Conorquie Family Receives Compensation for Murdered Son

Danny Conorquie

Three days short of a year, on September twenty-fifth, 2015, Belizean Tourism Police Special Constable, Danny Conorquie was murdered as he stood watch at the Caracol Archeological Site in the Chiquibul. The eighteen-year-old Georgeville resident was shot to the head by a group of men, believed to be Guatemalan bandidos, who illegally entered Belizean territory. The thinking was that just days prior to his murder, horses belonging to Guatemalans had been confiscated and Danny’s killing was in retaliation. His murder prompted a huge public outrage, but remains unsolved even though everything pointed to persons from a village adjacent to La Rejoya. Danny was the breadwinner for his mother, two sisters and a niece. The untimely and callous killing is still fresh in the minds of the family and Belizeans as the anniversary of his murder draws near. On Saturday, the family is organizing a two-day event in his memory, but as final preparations are being made, they were notified that the government was finally ready to offer compensation for the fallen constable, who was killed in the line of duty. Danny’s mother, Jean Conorquie, told News Five today that while his life was priceless, the money comes in handy, but does not bring back her son.

Jean Conorquie

Jean Conorquie, Mother of Deceased

“Well it still hurt a little, you know and then Friday, di twenty-fifth will complete a year. So we decided to have it the Saturday and the Sunday which is the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh.”

Duane Moody

“Now we’ve heard about getting some kind of compensation for his death. We heard that that has come through. Talk to us about that.”

Jean Conorquie

“Yeah, well I got compensated from the government for Danny, but nothing can bring back Danny. It’s better than nothing, so I accept what the government offered.”

Duane Moody

“When did you get this notification?”

Jean Conorquie

“About Thursday last week.”

Duane Moody

“Was it more than what you guys requested or what they initially offered?”

Jean Conorquie

“Yeah it is more than what the government offered, so they give a little more on it. So we accepted it.”

Duane Moody

“So how is this compensation going to help the family?”

Jean Conorquie

“Well it goes a long way for me because it is only me and my two daughters now and my grandbaby so it will help me a long way.”

Duane Moody

“And he was the breadwinner, noh?”

Jean Conorquie

“He was the breadwinner of the home. We are having a “Remembering the Hero, Danny.” We are having a celebration marathon on the field, basketball field; running race, football games…well the marathon is big with the football. We have like sixteen teams for Saturday and Sunday so we are having a two-day marathon. It starts from eight a.m. in the morning to ten in the night and then we have the dance the Saturday night until three di morning. And then the Sunday, we have the marathon again from eight in the morning through till seven.”

News Five understands that the family was granted one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars.