Security guard cleared of murder …

Meanwhile, separate murder cases in the Belize City Supreme Court have ended with very different verdicts. More than a year after he was accused of killing Mango Creek villager Reynato Logan, this afternoon twenty-two year old Harrison Smith was acquitted of the crime. According to court sources, the case against Smith fell apart because the testimony of investigating officer Daniel Flowers contradicted the evidence given by Police Constable Yvette Robateau. At the time of his arrest, police maintained that they had sufficient proof to show that Harrison was the gunman who shot Logan four times in Taylor’s Alley on August eighth, 2006. During the two week long trial, the accused took the stand in his defence to maintain his innocence. Harrison told the court that at the time of the shooting he was working as a security guard at a night club on Regent Street West and he only passed through the crime scene on his way home. The defendant says he recognized the victim as Logan but referred to him as a friend and claimed that he tried to get a taxi to take the bleeding man to the hospital. Officers had tried to convince the court that as Logan lay dying, he identified his attacker to them as “Harry” which was why they arrested Smith.