, Daughter of the Deceased
“We were shocked because all he do is hang out at the Queen Square Market and help out people for the little vegetables that they give him and thing and then he would come and hail we. After late he would come and hail we before day and like that. He noh trouble nobody, as far as I know, he noh trouble nobody at all.”

Jacqueline Woods
“What do you know happened last night?”

Regina Whyte
“Well this morning my mother woke me and told me that my father died and that it was somebody who shoot him because had gone to buy chicken at “Kick Down Fence” and they said somebody just passed and fired shots and it ketch him by accident.”

But police do not believe the murders were any accident, and were in fact committed by a man they say was clearly under the influence of drugs and went on a shooting spree. This is how Police Commissioner Gerald Westby described the crimes and the actions of the killer at a press conference hosted by CrimeStoppers Belize.

Gerald Westby, Police Commissioner
“We suspect that both of them may be connected. We suspect that the guy may have been on drugs and just randomly shoot these people last night.”

Twenty-year-old Brain Herrera is the young man police believe murdered both Castillo and Whyte. This afternoon, however, he had only been charged with Whyte’s murder because he was seen near that crime scene throwing an object identified as a bag into a nearby yard. When the bag was retrieved by police, it contained some thirty rounds of thirty-eight-calibre ammunition. Police, who say Herrera was acting crazed, was detained and taken into custody. Police also report that as Herrera was being chased by the cops, he tried to reload his weapon but failed and threw the gun away. That firearm has still not been found. Jacqueline Woods for News Five.