Russell Bernardez is Executed in Belize City
Russell Bernardez
It’s been just over a week since we’ve reported on a murder or even a case of gun violence across the country. That is until this morning when the body of a man was discovered inside the Lord Ridge Cemetery in Belize City. He had been executed and his body believed to have been dumped in the burial ground. It was discovered by a passerby and a police investigation is underway. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Just after six o’clock this morning, police were called out to the Lord Ridge Cemetery in Belize City. There, they discovered the body of Russell Armando Bernardez. The thirty-five-year-old labourer of North Creek was executed, shot once to the head at close range by his killer. The murder is believed to have happened in the wee small hours of today.
Fitzroy Yearwood
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, Communications Director, Belize Police Department
“Police officers from our precinct two area responded to a body being found sometime around 6:20 this morning by a passerby at the Lord Ridge Cemetery. Police went in there, they processed the scene where they found the motionless body of a dark complexion male person; not identified to us as yet. This person was dressed in a white T-shirt and a khaki cargo pants and was barefoot. The body had apparent gunshot injuries to it.”
The body was transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital where it was officially pronounced dead on arrival. Just after midday today, a relative visited the morgue to identify the body. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says that the investigation so far suggests that Bernardez was killed elsewhere and his body dumped at the cemetery.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“We are interviewing people in the area and no one is saying that they may have heard any gunshots. So, what we are believing now is that he was shot and killed somewhere and the body taken to be dumped there. The investigators are reviewing several cameras in the area and we are hoping that we will be able to get some lead to bring some closure to this latest homicide in Belize City. We cannot be naive to believe that we are going to live in a country that is murder free. As hard as we may work and as much as we may do, we do anticipate that there is going to be murders now and then. What we try to do as law enforcement is to contain these incidents and do what we can to avert them from occurring, but there are always going to be murders. And yes, every murder is concerning. We would not want to see anybody losing a loved one, regardless of what the person’s history may be.”
At this time, an exact motive for this latest homicide is yet to be ascertained.
Chester Williams
“We are still in that infantry stage of the investigation. There are certain things that the police have learnt that we are not going to share now as it may jeopardize the investigation. But police are looking at several leads and are interviewing several persons from whom we believe that useful information may be obtained.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
