Gang commits murder, rape, robbery in North
If the wave of violent crime that has washed over Belize during the last decade has one mitigating quality, it is that much of the violence takes place between people who know each other: that is rival gangs or warring families. On Thursday, however, that pattern was broken as a horde of hardened criminals went on a wanton spree of destruction in the two northern districts that began with cold blooded murder and robbery and ended in gang rape. The saga unfolded around two in the afternoon when a Mennonite couple from Shipyard, Susanna and Enrique Petkau, were accosted on their way to their farm. The Petkaus son, Henry, describes their ordeal.
Henry Petkau, Son of Deceased
“My father and mother went to the farm to visit the cattle. Before they reached the farm, there were some boys who tried to stop them, but he tell the man, I’m going close, I’m going to farm. So he’s going over to the farm and the boy came over asking different questions. After that, they got the gun in front of them and catch them, take his vehicle and carry him over to the bush. Took and my mother and father and tied them to the tree. But they’re looking for something better to tighten him better and after that, they see that my father got loose and when they saw they he got loose they start to shoot. They shot and killed my mother right away and tried to kill my father, but he was lying down like he’s dead and they stopped shooting him, so he lived.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Did they steal anything from him?”
Henry Petkau
“Money, they saw they got three hundred and fifty dollars.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Any jewelry, watch?”
Henry Petkau
“I’m not sure, I didn’t ask him that, we didn’t talk that much. My father say he did know more or less where to get to the road. He went to the road and catch and cane truck and came over to Orange Walk and sent somebody down to get my mother back.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“There were how many boys?”
Henry Petkau
“Three of them, young boys.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“They were on foot, a vehicle?”
Henry Petkau
“They were on foot, English speaking boys.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Did they have masks, one had a gun or how many?”
Henry Petkau
“One had a gun.”
Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting
And it was the gunman who took over the wheels of the Plymouth Voyager belonging to the Petkaus. The cold-blooded murder and robbery was just a preview of what was to come for three other unfortunate people.
Police say Thursday night’s incident started right here along the Corozal Bay where thirty-seven year old Jacob Rancharan and his girlfriend were parked.
Police say the same assailants who killed Susanna Petkau abducted the couple and drove off in this van. They didn’t get very far when they developed engine troubles and as a result took control of Rancharan’s black Blazer and made their way to Orange Walk Town.
This is where they tried to kill Rancharan. Luckily the gun jammed and he managed to escape.
Jasmine Restaurant in Orange Walk was their next stop, and this time it wasn’t to buy fry chicken. Two of the four men entered wearing masks and pointed a handgun at a plain-clothes police officer and stole four hundred and thirty dollars from him and a cell phone from his girlfriend.
The crime spree continued onto the People’s Stadium were they gang-raped Rancharan’s girlfriend.
Her sister who didn’t want to appear on camera, said they were going to kill her, but was saved as she begged for her life on her knees.
Sister of Rape Victim
“All four of them raped her. She doesn’t know who they are because she’s not from Orange Walk. She didn’t look at their faces, so she doesn’t know who they are.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“They weren’t wearing masks or anything?”
Sister of Rape Victim
“When they picked her up they were wearing masks, but later on when they raped her they weren’t wearing any masks. She said they had taken off the mask.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Did they say any reason why? Did they pick them up in an effort to rob them first?”
Sister of Rape Victim
“The only thing they said, she told me was that they had mistaken his vehicle for somebody else’s vehicle and after they had been in the vehicle, they realised they had the wrong person. This is what they were saying, but that they were already in the vehicle.”
Sr. Supt. Gerald Westby, Officer in Charge, Corozal
“We have been working very closely with Orange Walk and police headquarters. We have put together a team of investigators from headquarters and Corozal and Orange Walk to co-ordinate these crimes that we suspect could be related from Orange Walk and Corozal.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“You all also feel like this is the same van that was actually stolen from the Mennonite woman who was shot earlier yesterday?”
Sr. Supt. Gerald Westby
“We have reason to believe. We haven’t done any positive identification because the victims are all in hospital and we need to do proper identification. But more than likely, it is. They fit the profile and we are co-ordinating with Orange Walk and Corozal and co-ordinating along with police headquarters.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“So in the meantime these four young men are on the run.”
Sr. Supt. Gerald Westby
“Right, but we’ll catch them shortly.”
Ann-Marie Williams for News 5.
Police say they have a good idea of the identity of the four killers, who are believed to be well-known criminals from Orange Walk. Right now, they are waiting for Rancharan to identify his assailants by way of police photos. In the meantime, Enrique Petkau lies in a critical but stable condition in the Northern Regional Hospital with six bullet wounds to his body.
