Suspect charged in murder of shopkeeper

Murders in Belize come in all shapes, sizes, and motives, but when it comes to sheer senseless cruelty, the one that occurred on Sunday in Belize City has few rivals.

Wen Fei Xu, Daughter/Sister
“This is something really, really tragic. It has already broken our family.”

Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
According to Sue Wen Faye, around seven-thirty on Sunday morning, her father opened for business and his first customer was a young man, who appeared at the front burglar bar gate at the store’s entrance and ordered a five gallon bottle of water.

Wen Fei Xu
“So upon fulfilling that request, he had to open the main gate, so that’s when he found out that there were two guys outside ambushing. One had a mask on and when they saw my dad opening the gate they pushed, forced their way in and one point his gun on my dad’s head. When they forced open the gate they flung my dad outside to the road and they pushed their way inside and so my dad ran screaming for help.”

When the gunmen entered the building, Bing Pou Xu was pushed outside and he ran to get help. But his wife, forty-nine year old Cui Su Xhau, who was cooking in the family’s living quarters in the back of the store, heard the commotion and went outside to investigate.

Wen Fei Xu
“Instantly she knew what was happening and so all she said was please don’t give me trouble, take all you want. And the gunman just points the gun at her and shot her dead on the spot, like not giving her any time to defend herself.”

The mother was shot once in the forehead and then the killers ran into the bedroom where Xu’s siblings were sleeping.

Wen Fei Xu
“My brother and sister were sleeping, so my brother sat up on his bed and the gunman point the gun to him and asked him for money. So instantly my brother quickly point him to the dollar coin stack at the bottom of the bed and the gunman grabbed the coins with his left hand and shot at my brother four times. And then he pushed my sister outside to the store and asked her where the rest of the money was. So my sister just showed him the rest of the money and they took of them, the few thousand dollars, they took all the money. And after taking all the money, the finish off with a shot to my sister’s face. So they just ran out after that.”

As his family came under fire, Bing Pou Xu had gone to the nearby police substation on Dean Street, only to find that there was no one on duty. Rushing back to his shop, the father made the gruesome discovery of his wife in a pool of her own blood and his children clinging to life.

Today, nine year old Wen Zhau Xu remains in a critical condition at Belize Medical Associates, while her eleven year old brother Wen Yi Xu, is listed in stable condition at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.

Wen Fei Xu
“She got shot on her right eye, so the bullet travelled through her nose, through the upper palate and came out through the left cheek, so her eyes are fully bandage and she’s going to lose this eye. And it has to be taken care of as soon as possible because if left untreated it might affect the brain and the other eye, so might leave her to be totally blind. She is going to lose this one eye.”

Jacqueline Godwin
“And how is your little brother doing?”

Wen Fei Xu
“My brother is lucky that not of the shots were pointed at him at vital organ. He got shot on the left shoulder, through his left wrist, scratched his chin, and up his cheek. So he got shot four times.”

Four hours after the cold bloodied attack, Belize City Police arrested twenty-three year old Mark Medina. According to investigators, they found what they believe to be the murder weapon, a nine millimetre pistol, and the stolen money, some six thousand dollars in cash, inside Medina’s Berkley Street home. Today Medina showed no emotion as he was taken over to Magistrate Court where he was arraigned on the charges of Murder, two counts of Attempted Murder, two counts of Deadly Means of Harm, Grievous Harm, Maim, and Aggravated Assault.

Aaron Guzman, Office in Charge, C.I.B.
“He was cautioned by the investigating officer at the scene, he was cautioned in my presence again at the police station and as far as I can recall, his only comment was, “unu di harass me again.”

During a press conference this morning, police explained why the sub-station was closed when Xu’s family needed help.

Sr. Supt. Allen Whylie, O.C., Eastern Division
“Because of the numbers in the relief, we had to decide where to close. That one was indeed closed, but we are dealing with those officers who were absent. We are dealing with those officers who were absent from duty. It was closed … they should have been on duty.”

“At that substation, there would have been one officer along with two soldiers, but on that relief we had three officers who were absent and then we had the unfortunate death of P.C. Lopez, who was also a part of that relief. So because of those absentees, it kinda made out job difficult in terms of postings.”

Police say they are now looking for at least two other suspects in connection with the crime.

Aaron Guzman
“We appreciate the help we received from the public, from those persons who have called and relayed vital information to us. We appreciate it and we thanked those persons who have called in and helped us in our investigation.”

Tonight the victim’s family, are still shocked by the viciousness of the attack and are appealing for public assistance to meet the children’s medical expenses.

Wen Fei Xu
“It was so quick. I am not sure if she recognised or not, but she was not given any time to even do anything. She is so little, she is smaller than me. She is forty-nine years old, like there is no way she can cause any harm to them. She always says in these types of situations, just get the money, just take all you want, but please don’t harm us.”

“My sister, she is in bed during these two days. She has been given a lot of sedatives, a lot of painkillers, her eye needs to be taken care of right away because if left untreated it might lead to both eyes being blind and she needs to get her nose fixed because she couldn’t breathe through one of her nose and she needs to get her face fixed as well because once we leave it untreated it might inflame and it might lead to a lot of problems, possibly brain damage.”

If you would like to assist the Xu family, your financial donations can be deposited into Atlantic Bank account number 200565984.

Mark Medina has been remanded to Hattieville Prison until his next court date on June twenty-first. Family members told News Five that Medina was a regular customer at the shop.