Two suspects charged in Belisle murder

Police investigations into the murder of Dean Belisle, better known as “Magic”, have led authorities to arrest Belize City residents twenty-eight year old Mark “T-Dog” Stuart and twenty-four year old Fabian Baine, also known as Carlos Escalante. This morning Stuart and Baine were taken over to Magistrate’s Court where they were formally charged with murder. Sources close to the case told News 5 that the killing was the result of a quarrel over a drug deal that involved counterfeit money. Belisle was first stabbed and then shot to death around twelve-forty-five on Monday afternoon. Stuart’s arrest comes one month after he was released from the Hattieville Correctional Facility upon completing two-thirds of a twelve-year concurrent sentence for robbery and aggravated burglary. In 1997, one year after Stuart was first sentenced, he escaped along with nine other inmates in what has been described as the biggest prison break in Belize’s history. While on the run, Stuart is believed to have been involved in several major crimes, although they were never proven. Later that year Stuart was recaptured and an additional year was added to his sentence. Then on November twenty-fourth, he was charged with the murder of his cellmate Husmani Guerra. In that bizarre crime, it was alleged that Stuart killed Guerra, then chopped off his hand, and threw it out of the cell. However, no witnesses could be coaxed into testifying and the charge was eventually dropped. On October sixteenth, 2002, Stuart made the news again while in prison. On that day, it is alleged he tried to kill another inmate, Kevin Gentle, but like the previous charge, it was dropped due to lack of evidence. On June thirteenth, Stuart was finally set free. Tonight he is once again behind bars at Hattieville on remand for the Belisle murder.