A United Nations report places Belize as the third of ten countries with the highest rate of murders in the world. It’s a startling statistic and this past weekend proved to be one of the bloodiest since the beginning of the year. In the wave of violence five persons were killed. We start here […]
The second murder took place hours later on Saturday night. Fifty-seven year old Alfonso Cruz of Rhaburn’s Alley, Belize City was shot to the left side of the chest and left lower back. While a motive has not been determined, it is known Cruz was hanging out in his own yard at Rhaburn’s Alley, when […]
Twenty-four later on the south side, eighteen year old Kevin Rodriguez was gunned down and his family believes he was lured to his death. Just before eleven p.m., Rodriguez, received a phone call and stepped outside a house on Curl Thompson Street. Within minutes, he was shot three times by a gunman. Rodriguez laid dead […]
The weekend’s violence started on Friday night up north in the village of Carmelita when a fifty-year old grocer from Guinea Grass and his son visited their family farm located three miles off the highway in the village. They discovered that two homes on the property had been completely ransacked and all their personal possessions […]
In just a matter of seconds on Friday, Edison Johnson’s life was changed for all time. He is now an inmate at the Belize Central Prison, charged with two counts of murder. Orange Walk Police say those charges were levied on the advice of the D.P.P.’s office, so it seems improbable at this time […]
Where murders are concerned, Belize recorded fewer numbers in 2013 that in the five years prior. That was good news for a country under siege, and provided hope that perhaps it signalled a trend. 2014 isn’t looking as good, with five murders just this past weekend. For context, you can look at a new study […]
Three Belize City pirates were arraigned in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court for two counts each of Aggravated Assault with a Firearm. They are Lionel Emmanuel Sedacy, Giovanni Murrillo, and Everal Teck Junior. The trio has been in police custody since last Thursday after they were apprehended for a shootout with the Belize Coast […]
The Gang Suppression Unit conducted a search on Sunday at the home of a K.H.M.H. nurses’ aide where the Unit found nine millimetre ammunition and some marijuana. The home owner is forty-eight year old Bernadette Samuels who had to be hospitalized after the bust for hypertension. There were other persons at the house including two […]
Twenty-one year old Glenford Alvarez, a resident of Supal Street, was the target of a lone gunman on Saturday morning. Shortly before eleven a.m., Alvarez was riding a bicycle on Dolphin Street when someone approached him from behind and opened fire. He was shot once on the left foot and rushed to the KHMH for […]
Tonight, News Five has been able to confirm that San Ignacio Police are following up reports of an alleged police brutality in that district. Although it is only an allegation at this time, it is a disturbing and very serious one. We understand that just over a week ago, Police were called out to a […]
While five fishermen are home safe, a trio of pirates is in custody tonight. As we reported on Thursday night, the Belize Coast Guard responded to a robbery twenty miles southeast of Belize City where pirates held up the fisher folks at gunpoint and confiscated their produce. There was a shootout initiated by the pirates […]
If all has gone as scheduled the Forest Department, working along with the Police, should be conducting a sweep of South Stann Creek. The goal is to crack down on illegal harvesting of rosewood which has increased in the dry season. But that increase in activity isn’t limited to the Stann Creek District. In the […]
This story just in…a high speed chase in Belizean waters involving the Belize Coast Guard took place this evening. Our News Five team is just back and reports that three pirates were detained following a shootout at sea. According to Operations Officer, Lieutenant Greg Soberanis, the trio attempted to rob a boat about twenty miles […]
On Tuesday evening, a transgender woman was badly beaten in Belize City. She goes by the name of Vanessa Champagne Paris and was walking on Vernon Street when she was first targeted. Dressed in women’s clothing, Vanessa’s attackers followed her and by the time she got to Mayflower Street, the group morphed into an angry […]
Twenty-nine million dollars….that’s the value of marijuana that went up in smoke last month. While the destruction of the marijuana happened since then, it is only now that it is being reported. The U.S. Embassy Military Liaison Office in Belmopan says that a joint military operation between Belize and the United States resulted in the […]
Richard Waight Sr., Father of Murder Victim [File: April 7th, 2014] “The last conversation I had with my son dah fi know how much pain ih deh ina. The last conversation me and my son manage fi have dah day deh…when my son look pan me and say dad; ih say I eena pain. Ih […]
The Forestry Department has announced that it will soon be conducting a sweep of the Stann Creek District in an effort to halt illegal harvesting of precious rosewood. The operation has become necessary after an upsurge in rosewood movement, especially in southern Stann Creek. Pictures obtained from our colleagues at PGTV on a frequent basis […]
On Monday, a crew member employed by Norwegian Cruise Line was shot and killed during a robbery on the bay island of Roatan, Honduras. The man, of Filipino descent, was targeted for his cell phone by an unknown assailant who approached him and opened fire. Honduras, since 2010, has been named the most murderous country […]
A senseless murder on Friday night has left the Hattieville community in shock and a family grieving the loss of one of their own. The murder victim is a seventeen year old footballer player, well known in the community and a former student of Gwen Lizarraga High School. Both sixteen year old Austin Rhaburn and […]
Less than five hours after the murder in Hattieville, Rural Belize Police officers responded to a shooting incident in front of Blue House Bar on the Phillip Goldson Highway. Ladyville Police say that they apprehended two persons; forty-seven year old Dennis Burke and thirty-one year old Oscar Perez for the incident that occurred just before […]
There is a case of alleged arson in Santa Elena. Police believe the ex-common-law-husband of Evelyn Estell, is responsible for setting on fire her house located on Carillo Puerto Avenue, Santa Elena Town. Investigations reveal that Estell was awakened by the smell of smoke and managed to escape the blaze. The house was totally destroyed. […]
In 2013, the number of murders fell significantly below the hundred mark but since the beginning of the year, crime figures are creeping up. According to our count, there have been twenty-one recorded murders countrywide, including eleven in Belize City. The latest murder victim is Anfernee Romero, who was gunned down on Thursday at […]
A shooting late this evening in the city has left one man dead and another in critical condition at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Twenty-six year old Troy Hyde of a Curl Thompson Street address was reportedly shot multiple times to the body and is receiving treatment at the K.H.M.H. But eighteen year old Anfernee […]
On March fourteenth, 2014, the Court of Appeal set aside a conviction on fifty-six year old Viola Pook for the murder of her common-law-husband, forty-eight year old Orlando Vasquez, and ordered a retrial. Pook was escorted back to court this morning before Justice Adolph Lucas and was informed that her retrial has been set for […]
Remember Stephen Buckley? He was awarded a sizeable settlement after he was shot multiple times to the head by an inspector of police which left him unable to work. Well today, the forty-two year old, together with six others, including his wife, were before the court today after being charged for possession of a controlled […]
