Postmortem conducted on murder victim; no leads in 2 cases

philip barrera

Thirty-three year old Phillip Anthony Barrera, a father of four, was shot and killed while he was on his way to the bus terminal at eight forty five on Sunday morning. Barrera would have caught a bus to Orange Walk where he would have spent the day with his four children and his four month old grandchild. It was a shocking blow to the Barrera family because Tony, as he was called, was not known to have any enemies.  A post mortem examination has been conducted on Monday morning on his body. According to Doctor Mario Estradabran, his death has been certified as a result of traumatic asphyxiation as well as neck and face injuries, all due to multiple gunshot wounds.  No arrests have been made so far and neither has the motive been established.

In an update to another homicide, Belmopan police still have not inched any closer to making an arrest in last Thursday night’s murder of twenty-eight year old Eleazar Barrientos of Cotton Tree Village.  Police recovered a machete near the crime scene but are not certain whether it was the murder weapon.  Barrientos’ body was discovered around seven o’clock p.m. at a nearby creek where he takes his evening bath.  His mother grew concerned when he did not return home that night and discovered her son with a severe chop wound to the back of the neck.  His clothing and slippers were still on the bank of the creek.  Family members told News Five that on the day he was slain, Barrientos was engaged in a bitter argument with an uncle who lived next door to him. They said that they recognized the uncle’s voice when he threatened and chased Barrientos with a machete to his house. The uncle and his son were detained soon after the incident but police had to release them because there was no concrete evidence linking them to the incident.