Senior beaten by robbers as wife watches from wheelchair

A couple living at mile sixteen on the Northern Highway had a traumatic morning when thieves invaded their property and attacked the husband. News Five went to Sandhill and spoke with the wife, who believes they may have been set up by their domestic help.

Fabita Bachelor, Burglary Victim
“I am sick, but I thank the Lord that I born I think with a strong or tough nerves because I think I couldn’t take what really happen to me. This morning when I hear him say they are going to kill me, don’t move and try to give him the bigger lumps of money that I could give him. And I cannot move or nothing from where I am, I don’t have nobody to help me.”

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Sometime between nine and ten this morning two Hispanic men entered the property of Richard and Fabita Bachelor under the pretence that they wanted water to drink and food to eat. But after being told that they could not be assisted, one of the men attacked Mr. Bachelor as his partially handicapped wife watched helplessly from inside the couple’s bedroom. Forty-two year old Fabita says her husband was taking a shower when they heard a knock on the front door.

Fabita Bachelor
“When he went there he said to me somebody is out there, but they don’t speak English, they speak Spanish. And then he said, how could I talk to them because they are standing by the door. So I said to him, I will talk hard, just leave it in my hands. But then he open the door and then that’s the time that one of them pull him?no, first they ask him for some agua, so when I heard that, I said, he wants some water. Then he go to him like this, describing like he want something to eat. But then my husband tell him that he cannot help him because he was getting ready this morning to go to the doctor to see Dr. Alvarez because he is not feeling well. So at the time when he was telling him in English, no, no, no, he cannot tell the man with a few words in Spanish that it have to be another day, then that’s the time when one of them pull him and throw him down and told him to lie down on the floor. Then at that time the next one appeared, so it could be that that one was by the garage outside. And then when the next one appeared, that’s the time that the struggle begin out there and the next one come. He was screaming and shouting because he was trying to tell me that this is an assault, but he couldn’t get to say it because the man put his hand first in his throat, he said.”

Bachelor says she heard the struggle and her husband’s terrifying screams, but because she cannot walk she was unable to see what was happening… but then one of the men entered her room.

Fabita Bachelor
“One appeared right here at the room and he said to me that the better for me if I could give him a big allowance of money and then I will stop hearing my husband screaming or shouting there, and I could get kill also, both of us. So I said to him, I don’t have, I don’t have big money. All we have, I said, its a little money in the purse, so you can open the drawer, I said, the wallet is right there. The wallet had one hundred and eighty dollars Belize and ten Pounds. So he took the one hundred and eighty dollar Belize currency and ten dollars British currency. And beside that he’s still hunting, still searching because he told me that’s not enough. So I said, that’s all the little money we have, we don’t have no more money; if we had some more I would give you, but we don’t have no more, that’s al I could help you. But he still continue searching, he open all my drawers. All the drawers here were open, he search paper by paper. He was in here like approximately forty-five minutes, and after he left this room he went where the one door is and a bed is and I don’t know what all he did because I was just hearing noise.”

Bachelor says because of the way the men moved throughout the house she believes they were familiar with the building. But because they had never seen the assailants before, Bachelor says they suspect the men may have gotten inside information from a former employee who had worked as a cleaning lady for almost two months. Last Friday she suddenly left and have not returned.

Fabita Bachelor
“He didn?t go to the back because we have two bedrooms to the back there and at any time he walked past these doors, to two bedrooms over there. And that’s why it just came to my knowledge that this person has connection with this young lady that was here.”

Jacqueline Woods
“Because he was familiar with the layout?”

Fabita Bachelor
“Exactly! He was familiar where he will search and blah, blah, blah. What happen was that my husband did something very bad, now that I recall. I can remember he did it this week or last week Friday, because that’s the last day she work here, the young lady. But he took the young lady here because he has several places to go to shop and other things to do. So he took her meanwhile he is doing other things, he gave her the money to go and buy some greens at the market. But before that they gone to the bank first, so I think the young lady see those movements and him how he sign his cheque and everything, so I believe all of that involve in it.”

Bachelor says as she prayed for the men to go away, she was deeply concerned about her seventy-five year old husband’s safety because she knew he was badly beaten.

Fabita Bachelor
“When I see his face, like blood dropping all from here, you barely could see his eyes, all over here (points to face) has blood. So I said to him, what happened, did he scrape you with a blade or something? He said, I don’t know, all I know was that he was struggling with me and I was struggling to see what I could do. And after they left and everything was over, I was calling him to see what happened, if he gets hurt or what. He responded to me saying he cannot get up. I ask, why and he said, my hands are tied, my feet are tied. Then at that time I don’t hear no noise. The last I hear is the door that goes through the garage begin to slam in and out, so I said well I think through that door they went.”

Bachelor says when she knew the men had left the house, she called for a neighbour’s assistance who quickly came over and helped them. Bachelor was transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Because the thieves also took the couple?s house and vehicle keys, the police have secured the area.

Fabita Bachelor
“Well we are really scared of that because we don’t know where are they and how far are they, if they could turn up at night and drive the car because they have the keys, and they could even come and open the home at night. So it’s really sad the story that happened to us this morning.”

It is not the first time that the residence has been burglarised, but it is the first time that the couple were home when the thieves arrived.