Who accompanied Elvin Penner to Taiwan and China to meet with Won Hong Kim? And what were they discussing? These are some of the questions that were put to the former Minister of State on Wednesday, though he did his best not to try to answer because of his claims of self-incrimination and double legal […]
Magistrate Norman Rodriguez went to work early this morning at around seven- thirty to avoid the glare of the cameras waiting for his unprecedented appearance in court. But his arraignment for rape did not happen until hours later before Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith, after which we were able to capture only seconds of his […]
Appearing at today’s public hearing of the Senate Special Select Committee at the National Assembly in Belmopan was former Minister of State for Immigration and Nationality, Elvin Penner. This is the first appearance of any Minister of Government, past or present, at the Committee since it opened its public hearings last November. But more so […]
The Committee disagreed. Chairman Senator Aldo Salazar told Penner that any questions put to him would not concern any action in court, nor that the Committee was in the process of a criminal investigation or finding because the Committee cannot recommend such except in the case of perjury. But his assurances were not enough for […]
And while that was Penner’s stance this morning, the Senate panel spent time on other matters before eventually returning to the Kim scandal in the afternoon session. What followed was a game of fencing between Penner and the Senators – the Senators probing for what they wanted, Penner doing his best to fend them off. […]
The thrust and parry continued with the panel’s Chairman, Aldo Salazar, scoring a point when he questioned Penner about the remarks of Gordon Wade, former Chief of Nationality at the department. Wade had told the inquiry and the auditors that Penner had approached him concerning the Kim file at some point after his appearance with […]
Chairman Salazar tag-teamed out to Senator Eamon Courtenay, who turned to the question of how Penner and Kim met in the first place. Here the former Minister was a little more forthcoming, but not very. He was asked where he was introduced to Kim’s “friends” and was quickly shut down by Penner, who did not […]
Penner was able to give further details of his meetings with Kim, which took place in both Chinas – the People’s Republic or Mainland China, and the Republic of China, on Taiwan. Kim is South Korean by nationality. The question is whether Penner was meeting with Kim in an official capacity as a Minister of […]
An eighteen-year-old Belize City resident was shot and killed on Monday evening, shattering a period a relative calm in urban gun violence. It is not known whether the murder of Ludwin Lalin is gang-related, but we can say that his life had been under threat by persons he knew. Lalin left his home on Jane […]
Magistrate Norman Rodriguez, accused by a twenty-seven-year-old woman of rape, is expected to be charged and arraigned in the lower courts on Wednesday. Despite the crime having allegedly been committed in Dangriga on April eleventh, the magistrate will face charges in the Belize City jurisdiction. The woman, an ex-girlfriend of the accused magistrate, did not […]
In describing her ex-boyfriend, the alleged victim says that Rodriguez has managed to turn her family against her, reportedly through unfulfilled promises. During their brief relationship, the woman alleges that she was forced into having intercourse on a number of occasions against her will. Voice of: Alleged Rape Victim “We mi deh together like […]
From a legal perspective, Magistrate Rodriguez has retained the services of attorney Herbert Panton who will represent the accused when he is brought before the Chief Magistrate on Wednesday. According to Senior Counsel Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley, while Rodriguez enjoys protection from legal challenges in his capacity as a sitting magistrate, he is not insulated from […]
The murders of fifty-two-year-old Francesca Matus and Drew Thomas DeVoursney remain under investigation by Corozal Police, with the assistance of the F.B.I. A suspect has been in custody for one week, but has still not been charged for the murders. Police have still not ascertained what when wrong two weeks ago after the Canadian-American couple […]
Maskall Village on the old northern highway is without running water and the Water Board says it is because most of the residents have not paid their monthly water bill. The electricity bill that accompanies the rudimentary water system has not been paid because the accounts are empty and even those residents who have paid […]
Airbnb, an online marketplace which allows travelers to lease or rent short-term accommodations, is budding in Belize. The hospitality service includes vacation rentals, apartments, homestays and hotel rooms. While it does not own any of those properties, it serves as a commercial agent, receiving percentage services fees from both guests and hosts. There are presently […]
There has been a murder in the south side of Belize City. Just after six p.m., shots rang out in the Jane Usher Boulevard area, where police over the weekend organized a sporting event in its ongoing community policing efforts. Our News Five cameraman, Kenroy Michael is just back from the scene of the city’s […]
The sitting Magistrate accused of rape of a Dangriga woman in April can now be named as Norman Rodriguez. Up until today, News Five had restrained from using his name. As early as April twenty-fourth, an online news outlet, Associated Belize Press, had publicly disclosed the name and stated as a matter of fact that […]
The alleged rape of the Dangriga resident has raised numerous questions on the role of the judiciary in respect of indicting one of its own. While there is a gap in law where sexual offenses are concerned, rape is a crime for which the accused can be granted bail. Senior Counsel Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley does […]
The fact that the woman has gone on record in the media to tell her story may very well prejudice her case. Should charges be preferred on the magistrate in the days ahead, it is expected that he will vacate his office. Attorney ‘Dickie’ Bradley explains the process that the Solicitor General’s office will take […]
Canadian national John DeShaies remains in police lockup following his arraignment on Friday, when he was denied bail in the Independence Magistrate Court. He appeared in court for charges of theft and handling stolen goods of over fifty-seven thousand dollars’ worth of electronics from the Placencia Casino, has obtained legal representation. But instead of being […]
The Government has been boasting of a rebound in the shrimp industry in the wake of problems in production a few months ago. However, industry insiders report that the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, A.S.C., has suspended certification for four Belizean shrimp farms as of a month ago, on April fourth. The farms have been identified as […]
This morning, Supreme Court Justice Courtney Abel dropped the case against Hilmar Alamilla, associate of Andre Vega and the former deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega, as it relates to a claim for return of compensation of four hundred thousand Belize dollars to Government. Alamilla was named as the man who originally bought just over an […]
News Five can confirm tonight that there’s a team of F.B.I. agents in Belize investigating the double murders of one of their own, ex-U.S. marine thirty-six-year-old Drew Thomas DeVoursney and his girlfriend, fifty-two-year-old Canadian national Francesca Matus. The couple was found dead inside a cane field in the outskirts of Chan Chen Village, Corozal District […]
There was a murder in the Old Capital on Thursday night, leaving many to wonder whether the fragile ceasefire brokered among the various gangs has once again unraveled. The victim recently returned to Belize City after spending his childhood in Dangriga. That homecoming has been short-lived, as a gunman approached Michael Bonilla, who was riding […]
He said it was accidental, but the magistrate didn’t believe him. As a result, fifty-five-year-old Louis Tucker will remain behind bars for five years. Tucker was convicted of sexual assault of a woman in her twenties. At trial today, the accuser told Chief Magistrate Ann-Marie Smith that she moved out of Tucker’s way as she […]
