Two suspects detained as details emerge of Coca-Cola murder
It was the kind of crime that, although no longer surprising, is no less disturbing. More details of Thursday’s cold blooded murder and robbery on the Old Northern Highway are slowly emerging from police, the surviving victim and officials of the company the two delivery men were working for. Today in the aftermath of the tragedy, I continued looking for answers.
Thirty-nine year old Anthony Felix, driver and salesman for Bowen and Bowen Limited tragically died while doing what he loved best: serving the people of the rural communities in northern Belize. According to Felix’s boss, Nick Pollard Jr., the Sales Manager of Bowen and Bowen Limited, Felix who worked for them for fifteen years, was one of their most valued employees.
Nicholas Pollard Jr., Sales Manager, Bowen and Bowen Limited
“I know the people in the rural areas are going to miss him. Felix took care of the entire Bermudian Landing area, the Sandhill, Biscayne and Crooked Tree area and the entire Maskall area. And on Saturdays he serviced part of the Burrell Boom area. So he was doing an excellent job and we are really going to miss him.”
Pollard, who himself was up north on Thursday, August sixth, was on his way out of Orange Walk, heading back to Belize City, when he got a call from his boss telling him that something bad had happened to Felix and his sideman, twenty two year old Allan Pandy.
Nick Pollard Jr.
“We were just on the outskirts of Orange Walk when I got the call and he gave me a number in Maruba, to call them immediately, that something happened. He did not tell me immediately what it was because of time, so I immediately called Maruba. The male person who answered the phone told me that Felix had been shot badly, and Pandy was injured and that Pandy would be coming down in one vehicle while someone would be driving our coke truck to Belize City and that they were twenty minutes ahead. They had left twenty minutes when that phone call took place.”
Pollard explained that as they were heading to the junction of Sandhill and the old and new Northern Roads, they came upon Police Commissioner, Ornel Brooks who himself was heading to Belize City from Orange Walk Town.
Nick Pollard Jr.
“And we told him what happened and he immediately got on his cellular and called the police force and he mobilized his troops from Orange Walk and Belize City. And I have to highly commend them for that because they were out there very, very quickly. He stayed with us until we got to the junction and as we pulled up to the junction, like two minutes after that, the coke truck came out of the Maskall Road, so we were right on time.
We immediately pulled the truck aside, and we saw that Felix’s condition was very bad. In fact my supervisors felt that he was already dead and we took him out of the truck and put him to the back of the pick up truck and put Pandy also in the pickup truck. We called the factory where a British paramedic team was waiting and we raced and we went rather quickly hoping for the best and when we got to the factory, the British paramedic team pronounced that Felix was dead. Pandy had injuries to his chest, which was a pellet lodged in there. They took him to Belize Medical Associates and last night he showed me the pellet that was taken out from his chest.”
Pandy has since been released. Pollard said from what Pandy told them, they had no time to escape. The men, who were returning back from their last delivery in Santa Martha Village, came upon a barricade across the road and that’s when the shots rang out.
Nick Pollard Jr.
“What happened is that somebody must have been watching them proceed north to Santa Martha to reach their final destination for their route and when they were turning back, they were waiting for them. I understand it is on a curve where they put the log, so Felix could not have seen the log in the distance. When he came around, he came right on top of the log and he stopped. He did not even have a chance to decide whether he should jump the log or reverse. According to Pandy, as soon as they reach the log, the first shot was fired, which caught Felix according to him and Felix went down saying help me and then the other shot caught him in the chest.”
From the size of the bullet holes that penetrated the driver’s door, dashboard and back windshield, the police believe the damage may have come from either a nine-millimeter gun or a point thirty-eight. Reports are that the police have in their custody a nine-millimeter slug they found in the truck’s dashboard.
Nick Pollard Jr.
“These are brutal murderers we are talking about; these are cold blooded murderers. These people saw Felix dying on the seat of the truck and they just politely went up to the truck ordered Pandy out of truck, search him and when Pandy didn’t have any money they went to Felix, pulled off his pouch which had the money in it, search them and just left him there to die and went off.”
A total of one thousand and seven hundred dollars in cash including a check written for one hundred and sixty one dollars was robbed.
Nick Pollard Jr.
“We’ll have to do something and the way things are going in Belize, who knows before the year two thousand and five, all business person will have to use bullet proof vehicles.”
Q: “Why?”
Nick Pollard Jr.
“Because crime is escalating and nothing is being done about it. Something will have to be done about the whole judiciary system – about crime overall. We will have to take tougher measures.”
Pollard says they have been in communication with the police to see what steps they can take to protect their employees on the road. While Bowen and Bowen drivers and sales representatives have been held up in the past, it is the first time an incident has ended
so tragically.
Two suspects have been detained by police and a third is being sought. Contrary to what has been reported in other media, the perpetrators are believed to be Belizeans and not Central American immigrants.