High Court Finds Rodman Welch Guilty of Shakeem Dennison Murder

Rodman Welch

The High Court has found thirty-seven-year-old Rodman Welch guilty of the 2020 murder of Shakeem Dennison. On October twelfth, 2020, Dennison was shot and killed at the Yarborough Bridge in Belize City. Welch, a father of four, was soon after arrested and charged for his murder. The case was brought before the High Court in late 2023. In October, a voir dire was held to determine the admissibility of an alleged caution statement police claim Welch gave which incriminated him in the murder of Dennison. His attorney Orson Elrington argued that the statement was inadmissible. At the end of the voir dire hearing, Justice Nigel Pilgrim ruled the statement as admissible. And today, Justice Pilgrim handed down a guilty verdict.  In finding Welch guilty of the murder, Justice Pilgrim also shared details of the caution statement in which Welch indicated that he shot the victim in self-defense.   In looking carefully at that part of his caution statement, Justice Pilgrim said he believed that the motive for the murder of Dennison was due to an old beef.   Sentencing for Welch has been deferred for March twenty-sixth.  He has been remanded to the Belize Central Prison.