Accused Murderers Are Freed

Charles Middleton

Four years ago, in June 2015, thirty-nine-year-old Patrick Dean Spencer, a.k.a. “Nally,” was gunned down on Cairo Street with its intersection with Glen Street, Belize City. He was shot multiple times by two gunmen and died instantly.   Spencer was standing behind Extra House when he was approached by the two gun men. Charles Middleton and Cesario Choco were believed to have been the gunmen and imprisoned.  But in the trial, which began on Monday, the crown’s main eyewitness, Hector McKoy, became a hostile witness and denied giving a written statement to the police.

Cesario Choco

The other witness, Shane Lopez, said he could not identify the gunmen. McKoy’s statement was accepted in evidence and later rejected by Justice Colin Williams on the basis of a C.C.J. ruling that the court should not allow a trial to proceed on the untested previous statement of a witness, who abandons all material parts of it.  Justice Williams then stopped the trial and the accused men were free to go. The duo was represented by attorney, Oscar Selgado.