No Charges for Woman Who Stabbed and Killed Her Husband

Rommel Catzim

On Sunday, forty-three year old Rommel Catzim was stabbed to death by his Guatemalan wife Alida Catzim in San Pedro. The couple had allegedly been socializing earlier and got into an altercation that night in their Second Street apartment. That altercation resulted in Catzim being stabbed twice to the chest and back. He died on the verandah of the apartment and Alida was detained by Police. But she is free tonight after instructions that she not be charged.

ACP Dezerie Phillips, Regional Commander, Eastern Division North

“Due to the circumstance of what the investigation revealed, we have compiled the file and we sent it over to the Director of Public Prosecutions. So far she has directed that no charges be leveled against the wife of the accused at this time. Domestic matters are always matters of a sensitive nature, but whenever issues of self-defence arise, we must ensure that the file is sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions and she is the one who decides whether charges will be laid or not while the investigation continues.”

Dezerie Phillips

Mike Rudon

“Is there some concern about the perception…because there will be some people who say that if it were a man he would have been arrested on the spot. There will be that perception. You all can’t get away from that.”

ACP Dezerie Phillips

“Of course that may be the perception but then we have to look at the broader picture. In Belmopan just a few days ago a female was killed allegedly at the hands of the husband, but like I said earlier whenever the issue of self-defense arises the law requires that the D.P.P. is the one who directs whether charges will be laid or not. When there is a clear-cut case of murder we go ahead and we charge.”

The incident reportedly occurred in front of the couple’s seven year old son on Sunday night around ten o’clock in the San Pedrito area.