Man Allegedly Stabbed by Nephew in Critical Condition
A Belize City man was gravely injured in a land dispute involving family members. Thomas Ferguson is tonight in critical condition at the hospital after he was seriously injured by his own nephew. The dispute had been simmering for some time and it got ugly on Saturday night when Ferguson was stabbed in the chest. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Forty-four-year-old Thomas Ferguson is clinging to life at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital after being stabbed in the chest by a nephew in the wee hours of Saturday morning. The incident succeeds a bitter land dispute which they have been embroiled in for a number of years.
Voice of: Thomas Ferguson’s Wife
“This problem dah mi bout the land weh mi husband, sorry fi his family and e start bring they pan the land. And after that they start argue pan the land noh. Thursday ih come and ih the shub up mi husdand inna e face and ih tell ahn I wa mek you shed yo blood. That da weh ih tell mi husband.”
Ferguson’s family contends that he was the first to develop a parcel of land at 7173 Arlington Drive, before extending an invitation for his relatives to join him. Ownership of the land subsequently became an issue and, according to Ferguson’s wife, he was tormented on numerous occasions by thirty-seven-year-old Oliver Peters. Shortly after midnight, the tension between both men boiled over, resulting in Ferguson’s life-threatening injury.
Voice of: Thomas Ferguson’s Wife
“So Friday night we neva mi d pay it no mind. Ih come knock pan the door and as my husband open the door ih take the knife and e juck mi husband straight inna ih chest. N he tell mi son. Jun noh d look ya because you wahn get some to. Because mi son mi d sleep inna the chair. Well what we do, I run out the house, I run up the street to get assistance from my neighbor bu8t my neighbor neva come out so I run up the street fi ask assistance again on another neighbor and by the time I reach ya and da so his nephew done had another vehicle out ya fi he already. And mi daughter, my sixteen year old daughter and his nephew try help ah inna d vehicle so they could ker ahn da hospital.”
Ferguson, says his wife, remains in critical condition at the KHMH. His prognosis is dire.
Voice of: Thomas Ferguson’s Wife
“The doctors di tell we that how he is still critical but they took him off the medication machine because they want the medication wear out so they could try stabilize ahn fi mek e come out of the coma.
Meanwhile, Peters, an electrician by trade, appeared unrepresented this morning in the courtroom of Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith. He has been charged with the attempted murder of his uncle, dangerous harm and use of deadly means of harm. Peters is on remand at the Belize Central Prison until January 21st, 2014. Isani Cayetano for News Five.
