Arrests made in Gill Street murders; one accused is a cop
This afternoon police escorted four men to court, including one of their fellow officers, whom they believe were behind the Valentine’s Day murder of Roberto Torres and Eugene Flores and the wounding of Ron Thomas.
The men, twenty-two year old Ryan Felix, twenty-one year old Albert Allen, twenty-eight year old Earl Hamilton and twenty-one year old police constable, Gilbert Hyde Junior, appeared before Chief Magistrate, Margaret Gabb, who denied them bail. They are charged with Conspiracy to Commit Murder. A sixteen year old, whose name has been withheld, has been charged with the actual murder. Of the four, only Hyde was represented by legal counsel. That attorney, B.Q. Pitts, requested that the prosecution provide the defence with immediate disclosure of the evidence against his client. This request was based on his argument that police fabricated the whole story and wanted Hyde to lie against Felix. However, Deputy Officer in Charge at the Crimes Investigations Branch, Sergeant Hilberto Romero, disputes this claim and says the police are satisfied with their evidence. Romero said the motive behind the shooting was an “old beef” between the sixteen year old gunman and Torres.
Insp. Hilberto Romero, Deputy O.C., C.I.B.
“Our investigation revealed certain information and evidence and based on that we have charged these persons for the murders that occurred on the fourteenth of February.”
Marion Ali
“The policeman who was interdicted from duty as well, can you say how he was linked to it?”
Insp. Hilberto Romero
“Well we have evidence that it was a conspiracy. They conspired and based on that evidence he was charged with conspiracy to commit the murder.”
Romero says the others who were shot just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time as they rode home from work together on Gill Street. Police have recovered a number of nine millimeter expended shells from the scene but have not found the murder weapon. Meanwhile, the sixteen year old youth charged with the murder appeared before Magistrate Natalia Carter at the Belize Family Court. He faces two counts of Murder, Attempted Murder, Grievous Harm and Use of Deadly Means of Harm. Likewise, he was refused bail and remanded to the Wagner’s Youth Facility at Hattieville Prison. He is to return to court on March nineteenth.
In other crime news, two youths aged fourteen and sixteen were shot and wounded while standing with friends at the corner of King and West Streets Friday night. Lavan Garnett and Quincella Murrillo told police that the incident occurred shortly after eleven. The two told police that they had just left a wake and were talking when they were hit. Police have yet to determine the motive for the shooting. Both were treated and released from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Meanwhile, a fight between two men eventually led to bloodshed when they both stabbed each other. Reports indicate that one of the men’s common-law wife sent an unpleasant text to the other man’s common-law wife about her husband. The woman informed him of the message and he in turn, located his rival on Orange Street. That was where they got into an argument that resulted in the stabbing. Anthony O’Conner was stabbed in the left and right side of the neck while Eric Gordon suffered a knife wound to the back. Both have been treated for their wounds at the K.H.M.H. where O’Conner remains in a stable condition.
