Children of Elbert Pope mourn his murder on Father’s Day
Elbert pope
The old capital’s other murder took place just before midnight on Sunday. A well known cyclist, thirty-eight year old Elbert Pope was shot and killed as he sat on his bicycle behind the City Centre. The motive remains unknown. News Five’s Jose Sanchez has a report on Pope’s senseless murder.
Jose Sanchez, reporting
Elbert Pope was lounging on his bicycle while talking to a friend who was on the Sittee Street Bridge which crosses the canal behind the Belize City Center. While sharing a beer in celebration of Father’s Day, at eleven pm a lone gunman came up behind Allison Muslar and fired several shots at Pope. Byron Pope ran to his father, his role model, but it was too late.
Byron Pope, Son of Murder Victim
byron pope
“They told me that my father had got shot, so I ran down the street to his best friend and tell him to took me to the crime scene and when I reached at the crime scene I see that it was his bike and his slippers. And I just break down.”
Jose Sanchez
“It’s rough! Your father is a cyclist. Was he the kind of person that anyone would be upset with or want to harm him?’
Byron Pope
“From I know myself, my pa never get in trouble with nobody. He never complained to me that this person the mess with ahn, that person di mess with ahn. No problem he neva had with nobody.”
marcia pope
Marcia Pope, Niece of Murder Victim
“Getting the news of his death last night was so difficult because everyone that knew Elbert and was close to him would know that he is not in any gang. He is not in anything that is incriminating. He was a very straightforward person, law abiding, at least he tries to be.”
Jose Sanchez
“Also an inspiration for his own son to get into sports.”
Marcia Pope
“Exactly! And then his main thing was for his other two younger sons—Shane and Eldon. Just last week we were talking and he was telling me about their school and that he needs to get Shane registered for school and Eldon, he was going to transfer from one school to another. Where Shane and Eldon is concerned, they were living here with their dad. I mean, Elbert mines them because he and their mom is not together, but he makes a perfect role model for those two boys even for Byron.”
Jose Sanchez
“So this is a really big loss?”
Marcia Pope
“Me and Elbert had been always close and I will miss him terrible and I think this will take a long time to get pass this.”
A black bow is visible outside Triple A loans on Queen Street, where father and son worked. The Cycling Association also grieves his loss.
Melvin Torres, Technical Advisor, Belize Cycling Association
melvin torres
“I think he started riding about 1983 or so, and since then he may be missed or two years in between, but he was always a rider. He participated in several events in Belize and he also represented to country elsewhere. He was in St. Lucia, he went to Jamaica, he went to of course Mexico and he travelled in several other locations. He also went to Guatemala one time where sometime during those years in his experience, but he was always a good rider, a formidable rider. He never manage to win one of the major classic, if my memory serves me right, but he was always, there, he was always in the money. He always would rank third or second, that sort of thing.”
Jose Sanchez
“This was a man dedicated to the sport?”
Melvin Torres
“Indeed he was very dedicated. As a matter of fact, he was one of the most riders that get up the earliest to go to the road. Fred Usher is one of his dearest friends because they trained the most. He also have other people like George Abraham.”
Pope’s home away from home was Ordonez Bicycle Shop. George Abraham rode with Pope and watched his stash of trophies and medals grow over the years.
George Abraham, Friend of Victim
“I was the person that trained him, so that he could ride cross country and he end up starting to beat the teacher. One thing he always tell everybody bout that. Which I feel good that somebody weh I bring out come out very good and better than me noh. For the friendship, it goes way back for at least bout eighteen to twenty years mein. The man is a very humble fellow noh. Nice guy. Matter of fact, he dah mi compadre and mi best friend, we share secret. For him to get kill like that it really hurts me bad. I can’t explain how I feel about this man because this man dah like I noh know weh fi seh gone on deh. It really hurt, that’s all I can tell you.”
Jose Sanchez
“He’s not someone that is involved in anything?”
George Abraham
“No, he noh involved ina no gangs or anything. But weh I could tell you is that ih love lotta lady. That I could tell you, he dah wahn ladies man. I sure of that.”
Pope’s legacy continues with his children. Byron intends to add more medals and trophies to keep the Pope name alive in cycling.
Byron Pope
“My father is a very good cyclist in Belize and a lot people know him. And that’s the reason why I pick to do the sport to carry on the name, Pope. We are having a big, the national championship is going to be held on Saturday and Sunday of this week and I’ll try to make it for the love of my dad.”
Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.
It grieve me to hear of this. Elbert was a peaceful person, never got into any problems. I spent sometime in his presents as a cyclist on the Western highway with George, Fruity etc. We all have lost a friend. I hope this crime get resolve.
Another loss.
I am tired, so tired of all this senseless killings in belize.
R.I.P.
Please start hanging these idiots.
HANG THEM HIGH!!! Mr Crime Minista…oops! Mr Prime Minister. What more proof do you need to have to know that Belize is not going to get better with all your Jaguar crap? Do you need an attempt on you to be convinced? Rodwell is proof that you don’t have to be a gangster to get a bullet marked with your name. Innocent people like myself are terrified to venture into the city because of armed hold ups of person and of business places and of stray bullets. My hard earned tax payer’s money is paying individuals to sit on their thumbs all day while I live in fear and become a virtual prisoner in my own home.
About tax paying, Why in the hell because I make $26100 does almost $7000 out of that get taxed to the max and the next sucker that makes $25900 which is only $200 less than what I make get off free??? Who in the hell is your financial advisor??? You think because you give so many tax exempt on food stuff that that makes it okay to suck the life out of me. I don’t eat corned beef that crap got too much damn salt I don’t need hypertension to kill me. Most of the stuff that you tax exempt are filled with salt and no nutritional value. If the cheapest things will kill us off then who you will collect tax from???
Now you see why I pissed off because my hard earn money the pay security forces’ salary and I still no feel SECURE!!!
in all of these shootings that is going on where is Mr. Barrow to dennounce these continuous senseless acts. Please show the people that put you there that you do care.
Why would My Barrow worry about the escalating crime rate in Belize.That’s more cases for his law firm when will you all get it.
i believe that this so called jaguar operation has turn ina monkey operation, all they do is monkeyup themselves to cover the blind eye. Gov. needs to do something drasticaly bring the death penalty or else we will be joining mexico on the top list for unsolved crimes and masacres of extreme rates in belize very soon.
My deepest sympathy goes out to the Pope’s family. I have known Elbert over the past 20 yrs and he was a nice, humbly and respectable young man. I wish Belizeans would stop stop killing each others like animals. Rest in Peace Elbert, you are in a better place.
i understand everybody tayad. so am i. but i think its retarded when people actually think bringing back hanging or death penalty or whatever will stop the crime. da who whe heng? if nobody’s being convicted because our std 3 minimum wage law officers are going up against well educated well paid lawyers, disappearing witnesses, lost case files, no evidence etc., etc… DA WHO WE WHE HENG?! we didn’t get to this point overnight and unfortunately it won’t go away very quickly either. there is no one answer or quick fix, although that’s what we’re all wishing for. the jaguar program hopefully is a start in the right direction. we need to educate our youth and teach them to treat each other as human beings. and that includes the high society kids who KNOW that having principles is irrelevant coz their life is already made. our youth, rich and poor, have learned not to give a damn bout anyone but themselves. get urs by any means necessary.
as for police, only preschoolers respect them these days – maybe. sad. but if we could afford to spend thousands on a medal appeal and to bring in big coach for basketball, why not bring in a couple/two/three coaches who will guide our brave officers on tracking down and putting away these killers in the streets? when was the last time u heard that our boys in brown gathered evidence, put a case together and got a conviction? police can’t even take fingerprints! without actual witnesses who are willing to say they were there and saw what happened our police usually have NO case! or maybe we’re living in an imaginary world fueled by ‘csi’ and ‘law and order’ and all those real-life-based imaginary tv shows… ey, i’m behind our ballers 2 d max. but basketball is basically a matter of national pride. how bout spending a couple hundred thousand on this matter of life and death?
dah wa sin fe kill someone fe no reason. me think that de violence de get rough out deh. me have wa pic of him bbq-in and de sell it by the middle bridge with george wen me family visit belize in 2004. i hope de family is okay and hopefully they wa find da fool who da do dat to wa nice and sweet man. R.IP Pope
Crime in the city is out of control..period.the police can’t come with a plan to keep those ….. under control in the city.how to stop them?create some very strick laws.no heavy fines,since they have no $$$ to pay the fines.jail their … for a long time so they can value freedome..
Murder murder and murder. The police cannot do their work. Mr sparrw talk and talk .new police minister only sing and sing no action.one thing for sure barrow`s lawfirm is making money defending the criminals.an advice to the crimnals start murdering the …………… and the ………… so that they get to senses and start doing their work
tradgedy hits the family . father and son dead and the other son can still manage to do well in the 2011 cycling.