Accused Murderer Freed

A charge of murder was withdrawn today against twenty-four-year-old Verris Ventura of Belize City at the instructions of the Office of the D.P.P.  He was accused of the May third, 2018 shooting murder of twenty-nine-year-old Jason Travis Sutherland, who was gunned down in front of his house on Central American Boulevard. Ventura had been on remand for eight months, but got the good news this morning when he appeared before Senior Magistrate Tricia Pitts-Anderson.    Ventura quickly rushed into a waiting vehicle parked outside the courtroom. No reason was given for the withdrawal, but we were told that is was due to insufficient evidence on the identification of the shooter. Sutherland was shot as many as eight times to the body and Ventura was charged months later on July ninth, 2018 when he was caught in San Pedro.