Man charged with murder in city beating
As much as we have grown used to violent death, particularly on the mean streets of Belize City, no murder that takes place in our midst is really typical. That’s what News 5’s Jacqueline Woods discovered today as she tried to make sense out of the latest killing in the old capital.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
On Friday night as thirty-five year old Arthur Ellis walked out of his best friend’s yard to get into his vehicle, he was fatally attacked by twenty-four year old Kirk Gordon. Today Kirk’s brother, Reginald Gordon, is not only dealing with the loss of a friend, but is struggling to understand why his brother committed the murder.
Reginald Gordon, Best Friend of the Deceased
“I troubled, I am dealing with a loss, one of the most biggest loss I think I could ever deal with my old man passing. Now I deal with something, one of my best friend murdered, killed, or whatever you want call it and dah my brother deal with it, my brother do it, I noh know.”
Gordon says he didn’t see or hear anything and was inside his house when someone came and told him that something bad had happened just outside on Kraal Road. He found Ellis on the ground fighting for his life. He was severely beaten and bleeding badly from several injuries he received to his face and head.
Reginald Gordon
“When I look I no recognize him because his face bust up and he the bleeding bad, all kind of thing. But the clothes that he had on, I know the clothes, so I start to look good now. When I look, I see, well I know that it was him, I can’t recognize him because the face is mess up like I said and he di bleeding. So the police they tell me mek I noh touch ah, but then he is back way and blood was running in his nose and it di stopping his breathing. So I hold up his head, my mother brought a container of water and we washed his face so he could breathe better.”
But nothing could have been done to save his life and Ellis died shortly after arriving at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Authorities say it was one of their patrol teams in the area, which caught Gordon attacking Ellis with what appeared to be a two by four.
Jacqueline Woods
“Now Arthur wasn’t close with your brother, he was your friend. Do you know what could have possibly happened to cause your brother to kill him?”
Reginald Gordon
“When Arthur come yah he noh really mess with my brother, dah me he come to, or sometimes he talk with my cousin out deh. If I noh around he would stop for a lee ten minutes then go and then when he come back me and he heng. For whatever reason, what transpired that night only God, my brother and Arthur know. Arthur dead, so he can’t tell his part ah the story, I noh know, I noh talk to my brother up to now.”
The Ellis family is at a loss as to what could have triggered the vicious attack.
Michael Ellis, Brother of the Deceased
“Well according to weh his brother tell me that nobody know what happened because only he and Kirk were outside, and everybody went inside. So nobody know nothing, not even the policeman, Kirk’s mother, nobody at all knows nothing. Well to tell you the truth, we don’t have anything against the family because it’s not really the family, and nobody know what went on, so we can’t have nothing with the family as far as I know.”
Today Kirk Gordon was charged with the murder and has been remanded to Hattieville prison. Jacqueline Woods reporting for News 5.
Friday night’s murder was number sixty-one for 2003.
