3 murders in the city; 2 alleged witnesses killed on Oleander Street
shelmadine sanchez
Ivan Francis
While Restore Belize continues to slowly take shape as the Government of Belize’s panacea to crime and violence, gun play continues to wreak havoc on Belize City streets. Over the weekend, the Old Capital saw three murders. Isani Cayetano looks at the possible links between two of the three murders.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
The murder of thirty-five year old Shelmadine Sanchez, a single mother of an Oleander Street address in Belize City, has raised the ire of the wider Belizean community, more so the residents of St. Martin’s area where she was considered a friend by many. While details of her murder remain sketchy what is certain is that Shelly, as she was commonly known, was gunned down a few feet away from her home shortly before twelve o’clock on Friday night. Today her family and friends are still trying to make sense of what happened over the weekend.
Voice of: Relative of Shelmadine Sanchez
“I got a phone call from a friend of mine asking me if we knew what happened and I wasn’t aware of exactly what happened and he explained to me that he heard Shelly was shot and I asked him if he was sure and he wasn‘t sure so he went and I hung up the phone and he went and check and see if it was her and he called me back and he confirmed that it was her and so we rushed over at the hospital and when we got over there yes it was indeed her so.”
Isani Cayetano
“Was she already pronounced dead at the moment you guys arrived at the hospital?”
Voice of: Relative of Shelmadine Sanchez
“No. When we got there she was in the theater, they were attending to her. It was a little after twelve and she passed away about after three.”
Reports are that as many as seven shots were let loose on Sanchez, hitting her in the right elbow, right side of the body and right lower back. Though unconfirmed it is believed that the hit on her was the result of numerous threats made via text messages and calls to her cell phone recently. Her neighbors were awakened by a barrage of gunshots.
Voice of: Resident
“In: From last week I di yer lotta gunshot. I noh know if da dynamite or gunshot and ting right but when time dehn ting deh so happen di amount ah time we yer gunshot we noh know da activity di happen. So when time I peep out and ting I sih somebody get shot pan dis same street right ya soh, wah young lady right. Dehn shot di young lady and di man look like dehn mussi gaan bout dehn business or what but my concern is because all ah we know di young lady, all ah we know di young lady and everything and we live back ya so we just want know weh dih go ahn because we concern because I got step kids and whatnot same way to.”
Friends of the victim say that she was a witness in the murder of thirty-five year old Dennis ‘Kalad’ Nembhard which also occurred a stone’s throw away on June second of last year. It is said that Shelly was to have testified in an upcoming trial in which the accused, nineteen year old Emerson Eaghan, was set to reappear in the Belize City Magistrates Court after initially being acquitted of the charge.
Isani Cayetano
“The bullet riddled body of Shelmadine Sanchez was found right here on Oleander Street minutes before twelve o’clock on Friday night. Family and friends were forced to make sense of what may have happened that led to her demise and no sooner than two days after her death they were once again in the middle of mayhem as the body of fifty-six year old Ivan Francis was discovered a little after seven o’clock this morning with what appeared to be a single gunshot wound through his neck.”
Police and BDF personnel were on the scene this morning where the lifeless body of the welder was removed from his workshop which is situated at the rear of a Chinese grocery store. It is said that Francis had gone over to the establishment where he sometimes worked as a watchman while his tenants are out doing business. His body was discovered by his common law wife and her daughter when they went to check on him after trying several times to call him. As in the case of Shelly’s death it is rumored that Francis may have also witnessed a homicide.
Voice of: Resident
“Bwai well this mawnin when I come by yah so pan the crime scene crime scene when I sih dehn people ova ya, di police dehn ova dis Chiney I yer somebody say dat how maybe di man mussi sih when time dehn shot di young lady Thursday or Friday when dehn shot dih young lady he mussi sih cause he live right yah so and dah right deh this thing happen. Right front ah dis Chiney and maybe mista man mussi sih and I noh really know but I just di seh yo dig.”
Belize City police are investigating these incidents separately and while the streets of the Old Capital are alive with hearsay the motives behind both crimes are undetermined.
Voice of: Relative of Shelmadine Sanchez
“She was a good person and anybody who knew her knew that she was a positive, she had a positive attitude and someone you always want to be around so why they do that to her is a shock to everybody.”
clifton grant
glenford grant
The chilling death of Sanchez comes as another painful blow to her family as no earlier than three months ago her father, Clifton Grant, was severely beaten and left for dead by her younger brother. Grant succumbed to his injuries on May seventeenth and his son, twenty-five year old Glenford Grant was charged for his murder. Shelmadine’s cousin is still trying to find an answer amidst grieving the loss of her grandfather.
Voice of: Relative of Shelmadine Sanchez
“It’s very hard. It’s very hard right now, we’re barely, barely, barely getting by fih be honest with you because someone took her life and someone took my granddad’s life so da like just opening not even an old wound, just tearing back open a fresh wound so it’s very hard. Honestly it’s very hard and we’re trying, we’re trying, by the grace of God we’re trying honestly.”
The murder of Shelmadine Sanchez on Friday night preceded another bloody weekend in Belize City which was punctuated today with the discovery of her neighbor’s body. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
Two more murders that will probably go unsolved. How many more witnesses have to be murdered before something is done. Despite all the plans we have made to bring order to Belize, no one has addressed witness intimidation.
We need to start taking these worthless MFs, tying them up & burying them alive so that they can do something useful & fertilize the soil. Ms Sanchez, Mr Francis;RIP, your days of dealing with the BS is over.
I have quickly become desensitized from reading all about the murders occuring in Belize ever so often.
Violence and murder in Belize has become a part of the norm in that society, and that is the sad truth.
R.I.P Shelmadine.
and where was the pm while three more innocent people were murdered ill tell you partying in la thats where my condolances to the families of the victims ,well all i can say is you have this pm and this gov. to blame i keep telling you this pm and gov are useless impotent on crime they are a disconnect from the belizean people here we go again on track this year to even beat last year on murders now its women getting killed next it will be more children march people marchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
I agree that the members of this government somehow seemed to manage to disconnect themselves from the happenings in our city…but here is a word of warning, lets see for how long. The marches wont stop this, the over night gun amnesty will. We constant sustained efforts to curb this, thats if anything can be done at all, cause i think this may have gone way to far to ever come back, all we may have to do is keep going and hope it somehow corrects itself.
Rod, where were you? And what are you doing to alleviate crime? Yes, we expect the PM to do everything possible to crub crime but he no have a magic wand that fixes the problem overnight.
We as a people need to join forces and demand that these murderers and criminals desist from crime. Else we go into the streets and take care of the problem ourselves. If you follow news, lastnite there was a report in ZonaZone 18 in Guatemala where gangs rule the neighborhoods and police cant do anything. Well, men and women about 150 of them have taken over the streets at night in an effort to curb crime. I think its time we take the bull by its horns and hit the streets to gain control. We (the good ones) are more than the bad ones. For all you reading our news, the criminals are a small amount and the police know them but for some reason, they cant persue them.
In my area, we run things. “Gangsters or wanna be’s” are sheet (cant spell it correct). We outnumber them. Stop talk and lets act!
To say that my beloved homeland has become a country where anarchy reigns supreme, is to be putting it in mild terms. For sure ,there is no law and order in Belize.
It is pointless and a total waste of time for anyone to be pointing fingers and laying the blame at the Prime Minister’s feet for this total collapse of law and order and cold blooded madness that is taking place. He is not the one pulling the trigger and I’ll go even further by saying that i believe if he could do something about this mayhem, he would.
This matter is WAY bigger than this PM, the former PM, any future PM, and UDP and PUP put togather….PERIOD!!!!!!
These are the last days folks and Satan the devil knows his time is reduced. These are his parting shots and he is having a field day using all those who are willing to do his bidding. And from the looks of things, there is no shortage of ablebodied disciples in Belize.
Hey………you don’t even have to take my word for it, just click on to the news tomorrow and the day after……and the day after………..it is written!!!!!!!!!
Wow! This woman was in my class E P York High School early 90’s. She was very easy
going, real calm. This is what Belize, 175 miles long, and 64 miles wide has come to. They don’t even have the mind, to respect and, love the females, who gives birth to all on this planet. These clowns killing like killing is someting so positive and righteous. This is not shocking, it’s shameful.
YHWH Tezsbaote
where is the new Minister of Police. the silence is deafening!!!
on 7News they stated that this lady had already made complaints to the police that she was getting threatened but police failed to do their job once more. You would happen to know that if you go to the police station and you complain that somebody is threatening you over the phone the first thing the police will tell you is that they can’t do anything. About 3 weeks ago i went to make a report to the police that a guy called me and then threatened to kill my husband and you know what a jackass police from belmopan told me, is are you sure it was the guy, how would you know that it was him, what if somebody else was the person calling and not the person you are accusing when the guy introduced himself and i know him from i was a little girl. The police stated oh we just can’t make a report because its a phone call. I got so furious and i told him that no matter what means is used to make a threat , a threat is a threat. Police are lacking knowledge of the laws i don’t know how they become police. to make my report i had to go to some senior police because that ignorant jackass police didn’t know better. that’s how people get kill without the police doing anything.
This is really sad. But how can a whole city fear these thugs? join up with your machetes and sticks and go on the streets….
yes proud true but this pm cannot fix anything if he is never around anytime you ask where he is its eighter he is in miami or la or chicago he is never around its almost like he doesnt want to live in belize but he wants to be prime minister and look at all the crime going on from afar in the us. By the way am doing alot about crime you just dont know it proud and this is not an overnight thing since he has been in office years now over 500 murders later i wouldnt call that an overnight thing in times of crisis your leader should be next to you doing everything he can to stop the violence not hiding away in the usa on vacation everytime you turn around those belizeans dont need his help its us belizeans who are here living it everyday so act proud act. go find your pm and demand he start doing what he was elected to do and that is rule but he cant he impotent pa crime. i say make we put him pa wa plane to miami permanently get someone who is a leader and start hanging these murderers.
It’s really tragic to read what is going on back home, last week we read in the news that the law was brought to the house on wiretapping, to aliviate crime. why is this law not push through the senate lik the take over of btl law, the lady complained to the police about a text message threat, why did the police not check with the phone company, to see where or which phone this message was from, the phone company has records of all call and messages that pass through thier system, if the law will be instated to help dieviate crime then lets put it into existence immediatly.
i’m a regular blogger in this channel5 webpage and it really shows the anger we as belizean feel due to the mass murders being done in our country, countless time we blogg with anger as to what we want the gov. to do but my question is will all our comments someday be read by the p.m or has he have time to read this comments during his time in the p.m seat? It really frustates us as proud belizeans that strive everyday to succed in this hard time and the violence having us on our knees every time you walk out of your house. mein are we getting like mexico now, guatemala, el salvador where violence is a norm for those countries. Damn!
Stop beating up on the PM, when Said Musa was PM and Mitch was about to hit he was not in Belize , so it is not only The Hon. Dean Barrow who is never in Belize but Musa as well. Crime is not only the Pm business,but it is all of us Belizean business.It showes how undisicipline our community has become, it reflexs on our up bring, it reflex on our Parents who didnot do a good JOB of raising respectful children. My sympathies to the families who have lost there love ones ,RIP Shelly,Mr. Francis and Trouble I knew Shelly and Trouble .
If we had someone who could stop the violence, he would have been elected years ago.
We looked the other way for too long & pointed the finger in the wrong direction at things like movies & other cultures imported form the US. When the Government in the 80s & 90s allowed murders to live free in Belize because the crimes were not committed on their soil, they were warned that it was setting a bad precedent. The smile on one murderous monkey’s face as he stood with his leg up on the railing of his families house, proud that he had gotten away with murdering two Belizean women, pissed us all off, all of us, that is; except the Government.
Many of us have lost relatives to murder under both administrations, they cannot fix it & we have to accept that poor folks will have to police their own neighborhoods. Since we have mastered secrecy when the thugs are the culprits, forget the sticks & machete, there are law abiding citizens with guns, takes these worthless beasts out & run their families out of town if they are upholding bad behavior.
We need a DICTATOR to come in and take control. We at least need concerned people at the GRASS-ROOTS level to start taking back the streets. We will overcome this dark time……….TO A BRIGHTER TOMORROW!!!!!
Now you have explained yourself very well. By the way…he is the Prime Minister be it my choice or not. Politicians are failing us…that is why I insist that we team up in our neighbourhoods and take the streets so to speak. Let the criminals know that we dont intend to tolerate them any longer…
Respect to you for your effort and keep on gaining new members on the right team. We need a better Belize fu all a we.
When will Mr Barrow get it?Apparently the PM is waiting on the criminals to knock on his office door again.I am going to say it again Mr Barrow You’re not going to be able to restore Belize until you start hanging these criminals.What a shame you’ve got people who are willing to testify in court so as to convict these idiots and yet you as the PM don’t have any for of protection for these Citizen.So why should i report to the police if i see someone comitting a crime?
dont worry guys our PRIME MINISTER dean barrow says HE STILL HAS THE MAJIC !
I’ve got a question to the PM and the DPP.How can you all restore Belize when you all can’t even protect the witness of these heinous crimes.cammon Sense my Belizean people with less witnesses the conviction rate is going to decrease as a result the crime rate is going to increase.
I really don’t know what else to say but that our Jewel needs some serious prayers.
We tend to idealize the past as being a lot better than the present. Violence, lack of respect for the law, and the degradation of women have always been characteristic of Belizean society. It’s just that before Independence the British were there to keep a firm check on these things. After independence, the Belizean people elected a series of corrupt and/or incompetent leaders who have done nothing to uplift the country. The violence will continue until somehow the people take control of their own destinies and stop putting their trust in idiot politicians.
The CHURCHES HAVE FAILED US!!! All those “preachers” that should be out there leading the battle of GOOD AGAINST EVIL, are not doing their job. THEY ARE NOT following in the footsteps of JESUS.
Totally agree with u Proud….. WE ARE THE ONES THAT CREATED THESE MONSTERS SO WE HAVE TO TAKE THEM DOWN….. with our poor parenting, we are the ones that created these cold hearted killers…. so we as a society have to take them down…. the polticians are part of the problem not the solution… so stop looking at them for solutions….. we have to adopt some of the criminal strategies to deal with them… and yes we are far more than them…. so we can win this war… it only takes courage and determination…. and some less of a conscience…. for drastic problems… drastic solutions…… let’s team up and gang up on them as they do…. discretely…..
out with this pm out with this gov mien i cant take it no mo out with the old and useless in with the new hang all murderers them high.
I personally believe that we have crooked cops and politicians in our country mein and this is an ongoing situation for many years in my country Belize. Belize is a small country and all so were do you think the problem starts from? Belize needs to start and do capital punishment because these stupied men who are killing people in our country has given up on life already so they are not afraid to kill and go into jail and come back out and do the same thing again. We best start to do it an eye for an eye mein. think about it!!
I have been away from my country for almost 4 years. I always dream of the day I can be home again. I miss my country so bad but with all this madness going on I am afraid of returning. I have all my family there and I am so scared that this violence will reach them. I really scared of going back to the place I grew up in and to that place I always brag about and call home. It bothers me to be afraid but what can I do. Everytime I read the news there are murders. Do the people up there in government, do they realize what’s happeni
g to our country? Does something has to happen to them or their family before they do something. How many more people do we have to loose before someone does something. I have to agree with what was said that we have to do it because the authorities in charge are not doing their job. How sad it is to hear about these things happening.
May God help the family and give them strenght to bear with the losses. R.I.P!!
Me…. …….. …….Sorry to hear that. I am sure that a lot of other Belizeans abroad have to same feeling. Imagine the money being lost when these people don’t come for holiday????
FEAR IS POWER…GOB apparently does not want to really address the issue of steady rise in the crime rate!!! we need to question ourself WHY???
1.) Belize need to have to sort of witness protection program…
2.) or that witness statements that are signed under a J.P. can be used as evidence in a court of law….
3.) Furthermore, Belize judicial system is inadequte to the changes that have come over the years….we need to modify some legislation; harsh penalties
3.a especially making the death penalty available to criminals that are cold-blooded….
3.b in addition, criminals need to serve their full sentence “make the crime serve the time”
3.c that criminals with petty cimes be used to clean the street and highways of Belize
3.d hard-time criminals be used to make carpentry work or construction work (block factory) in the prison….
I don`t want to sound being negative or targeting the PM but apparently the PM of Belize will react until one of this family member is murdered or personally face the wave of criminal activity in Belize….who has to be murdered Hon. Barrow? Anwar? Shye ? Loise ? or daughter ?
you should have made changes new laws from the time that your friend, Rodwell, was shot!
tHIS CRIME RATE WILL CERTAINLY HAVE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES IN OUR ECONOMY..
LONG LIVE BELIZE….MAY GOD BLESS BELIZE….
How is Belize been restored with the escalating murder rate?
The PM should develop a work program and a curfew. If you are not employed full time or in school, you have to work in a work camp. Workers could chop grass, clean up the trash, etc. After a full day of sweating, there wouldn’t be much energy left for violence and the country would be much cleaner. No one should be allowed on the street after 10:00 P.M. or before 6:00 A.M.
I totally dis agree with Earl Gray the churches are doing the best they can to pray for this Nation of Belize, we are up many Nites when you are all tucked in bed snorring away. We pray day and nite for Belize, bcaz we are now living in the last days and the bible speaks about these things and we do worry about our country. to be honest i dont think its going to get better but this is the beggingiof the end and my church and i will continue to pray for Belize.
God be with us all
its really sad to see a good person killed, i pray that the person, or persons that did this to shelly pay.
well we all know who did this to her, lets find Emerson Eaghan.
friend of Belize: The PM doesn’t have the logistics to do something of this magnitude.This man don’t even knew he had a fake Police in the Ranks.
This young lady was a friend of mine and a witness to my cousin’s death who was also murdered because of being a witness to someone else’s murder. What is happening to Belize. Belize will eventually be the most dangerous place to live. I can’t believe that I am actually scared of my own country. Im very sorry for my friend Shelly, God be with you and your child.
True! Lets find EMERSON EAGHAN.
And we ae loosing this world we love! and it looks like the killing wont end so im reaching high above earth. Lord let your blessings be here!
Lets change the world Lets change the world!!
belize needsa group of vigilantes to go and clean out the city.they wont have to burry nobody.the reporter will help us by showing all the missing persons pictures with a statement saying they cross the mexican border into mexico on their way to foreing.CLOSE CASE.GOD BLESS THEIR ROTTING SOUL.
sad to say the problem will solved when the gutts take over
DOESNT IT CONCERN ANY ONE THAT WHEN ANYTHING GOES WRONG, THAT WE BLAME THE GOV;T(WE ARE THEY ONES THAT VOTED FOR THEM) OR CHURCH OR POLICE. WE BLAME EVERY BODY FOR OUR AILS AND THE SLIPPERRY SLOPE OUR COUNTRY IS HEADING DOWN
WHEN WILL WE, THE CITIZENS, THE GOOD MAJORITY, HOLD OURSELVES ACCOUNTABLE AND STAND UP AND CLAIM OUR STREETS BACK. IS THERE NOTHING THAT WE CAN OR COULD DO BETTER, TO MAKE LIFE MORE MEANINGFUL AND PLEASANT FOR OURSELVES AND CHILDREN
Sorry to hear about Ivan I knew him well was a good guy my heart goes out to his family, when is the madness going to stop guess they are just following the examples set by the leaders of the country they figured that if the leaders can be corrupted and take what they want then they can do the same, I wonder about the families of these murderers do they just sit back knowing that their relatives are committing such terrible crimes. I would think that it would be hard to live in the same household and not have an idea that this type of thing is taking place, with that type of mentality it is quite likely that they are bragging about their actions. Don’t expect it to stop anytime soon as long as the leaders are corrupted it will trickle down. When the crime situation starts improving it’s because we have leadership that will not tolerate this type of behavior and the answers will come much easier mind you crime will never be zero percent but will be much more manageable and Belizeans will start living at a much higher standard of living that is when criminal activities will not be very attractive and an honest living will make much more sense since there will be greater opportunities available to the citizens of this country, right now the politicians like it the way it is don’t let them fool you it keeps most of the focus on crime and off of them this is their creation not necessarily only the ones in power, they take turns doing it for many reasons those out of power also promote criminal activities to make the ruling party look bad so they can take those seats back.
WOW! Like the burning of the child with the hot iron, this one has really touch the deep nerves of so many, and to think that many more feels the same helplesness and anger but have not put it in writing. I notice that much of the blame are put at the feet of the government. But there is an old saying: that drowning man grab at a straw. I have to a gree with one of the respondent who pointed out that this is bigger than the Priminister. Perhaps some of the blame can be attributed to government who cannot provide more opportunities for these restless minds. In my humble opinion all of society must share the blame. What we are face with is a generation that is lacting in love, fear, self respect, nor respect for no other person. The question that must be dealt with is what caused these individuals to reach to such depth when we know each other close up? When we find the answer to this question, then we can really fix the probles. One man’s opinion.
I disagree with the opinion that the PM can’t do anything about the crime situation in Belize, Yes he can! He’s got much fire power at his disposal and he is in the seat to initiate the rule of law by carrying out the orders of capital punishment against criminals, he’s our man now. On the other hand, I do agree with what someone wrote, “This is way bigger than this prime minister and all the others put together, these are the last days”, and we can’t stop it because the devil is hard at work. I think it’s a wrong conclusion and I do believe we can do something about it, GOB and all the people who seeks peace and stability, it’s our patriotic duty and our God given right to act decisively in opposition to the escalating crime situation in our country.
Ecclesiastic 3:1 and on states, “there is a time for everything under the sun”. I say, our time to reinvent the wheel is now, we should and we need to reinstate the death penalty and carry it out swiftly as a final judgment unto convicted murderers. There is a saying; you are what you eat! There is also another saying; you are what’s in your head, what you think is what you have been thought and determines who you become.
Obviously we need to revamp our social and cultural issues if we the living wants to RIP.
SJS
Alice Henkis, you are very IGNORANT. How can you possibly blame the parents for the life their children choose to lead? That statement should be made on an individual basis. School yourself lady. Are you a parent; are all your kids PERFECT. The BIBLE says whoever is without sin cast the fist stioe. CAN YOU, CAN YOUR KIDS???????????????????
As Belizeans we should get together and implement a plan of aaction to rid the jewel of the diseases that are plaguing our youths; playing the blame game is not helping or alleviating the issues.
To all of you in this forum…lets get it together.
we all write about getting together and fixing this ourselves. how can we start? we need to form a group…..a death squad at that. we need to create and put into effect our own curfews. it’s true, for a period of time, we’ll become like guatemala or el salvador, but it’s something that needs to be done. otherwise, the next time these blatant murders take place, it will take place at home
REST IN PEACE SHELLY ///WE WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU///I HOPE YOUR MURDERER AND HIS WHOLE FAMILY PAY S FOR THIS CAUSE GOD KNOWS YOU ARE INNOCENT AND DIDN’T DESERVE THIS///LOVE ALWAYS
The only way the GOB of Belize can get a handle on crime in Belize City is these steps:
1. Formulate a very Secret Think Tank Team to pinpoint all known criminals, gang leaders, drug dealers, murders etc…
2. Establish and activate an off-the-books elite team of trained ‘liquidators’.
3. Convey all documentation to this team of ‘liquidators’ and have then go on a ‘clean up’ campaign and I mean a thorough clean up campaign.
This WILL work, it has worked in parts of Honduras and worked greatly in Colombia. GOB will have full disavowal; know one will know the wiser; they will just hear about these sick criminals turning up dead and most people will be extremely happy of this.
4. After effects: Make sure messages are left around each dead criminal stating that this is their faith; the media will make sure the message gets out for certain.
This is the ONLY way to get Belize back on track; there is NO other way; the criminal elements are too embedded, our justice system is too weak and the current police force is too corrupted.
5. After effects two:
Option 1: Send in these same ‘liquidators’ to clean up the corrupted police officers.
Option 2: Clean out the Police Department by literally firing every single Police Officer that is known to be corrupted, no matter what scale, if we end up with only two clean police officer left then so be it; we need start a clean slate and this is the ONLY way we can do that.
Once this is done; Belize can then reform itself; drastic times need drastic measures believe me some very difficult decisions need to be made in Belize and this is the first one; if this is not done the criminal organization will run this country in about 2 to 5 years; look at Mexico…they waited too long and made the cartels gather too much financial and man power and now it is almost impossible to stop them!!!
In other words we need the Los Pepes’ in Belize; they are supposedly in Mexico right now helping cleaning up the cartels
http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2009/11/have-los-pepes-touched-down-in/
Better Idea, this move has to be done by a grassroots Belizeans organization, tacitly of course. Its the only way we can save ourselves Belizeans, !@#$ government, we need to start standing up for ourselves now!!!