Elderly Man Found in Shallow Grave, Murdered in Belmopan
Porfilio Nino
An elderly man of the Valley of Peace area in Cayo was killed and his body buried in a shallow grave. Porfilio Nino had been missing since Saturday and his family had set out looking for him at his farm, where he lived on his own. But it was not until today that one of his prosthetic legs gave way to the gruesome discovery. According to family members, Nino was a kind man so there was no reason to end his life except that he was owed a large sum of money. News Five’s Hipolito Novelo reports.
Hipolito Novelo, Reporting
Just after midday today the family of sixty-five-year-old Porfilio Nino confirmed their worst fears.
Llamira Rivas, Daughter of Deceased
Llamira Rivas
“He was murdered because I found blood. So he was murdered. He was murdered like Saturday at around three o’clock in the afternoon.”
Nino, a resident of Valley of Peace, was found in a shallow grave at his farm, about two and a half miles behind the Maya Mopan Area of Belmopan. The shallow grave was dug some one hundred yards from Nino’s farm shelter where he would reside during the week. His killer or killers dumped the body of the elderly man and attempted it to cover it up.
Llamira Rivas
“Since Sunday I have been searching for my dad. We didn’t find him so today a group from Valley of Peace came. My neighbour found the body.”
Hipolito Novelo
“Where was his body located?”
Llamira Rivas
“Near his little shelter where he used to live.”
Hipolito Novelo
“Was it in a grave?”
Llamira Rivas
“Grave, yes.”
Believing that something was indeed wrong, Nino’s daughter Llamira Rivas set out in search for him on Saturday night. She didn’t find him and made a missing person report on Sunday, July twenty-first when her calls continued to go unanswered.
Llamira Rivas
“He used to call me every day in the morning, evening and in the night. I use to tell him please dad take care. Friday I was with him at the farm. Friday night I dreamt that two persons were killing him and I get up like at around three o’clock in the morning. I went to the bathroom and I continued with the same dream. That I went to a house and that they had awake and when I reached I saw my dad. He was the one at the wake and I started to cry. At six o’clock in the morning, I said why I dream that. I called him. He didn’t answer me. He always answers me. He always calls me every morning. I said maybe he doesn’t have credit, maybe he is busy. He will call me later. I sent him ten dollars credit. Still, he didn’t call me. So I continued the whole day and I told my husband I don’t know why my dad hasn’t called me. Then he told me that maybe something was wrong. So we came like nine-thirty in the night, walking. We reach to the farm and I called and his phone was on the bed and his dog was trembling. I said, my dad, is not here. We started to search all around the shelter and didn’t find anything.”
A search team comprised of friends and family later set out to find Nino. The gruesome discovery was made at around midday today. The search team found one of Nino’s prosthetic leg.
Llamira Rivas
“My neighbor from Valley of Peace, he was walking and then he saw something fresh and he did like this with a machete and he saw the body.”
Hipolito Novelo
“Is it true that they found one of his prosthetic legs?”
Llamira Rivas
“We found one. He has two but we only find one. So we will search for the next one. I called the police because they already called the body and he doesn’t have his foot, only one.”
Described as a kind person, Nino’s family coming to grips with his untimely demise. The family’s theory is that Nino was murdered by two persons, one of which owed him a ‘substantial’ amount of money.
Llamira Rivas
“My dad told me something but I don’t want to give names. But two persons killed him.”
Hipolito Novelo
“Why would they want to injure or hurt him?”
Llamira Rivas
“One person owes him money.”
Hipolito Novelo
“Is it a substantial amount of money?”
Llamira Rivas
“Yes, a lot.”
Hipolito Novelo
“The names you have given them to the police?”
Llamira Rivas
“I already because I found a letter.”
Hipolito Novelo
“What did the letter say or what do you mean a ‘letter’?”
Llamira Rivas
“It is saying that something happens to him make them arrest those three persons. He didn’t deserve to be killed like that. He was sixty-five years old and he was a good person. I will try my best to find the persons who killed my dad.”
Hipolito Novelo
“Would you forgive them?”
Llamira Rivas
“I don’t know, maybe. God will help me.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Hipolito Novelo.
