Robateau and Pipersburg guilty of murder

Security was tight and the atmosphere at the Supreme Court was tense on Monday night as the twelve-member jury in the trial of Leslie Pipersburg and Patrick Robateau deliberated the fate of the accused murderers. A little over two hours after they received the case from trial judge Troadio Gonzalez, the jury forelady informed the court that a unanimous verdict had been reached. Justice Gonzalez returned to a packed courtroom number two at eight forty-one, and two minutes later, Pipersburg and Robateau learned the cold hard truth: the jury of their peers had found them guilty on all four counts of murder, as well as a single count of attempted murder. It was not an unexpected outcome for the trail, which ran for five weeks and included testimony from twenty-four witnesses. Neither Pipersburg nor Robateau showed any emotion, staring straight ahead as one by one the charges and verdict were announced. But whatever feelings were bottled up inside, exploded violently on the steps of the Supreme Court as Pipersburg threw a sudden punch at News 5 cameraman Rick Romero. Fortunately, while the blow put the camera out of action, Romero was unhurt. The police escort hastily whisked the handcuffed murderers away to Hattieville where they will remain in custody until next Wednesday. That is when Justice Gonzales will hear mitigation pleas from defence Attorney Linsbert Willis, before passing sentence. Willis had no comment on the verdict, but Prosecutor Marjorie Moyston, while declining an on-camera interview, told News 5 that she is pleased with the result, that justice has been served, and the accused received a fair trial. While it is expected that Willis will try hard to save his clients from the hangman’s noose, Moyston says she expects nothing less that the death penalty. The final decision, however, will be that of Justice Gonzales. Pipersburg and Robateau robbed their employer, Bowen and Bowen, on Slaughterhouse Road, on the night of June eighteenth, 2002. In the process of committing the robbery they murdered K.B.H. security guards Fidel Mai and Kevin Alvarez. During their escape, Pipersburg and Robateau then murdered two other people, Cherrymae Tucker and David Flores, as the pair was hanging out at the seaside in the Buttonwood Bay area of Belize City.