City murder/arson has ties to C.A. gang

For the third time in less than eighteen months, Belizean law enforcement officials are tonight investigating a murder in which the perpetrator burnt his victim’s body after inflicting the fatal wound. Around five this morning, police and fire officials responded to calls for help from residents on Victoria Street after neighbours noticed smoke coming from 1A Victoria Street. When authorities arrived at the scene, several small fires were still ablaze. Once those had been extinguished, cops discovered the badly burnt body of a man in the middle of a hallway. News Five’s Jacqueline Godwin has the gruesome details of the country’s latest atrocity.

Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
The victim has since been identified as twenty-five year old Honduran Gerson Javier Hernandez Ramos, a resident of San Pedro Sula. According to pathologist Dr. Mario Estradabran, who examined the remains at the scene, Hernandez had been killed before midnight on Thursday.

Jacqueline Godwin
?Were there any visible signs of injuries on the body??

Dr. Mario Estradabran, Pathologist
?Yes, he has a stabbed wound immediately below the neck.?

Jacqueline Godwin
?Now I understand there was blood in several rooms??

Dr. Mario Estradabran
?Yes, that is telling us that it was a struggle. It was a struggle before the murder was committed.?

According to the Officer in Charge of the Crimes Investigation Branch, Superintendent Chester Williams they were able to identify the victim by an identification card found on the body inside a wallet.

Supt. Chester Williams, Head C.I.B.
?From what we understand is that he had been frequenting that house over a period of time now. We do not have a specific time as to how long he might have been living in the country. We are still in the preliminary stage of our investigation and we have a lot more work that we need to do. I have other information I need to confirm. We have identified some people who we are looking for at this time. But at this point in time I will not disclose any name. We believe that these people may be able to assist in our investigation.?

Evidence at the scene have left investigators clues as to what transpired in this house last night.

Chester Williams
?Other investigations inside the house revealed blood stains in the bathroom and on the floor leading to where the body was. It was also observed that clothing materials and sheets in the house also had blood stains. And in one of the rooms we also found a sheet that was soaked in kerosene and a bottle containing a small quantity of kerosene. So based on what we discovered on the scene we have concluded that the body of the person inside the house was murdered and then after set on fire.?

Jacqueline Godwin
?Do you believe the victim may have been in bed at the time as to why blood was found on the sheet??

Chester Williams
?Well from what I observed, based on experience, at the scene I could say that probably the person was caught inside the house. The victim was inside the house and maybe he was surprised by his attackers. They might have gotten into a struggle which led to the bathroom, where I believe was the areas where he was killed. And in the bathroom they over powered, stabbed him and later on dragged him out in the hallway and lit his body on fire.?

Jacqueline Godwin
?Definitely more than one person is involved here??

Chester Williams
?From what we can see it will be a very difficult job for one person to do. So we believe that they may be more than one suspect.?

It is believed that the killers tried to destroy the evidence by fire.

Jacqueline Godwin
?Was the body totally engulfed in flames??

Henry Baizar, Fire Chief
?It was on fire when we got there. The guys put it out pretty quick. Like I said it was three small fires. On the body was some cloth and paper and that was what was actually burning along with the body.?

Chester Williams
?A large chair, a double seat was also on fire. One of the bedrooms situated on the north western side of the building, the mattress on that bed was on fire. A bedroom situated on the south eastern side of the building was also on fire and was totally destroyed by the fire. We believe from the four different areas where the fire was inside the house that that was done in an effort to cause the house to be engulfed in flames more rapidly, but their efforts failed. So we are looking at the possibility now that the person was killed last night and the person or persons responsible for that murder went back to the house this morning in an effort to try and do away with the body by burning the house down with the body.?

The killers are believed to have locked the front door from inside and made their escape through the back door. Hernandez was one of eight tenants who rented rooms at the residence. It is not clear if anyone else was at home at the time of the incident but the police say they are now looking for those individuals they believe can assist in their investigation.

Chester Williams
?It has seven rooms and two bathrooms and almost all those rooms were being rented out to separate individuals, but at time the incident might have occurred we have no evidence to suggest that yes more than one person was there. But we are looking at the possibility. At this time we are trying to locate all those persons who we knew of were renting rooms upstairs of the house. We have obtained their names and we are looking for them.?

This morning the forensic investigators collected several pieces of evidence including these two pieces of broken glass. Police say do not have a motive to the crime but sources tell News Five that markings on the glass could be linked to a notorious Central American gang called MS-13.

Chester Williams
?It was outside above the entrance door. There was glass there and it was printed on the glass. They used the dust that is on the glass to draw the words and letters that they wanted to have displayed.?

Jacqueline Godwin
?How significant is this finding to what occurred there??

Chester Williams
?Well as an investigator we try not to rule out any possibilities. Every little lead that we get during our investigation we look at it very seriously and we explore any possible angles to see how best we can get to the bottom of our investigations. The markings are important and we have taken photographs of them. We in fact took down the glass that has the markings and we have it with us. We will be looking at that particular gang because they were the person who we knew were occupying that house at the time. So that is being looked at. I have placed one of my more senior investigators to investigate that particular crime. In the person of Sergeant Pott and I will be overseeing the investigation to ensure that it is done expeditiously and likewise to get the best possible results.?

Police are appealing to anyone who can assist them in their investigation to contact the nearest police station or call crime stoppers 0 – 800 ? 922 ? 8477.

Jacqueline Godwin for News Five.