Since it opened in June 2005, Ready Call Centre has had its share of publicity, and not all of it has been good. But today, the company was in high spirits as it celebrated its relocation to a new headquarters. Ready Call left the cramped confines of its New Road location in November and transferred […]
It seems that at least once every year–often around this same time–we do a story on the deplorable state of Belize City’s streets. Here we go again … and from what News Five’s Janelle Chanona found downtown, things ain’t getting any better. Janelle Chanona, Reporting Incessant rains, holiday shoppers and everyday traffic have taken their […]
From downtown our cameras travelled north … only to find more broken pavement. Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting The Northern Highway has not looked this bad in a while and why it has remained in such a deplorable condition for so long is anybody
Police constable Jesus Maroquin was formally charged with murder this morning for the 2002 shooting of Egbert Gordon Jr., the mentally ill man who had barricaded himself in an unoccupied house at the Los Lagos subdivision. But while the arraignment was proceeding in front of Magistrate Dorothy Flowers, next door at the Supreme Court Chief […]
Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh was not the only member of the legal community with strong feelings about the belated arrest of Jesus Maroquin. Prior to her Supreme Court appearance we asked Antoninette Moore–attorney for the Gordon family–if the hastily organised arraignment pre-empted her constitutional arguments. Antoninette Moore, Gordon Family Attorney
For Egbert Gordon Senior, father of the victim, the case is far bigger than a single cop’s mistake. He believes that the shooting and subsequent cover up amount to a far reaching conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Egbert Gordon Sr., Father of Victim
While the legal implications of the Maroquin case are large, the killing also raises the important issue of how society treats its mentally ill. Secretary of the Mental Health Association, Kathy Esquivel, believes that the unnecessary death of Egbert Gordon Junior is just one of many instances of discrimination. Kathy Esquivel, Mental Health Association Secretary
He cheated death this weekend when a bullet-proof vest stopped two slugs to his chest. Today I spoke to the man whose name is still prefaced by the word “marked.” Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting Belize City police say they still have no leads into the attempted murder of twenty-three year old Raymond Myers. Myers was sitting […]
Another U.S. citizen is in trouble with Belizean law enforcement tonight. Thirty-eight year old Mauricio Barraza is accused of torching his apartment, located at number three Mohammed Street. Barraza appeared in court today, but because arson is an indictable offence, no plea was taken. He was offered but did not meet bail of five thousand […]
A young mother has been charged with the seldom prosecuted crime of child neglect. Twenty-one year old Arlene Tillett of number three Lakeview Street was formally arraigned on the charge today before Magistrate Dorothy Flowers. According to police, on December fifteenth they received a call that a child was left home alone and that the […]
Disobeying a summons … It’s an act that happens often, much to the dismay of attorneys … but tonight they’re not letting a Belize City woman get away with it. Twenty-five year old Graciela Castillo was served with a summons to appear in court on December eleventh to testify against Burton Garoy, a defendant charged […]
More details are emerging regarding the background of James Ernest Thompson, The U.S. fugitive turned over by Belize authorities to the F.B.I. yesterday and flown back to the States. According internet reports from U.S. media sources, Thompson, also known as Earnest James Ujaama, entered into a plea bargain with U.S. federal prosecutors in April 2003 […]
An accident on the Western Highway yesterday has claimed the life of one of three people injured. Police report that twenty-one year old Levan Thompson succumbed to injuries suffered in the crash that occurred between miles sixty-one and sixty-two.
The Dangrigan municipal airstrip was closed to all traffic as of three this afternoon in order to effect urgent repairs. According to a press release from the Belize Airports Authority, a contract was signed Monday with M & R Construction to completely rehabilitate the badly deteriorated runway at a cost of just over two hundred […]
Two southside Belize City primary schools will receive funding of close to a million dollars for badly needed new classrooms. According to the Ministry of National Development, financing for the construction at St. John Vianney R.C. and St. Luke Methodist was approved at a meeting held on Friday by the Social Investment Fund’s board of […]
We publicise the launch of their Kettle Appeal and join them for their annual children’s dinner. Today News Five’s Kendra Griffith found the Salvation Army continuing to honour the spirit of Christmas on behalf of the City’s most needy residents. Kendra Griffith, Reporting This morning a roomful of senior Belizeans gathered at the Salvation Army […]
As Christmas Day draws nearer virtually every day brings some event for children and this morning’s venue was the headquarters of the Belize Red Cross. According to National First Aid Instructor and party organiser Adela Parra, each year the organisation tries to reach out to as many kids as possible. Adela Parra, Christmas Party Organizer, […]
If you’ve been in Belize City over the last week or so the traffic alone will tell you that Christmas shopping is rapidly reaching its peak. Today I ventured out trying to find where all that money is coming from. Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting This Christmas, people may be bawling haad time but they sure have […]
If the recent epidemic of gangland style shooting murders in Belize City makes us reflect on the kind of society we have created for our youths, the homicide by slit throat that occurred in Orange Walk over the weekend may cause us to question the state of our domestic relationships. News Five’s Kendra Griffith reports. […]
In Belize City police are investigating a more familiar type of homicide which occurred late Sunday night. After receiving reports around nine p.m. of shots fired on Berkeley Street in the area of Wagner’s lane, cops discovered thirty year old William “Cat” Usher, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the face and chest. Usher was […]
Only two days after Leonard “Ghost” Myers was remanded to Hattieville Prison on a charge of Murder for the death of fourteen year old Rodney Cornorquie, police report that a gunman fired several shots at Myers’ brother on Friday night. It appears, however, that twenty-three year old Raymond Myers was prepared, as although the two […]
The Belize Police Department has bagged another U.S. fugitive. This time, however, instead of a tax dodger, bigamist or sex offender they hit the jackpot, nabbing a suspect with ties to the world of terrorism. Forty-one year old Ernest James Thompson, also known as James Ujaama and Bilal Ahmed, violated parole in the United States […]
It may not involve terrorism but two visitors to Belize are in a heap of trouble tonight as security officers at the Philip Goldson International Airport found a loaded pistol in their luggage. Forty-four year old Ryan Roark and forty-one year old Tichakorn Chaikumnerd, both of California, were charged with Keeping an Unlicensed Firearm and […]
Three sisters are recovering from injuries resulting from a hit and run which took place Friday evening in the Dump Area of Punta Gorda. Twenty-one year old Martina Cal received severe head and body injuries and was later transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital where she remains in a serious but stable condition. Twelve […]
Today the police department, acting on a directive from the D.P.P., arrested one of its own and charged him for the crime of Murder. The charges against Constable Jesus Maroquin stem from an incident on September twenty-seventh in Los Lagos. On that day, police responded to a burglary in progress at a home in the […]
