Elderly man and a minor murdered in separate shootings in Lord’s Bank
Otto Jorgen Petterson
Leading up to the Christmas holidays, three families are grieving loss of their loved ones. Of three persons who were murdered, two were from Lord’s Bank, Ladyville where less than a month ago, the Vellos/Skeen family was executed, allegedly by one of their own. On Saturday night, a businessman was shot and killed in his store by two armed men before the close of business. Sixty-five year old Otto Jergen Petterson died as he was being transported to the hospital by a neighbor. It is believed the murder was motivated by robbery but nothing was stolen from the business. In the other homicide, a young student was shot and killed as he rode his bicycle heading towards Lord’s Bank. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
The senseless murder of sixty-nine year old Otto Jorgen Petterson on Saturday night was the first of two unrelated homicides in Lord’s Bank over the weekend. The elderly man was inside his establishment around 8:30 p.m. when he was accosted by two armed men. It is believed that a brief struggle ensued during an attempt to rob Petterson. The scuffle resulted in shots being fired.
Raphael Martinez
Raphael Martinez, Police Press Officer
“Ladyville Police visited Lord’s Bank Grocery which is located at 33 Lord’s Bank Road, Belize District, where they were told that the owner, Mr. Otto Jorgen Petterson, sixty-nine years-old, a Belizean businessman of the same address, had received what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the chest and was reportedly transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in a private vehicle when it was later found out that he reportedly passed away.”
Petterson had been mortally wounded, shot multiple times in the upper body. His neighbor, who lives behind the apartment complex, heard the gunshots that were fired inside the store.
Voice of: Lord’s Bank Resident
“I heard the couple shots like about four so I ran in the store and I see him lying down on the ground and he looked like somebody [that was] injured, you know. And I picked him up and took him to the hospital but while we were on the way [there] he just passed away.”
Isani Cayetano
“What do you understand may have happened here? Was it a robbery? Was he targeted for a hit? Can you share with us what you know may have been the motive?”
Voice of: Lord’s Bank Resident
“Well I’m not really sure what happened because it looks to me like nothing [was taken]. I’m not sure if it was a robbery or what because dehn noh tek nothing.”
While a motive is yet to be established, residents in the area surmise that Petterson’s assailants may have thought that he was in possession of a large sum of money.
Raphael Martinez
“Two males of dark complexion entered his establishment and shortly thereafter gunshots were heard and reportedly they hit him in his chest. Police have since recovered two expended nine millimeter shells from that area and Mr. Petterson was pronounced dead at nine p.m. on the December fifteenth, 2012.”
Isani Cayetano
“Do you believe that he was being watched prior to these individuals attacking him in the store?”
Voice of: Lord’s Bank Resident
“I believe so but I’m not really sure but I believe so.”
Twenty-four hours later another resident of the village would also fall victim to gun violence. Fifteen year old Dayne Bodden, a first form student attending Ladyville Technical High School, was killed as he rode his bicycle along Lord’s Bank Road.
Raphael Martinez
“On Sunday, December sixteenth, 2012, at approximately 8:10 p.m., police visited an area on the Lord’s Bank Road where they saw a fifteen-year-old minor, a student of 152 Lord’s Bank Vllage, lying face up on the road on top of a bicycle apparently dead with multiple gunshot wounds. He, this person, appeared to have been heading in the direction of Ramos’ Bus Stop in Lord’s Bank and initial investigations revealed that sometime about eight p.m. on the sixteenth three apparent gunshots were heard in the area after which Bodden was seen, the fifteen year old minor was seen lying motionless on his bicycle beside the road. Police have since recovered one nine millimeter expended shell from the area and the body of the minor was transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital and was pronounced dead at 10:40 p.m. on December sixteenth, 2012.”
Ladyville Police have no leads or suspects in either of the two homicides. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
I hope police submit these and ALL recovered casings and slugs, from ALL crime scenes in the Jewel, to our new ballistics laboratory. We have the equipment, let’s see that it is used diligently to identify murder weapons, and then convict the killers.
THEN LET’S HANG THEM. No mercy, no exceptions.
Merry Christmas to all the good people of Belize.
A Minor and a Senior citizen executed in a very small community and not a statement from chatty chatty Dolores or lame duck Hutchy?. And what happen to all the residents of this small community of less than 1000. Two murders in one weekend is cause for a protest. At the very least PM will send fart face Sedi to talk down to you like he did in San Ignacio, but at least you will get their attention. By the way, do not expect a word from Min Zaldivar as he just boasted a whopping 38% decrease in major crimes in the last House Meeting.
Most guns that do the crime are illegal weapons.
Guns come from above… not from Heaven, I mean from top officers, guns and drugs is a BIG business, we CANNOT stop it.
Heard about a top officer`s son caught with plenty weed somewhere in Clarissa Falls, ha, what a laugh, bet that nothing more will we hear about that, bet you.
POLICE WILL “LOST THE FILES” , when TESTED it was “not marihuana”.. etc, etc !!!!
we need to stop the killing some way some how we need to clean the streets up and get back this beautiful jewel of ours 16yrs ago belize was the place to be not i of all people know that there’s no jobs but we all need to work together as a people and give our young men a more constructive way to do with there time other than having them saying i am a member of this gang and that gang we are a loving people you travel to any part of the world and you start speaking and that accent comes out they ask where are you from and you say belize the first they i hear thats a beautiful country so you see we are known for our jewel so come on people lets do this.HOMEWORK 17YRS AGO WHAT WAS ALBERT STREET,KING STREET ,BIG BRIDGE,CENTRAL AMERICAN BLVD AND MORE IMPORTANT YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD LIKE
A life taken for no good reason. These murderers got absolutely nothing, this businessman working for an honest living, gunned down because two murderers decided to end his life.
No official has come forth to say a word against this horrible monstrous killing spree that is going on in our country. How long will the honest people be held hostage by these spineless idiots. The police talk about crime rate being down, excuse me, to hell with petty theft, stop minimizing the murder marathon that is going on. People are loosing their lives and the government and law enforcement turn a blind eye. This is terrorism and should be treated as such.
This is the time for conversation about bringing back some kind of death penalty or a dungeon like prison building where these vicious people are locked away with one hour out of their cell daily, for the rest of their lives. Let us show these criminals that there is a price to be paid, if they decide to commit the most vicious of crime.
This terrorizing of the local citizenry by organized crime and the gradual overtake of the Belizean society by these thugs be stopped. It is almost incredulous that we have this wave penetrating into the small communities and it indicates an extent to which the culture of lawlessness has permeated every level of the belizean society. Think about how we have become so jaded to crime and the fact that the politicians and religious leaders seam so jaded and indifferent to the collapse of our society. As a failed state in the Caribbean, there is not much to expect, what will happen is that we will begin to have vigilante justice…as our court system is one big joke.
He is the tongue lasher in the House at Belmopan and in front of the TV, let him explain these senseless murders, let him talk today about gang truce and CYDP and paying gang members to lay low, what has that got us. meetings at ITVET with gang members in cargo pants and flip flops, tell that to Mr Otto’s relatives. it ultimately resides on his shoulders, he has the power to stop this, who is displaying crass cowardice now?