The murder of businessman Jose Shoman and his family was foiled on the night of December thirteenth 2008, but five of the six men who plotted the crime were tried and convicted for conspiracy and firearm charges. The group of men, dubbed the Shoman five, appeared before Justice Adolph Lucas today for sentencing. They were […]
He was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to life imprisonment for the April twenty-fifth, 2008 murder of Mark Young who fell in a pit and was then hit with a cement pillar. The incident occurred in Hope Creek Village in the Stann Creek District. Today, the judges of the court of appeal headed by Justice […]
There were two other convicts who received good news in the Court of Appeals today. Thirty-three year old Marcus Moh was initially charged with Murder and in trial, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of Manslaughter. Moh was sentenced to twenty years in prison but appealed because he thought it was too much time […]
Steven Buckley, a civilian, was shot a little less than a year ago by a police inspector. The shooting angered the community because Buckley was shot even as he complied with a police order. Now, Inspector Dennis Lopez will stand trial for the attempted murder of Buckley. That was the outcome of a preliminary inquiry […]
An Orange Walk man was convicted of rape in 2009 and sentenced to ten years. But he appealed and a retrial was ordered, which started Tuesday and ended on Thursday. In his second trial, fifty-two year old Manuel Fernandez was freed of the charge, which was brought by his cousin’s wife. Prosecutor Cecil Ramirez intended […]
A Belize Defence Force Private, convicted of Manslaughter, was sentenced to ten years in prison today. Paulino Assi’s jail term is effective as of February seventeenth, when he was found guilty. In mitigation, the Director of Public Prosecutions presented cases of manslaughter, which resulted in sentences of up to eighteen years. But Justice Herbert Lord […]
Two grannies got into an altercation at Holy Redeemer Primary School today and both ended up in court facing charges. According to fifty-year old Yvonne Rivero, there was a dispute involving her granddaughter and the sixty year old Elodia Chun’s granddaughter. According to Rivero, she later found out that Chun’s daughter had threatened her grandchild […]
A seventeen year old at the peak of her pregnancy was remanded to prison along with twenty-four year old Orin Michael, eighteen year old Erwin Ellis, thirty-seven year old Margaret Harris and twenty-five year old Nasceria Maheia. All five persons were detained at a house on Albert Street where police allegedly found a nine millimeter […]
Mexican soldier Jose Beltran is believed to have crossed the border already after being granted bail by Magistrate Clive Lino. On February twenty-fourth, Beltran was arrested in the Corozal Free Zone and was found in possession of an unlicensed point twenty-five caliber handgun, accompanying rounds and twenty thousand dollars in US currency. But a bank […]
After several trips to the courthouse, a lawsuit filed by ex-police officer, Aldo Ayuso, ended today before Justice Oswell Legall in the Supreme Court. Ayuso sued the Commissioner of Police and the Belize Advisory Board for wrongful dismissal from the Police Department. This morning he was awarded five years of salaries plus interest, all allowances, […]
The principal of Belmopan Comprehensive School, Denroy Tillett, was acquitted today of Aggravated Assault of an Indecent Nature upon a school warden. Legal Aid Attorney, Phillip Palacio, made a no case submission, when the prosecutor’s two main witnesses did not show up to testify. The submission was upheld by Magistrate Adolph Lucas Junior because there […]
The five men who were on trial for conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit robbery upon the Shoman family of Belize City have all been found guilty. Miguel Mayorga, Eswin Rosales, Carlos Juarez, Jose Cordova and Cesar Aldana will be sentenced on March tenth. Mayorga was also found guilty of two counts of […]
The five men who are on trial for allegedly plotting to kill businessman, Jose Shoman, and his family were back in court for the umpteenth time. This morning, Justice Adolph Lucas instructed the nine member jury to acquit Eswin Rozalez, Carlos Juarez and Jose Cordova of two counts each of Kept Firearm and Kept Ammunition […]
We reported last Friday that a Mexican soldier from the state of Tabasco had been picked up at the Corozal Free Zone with US currency, a point twenty five caliber pistol as well as live ammunition. Jose Luis Beltran’s case is somewhat intriguing because he was processed through the court system at the blink of […]
A Belizean, who moved to the US, became a citizen and served in the army, was wrongfully imprisoned for seven months. While that’s time he won’t get back, Rennison Castillo’s lawsuit won him four hundred thousand US dollars. Fox News Latino reports today that Castillo, who was living in Washington State, had been locked up […]
A Mexican soldier is in custody tonight after he was found with a large amount of US currency on him. Jose Luis Beltran, who is from Tabasco, Mexico was picked up by police at the Corozal Free Zone on Thursday and by this evening he had already gone through the court system. Beltran had on […]
In court news, the fate of the Seawell brothers, Gary and Mark, is still undecided. The Seawell brothers made an appearance this morning before Chief Magistrate Margaret McKenzie in respect of an extradition request by the US. An application to have their witnesses called before the court was denied. But to get that story proved […]
There is a heinous crime of sexual molestation to report. A father is being accused by his twelve year old daughter of having sex with her. The alleged crime, according to the child, has been taking place since April of 2010, when the child was only eleven; the last instance was two days ago when […]
A Corozal woman who had been tried three times for the murder of her brother was acquitted today. Twenty-two year old Tiffara Smith was only seventeen when she allegedly stabbed her older brother during a dispute about a pack of Ramen noodles and ten dollars. The case depended on a 2007caution statement given to Police […]
A driver for Bowen and Bowen in the Cayo District is out on bail of eight thousand dollars after he was charged in the Belmopan Court with Causing Death by Careless Conduct. Twenty-nine year old Albert Maskall is accused of knocking down five year-old Sonia Diaz on Tuesday afternoon in the San Martin area of […]
Interdicted police officer, Vidal Cajun, was back before the court today on charges of Kept Firearm without a Gun License and Kept Unlicensed Ammunition. He was provided with disclosure which involved thirteen pages of evidence, including statements from fellow police officers. Cajun was first charged on November fifteenth, 2010 when a live round was said […]
The Bowling area of the Princess Hotel and Casino was burglarized on the weekend of February fifth and sixth. And it turns out that the culprit is a former employee who seems to have forgotten that the building is armed with surveillance cameras. Twenty-seven year old Gilroy Garnett managed to get away with a cash […]
A family of four was hauled to the Magistrate’s Court today to face drug trafficking charges. What’s disturbing is that two of the persons charged are a twelve year old girl and her thirteen year old brother. They were detained along with their mother, thirty-two year old Mirna Chi and older brother, nineteen year old […]
A Belize City fisherman broke into a jewelry store and only got away with twenty dollars. It’s a small loot, but it was enough to land twenty-six year old Marlon Young in jail for five years. The Barrack Road resident entered C-Medina’s Jeweler Souvenirs at the Commercial Center on February eleventh after the owner, seventy-six […]
A Belize City woman, who has been in police custody for the past four days, was arraigned today for allegedly stabbing her neighbor. The police reports and charge sheet have the name of the accused woman as Stasha Lopez, which was taken from her Social Security Card. She says, however, that her name is Sasha, […]
