Dean Hyde convicted of 2004 murder

Two years after a fatal shooting at a popular nightclub, the man accused of the crime has been convicted of murder. According to court reports, this afternoon twenty-nine year old Dean Hyde was found guilty in connection with the death of sixteen year old Dual Wagner Jr. On October ninth, 2004, Wagner was at the Bismarck Club and when he emerged from the bathroom, a lone gunman shot him at close range in the forehead. Police later charged Belize City resident Dean Hyde with murder. During the trial, Hyde’s attorney, Simeon Sampson, called his client’s aunt and cousin to the stand. The women both testified that the accused couldn’t have committed the crime because at the time of the shooting he was drinking with them at home. Hyde gave an unsworn statement from the dock, telling the court he went to his aunt’s house to celebrate her birthday and didn’t leave until the following morning. But prosecutor Cheryl Lynn Branker Taitt had a witness of her own, an eyewitness who knew the accused. Under oath, Carlton Lord maintained that he saw Dean Hyde, a man he’d known for ten years, shoot the victim. The jury spent approximately three hours in deliberation before emerging with a guilty verdict. Justice Troadio Gonzalez has set sentencing for August thirteenth. Of note is that Carlton Lord is currently serving time in Hattieville Prison for several robbery convictions.