Libertad resident who was hacked on the head perishes

Giovanni Borland

Thirty-four year old Giovanni Borland died on Friday, three weeks after he was viciously chopped to the head on May eleventh in Libertad Village, Corozal.  Police detained twenty-four year old Joseph West from the village following the hacking. Reports are that around ten p.m., both men were socializing at the Mil Amores Bar in the village when an altercation occurred. While initial reports say that West tried to walk away, but was pursued by a machete-wielding Borland, today, his family is claiming otherwise. According to Giovanni’s uncle, Carl Borland, his nephew did get into an altercation at the bar and he was chased by West and four of his relatives. Carl contends that Giovanni ran towards the house where he was staying, but was caught by the men; there is when he was chopped to the head with a machete by West. West was charged with Attempted Murder, Dangerous Harm and Use of Deadly Means of Harm three days later, on May fourteenth, and remanded to prison, but that charge is expected to be upgraded. Following the chopping, Giovanni’s brains were exposed and doctors gave him only days to live. And late Friday night, he passed away at the K.H.M.H. His family came to News Five’s studios today.

Karl Borland, Uncle of Deceased

Karl Borland

“We have credible information as to exactly what took place and we know what we need to know about who they are and what they are. And this I have to say to them, all five of you are nothing but spineless, gutless cowards to chase down and hack to death, somebody that is unarmed. All five of you; you don’t have the cohones between your legs to stand up and fight man to man.  He went to Libertad village to get his passport because he had left his passport at a home in Libertad village. On the eleventh of May, I think approximately around eleven-thirty or thereabout, he was at a bar in Libertad socializing when he had a misunderstanding with about five members of a particular family—all of them are family members—of that said village. He was chased from the bar and he retreated and ran towards the house that he was staying and upon reaching in front of that, apparently he tripped and fell on his face. When he fell on his face, he was chopped from behind, back of the head. A very large chop wound that caused piece of his head to dislocate, to come off and his brains was exposed. He was assisted by some members of the village and was rushed to the Corozal Hospital and from there to the K.H.M.H.”

Duane Moody

“Unfortunately though, he passed this Friday. Tell us about the prognosis that the doctors gave. Was it that he could not have made it?”

Karl Borland

“Well from what we were made to understand from the medical experts was that his wound was very grave and it was pretty much a fifty-fifty chance of him ever surviving such a very serious wound. The person that did the chopping was arrested and charged for dangerous harm and attempted murder and I would assume that within the course of today that those charges will be upgraded to murder.  The culprits, all five of them, they don’t know the pain that they put my family through; it is one of the worst experience that you can go through when a member of your family’s life is taken in such a way. And in addition to that, I was made to understand that two of the persons that were involved were supposedly members of the uniform armed services of Belize. I do not believe that their actions were consistent with people that follow the protocol of what they were trained to do; to protect and serve people.”

The body of Giovanni will be laid to rest on Thursday in Corozal. It is expected that the charges against West will be upgraded to murder.