Investigators say they are following all leads but have been unable to establish a motive for Clay Uter’s murder. What investigators do know is that the shooter had an accomplice on a motorcycle. A.C.P. Hilberto Romero told reporters today that they are reviewing security camera footage.
“On Friday, the twenty-ninth of March, 2024, around four p.m., police responded to a shooting incident on Mackenzie Street, Belize City, where the motionless body of a male person who was identified as Clay Uter Monsanto, fifty-two years, who had multiple gunshot injuries to the body. Investigation revealed that Clay was in his yard when he was approached by a male person. who fired several shots towards him, causing his fatal injury. We are seeking several suspects in regards to this murder.”
Reporter
“I know that Mister Monsanto, he was a known figure back in the day, and he moved to the US and got deported. Was it his past activities that caught up with him?”
Hilberto Romero
“We are following up on several leads and several motives, but we have not narrowed down. What was the cause for this murder. Yes, we have dealt with him in the past, and the information we have that this person was brought there by another male person on a motorcycle, and after the shooting, they both fled fromthe area.”
Reporter
“And the surveillance footage, has that proven to have narrowed down suspects?”
Hilberto Romero
“Yeah, we are looking at footage, along with other information regarding some interviews, and we’re following up on those.”
Franklin “Kranka” Polonio, the U.D.P.’s mayoral candidate in Punta Gorda Town, wants a re-election in that municipality. Polonio filed an election petition through his attorney Lynden Jones against P.U.P. Mayor Carlos “Obeah” Galvez and Chief Elections Officer Josephine Tamai. In the petition, Polonio says that there were some discrepancies as it pertained to the ballots, and with the considerable quantity of ballots deemed void, it leads to speculation that there was fraudulent destruction. Galvez won the mayoral seat by twenty-five votes. Polonio says that initial counting showed that he was in the lead and that after a recount, there was a considerable decrease in the ballots in his favor and an increase in the ballots in Galvez’s favor. He adds that after the counting ended, Polonio was informed that several ballots were deemed void or not having an official signature. So, with that, Polonio is demanding a re-election or a recount. We’ll keep following this story.
A family of six from Roaring Creek Village is displaced after their home went up in smoke on Easter Sunday morning. Moises Garbutt, his wife, and their four small children had just left home to go to a neighbour’s house, where he was trying to finish a project. But less than thirty minutes later, the place they called home was on fire. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Marion Ali, Reporting
A young family and their four little children are depending on you to help them rebuild their home that burnt down on Easter Sunday morning. Moises Garbutt told us he was trying to help a relative fix their home when he found out that his one was ablaze.
Moises Garbutt
Moises Garbutt, Fire Victim
“Everyone was over there assisting with some wooden projects and minutes after, the neighbors shouted that the house was on fire. When I came home, the whole house was total – almost totalled. Everything was almost gone.”
Garbutt says he can only assume what claimed his house.
Moises Garbutt
“I believe it’s due to the heat and some glass object that was nearby. Something like that probably caused the burner.”
Marion Ali
“Have the fire officials been here to investigate?”
Moises Garbutt
“They came and they investigate. They give me – they are not so sure, but they give me a little idea where the fire started more or less.”
Garbutt said he was not able to save anything, and his losses are significant.
Marion Ali
“How much would you say you lost?
Moises Garbutt
“About $15, $16,000 with total everything.”
Marion Ali
“And then now you’ve been displaced, so you, your wife and your kids are staying where?”
Moises Garbutt
“Everyone is staying at my aunt, we’re trying to lean on them. I’m begging for, anyone here to help anyone in the community. I need basically just a material to build another board structure or something. It doesn’t have to be the same, it doesn’t matter if it’s smaller or so, just so I can have a roof or something over my head and my family.”
If you can assist Moises Garbutt and his family to rebuild their home, you can reach him at 638 5739. Marion Ali for News Five.
Last Wednesday, a fire at the corner of Pickstock Street and Lovely Lane erupted around seven-forty-five p.m. destroying the home of twenty-eight-year-old Alicia Rancharan. Rancharan, her three children, and her partner were fortunately unharmed by the flames but are still in need of assistance. News Five’s Britney Gordon spoke with the mother of three today for the full story.
Britney Gordon, reporting
While many people spent the long weekend relaxing with friends or family, Alicia Rancharan and her family were processing the loss of all their possessions and the roof over their heads. In just a matter of hours, the place they had called home for the past five years was consumed by a fire that erupted late Wednesday evening. Rancharan said that she was not at home at the time of the fire due to a recent death in the family and got the call while at the repass.
Alicia Rancharan
Alicia Rancharan, Fire Victim
“After they had a repass, I went by, sat down with my family, my friends. While we were sitting down, someone called my mom, stated that, hey, Alicia’s house is on fire. Someone who was at the funeral with us offered me a ride home. Upon reaching to the home, where I call home, I saw my house completely engulfed in fire. I was just panicking. I did not know what to do. I started crying.”
Rancharan explained that her partner had stepped out to purchase food for the family moments before the fire and that it was her seven-year-old daughter that saved the other children.
Alicia Rancharan
“I was my three kids and my gentleman. However, he had completed a day’s work. So he decided to step out to go and get something for them to eat that night. Just less than fifty yards away. He went to buy. he said that someone came to him and tell him to go back home. When he reached back home, he saw the fire. My kids was inside. My seven-year-old girl, my four-year-old son, and my other baby girl, who’s one year old. My daughter stated that she peeped out and she saw the smoke show. She had no other option but to grab her brother and sister and take them outside. My son, not knowing what is happening, he decided to just go back inside to continue watching TV and she yelled at him. Hey, there’s a fire, we need to get out. She dragged him by the arm, took him downstairs and by the time my gentleman reached back from shop, they was already downstairs safe, thank God.”
An investigation by the Belize National Fire Service revealed that the fire started on the ground floor after a makeshift stove was tipped over by one of the building’s tenants.
Alicia Rancharan
“The neighbor, Mister Elodorio, better known as Dolo, he lives downstairs. He does not have any current. So he was I think making a lamp. hey stated that it tipped over. He did not yell for help until the whole bathroom was already engulfed in flames and the Monday before this incident took place, I saw him lighting that stuff in the pan. And I spoke to him and I said, hey, you Dolo you don’t need to be lighting that I have two lamps from the previous hurricane that I could lend you He was like, uh, no, it’s okay.”
She said that she is grateful that her family all escaped the fire safely. However, as all their possessions were lost to the flames, they are struggling to get back on their feet and are in need of assistance to do so.
Alicia Rancharan
“This took me over never thought that this would be me. I’ve seen many incidents where people are displaced by a fire. I never thought that I would have end up in this situation, but it could have been worse. I thank the Lord that my kids are safe. I rather losing materialistic items than being lost the life of any one of my kids. Everything I lost. I recently borrowed a loan from Belize Bank to finish completing my home. I recently purchased new brand sofa, refrigerator, microwave, washing machine. Everything I lost. The only thing that I was left with was that black and white clothing I had on for a funeral. My kids lost everything, their toys, their bicycles, all their footwears, everything. So, I’m just pleading to the public to render some assistance. I know that there’s still good people out there. I’m asking from the depths of my heart to help them, try and assist, whether it be food items, clothing, household, finance wise. Anything will be greatly appreciated.”
Tonight, a sixty-six-year-old retiree residing on Victoria Street in Belize City avoided jail time after admitting guilt to possessing controlled substances with the intent to distribute one-point-nine grams of crack cocaine. Lancelot Earl Fredrick Vernon appeared in court this morning, and in lieu of a custodial sentence, he was fined one thousand eight hundred dollars, with an additional five dollars court fee, payable by July thirty-first. If he fails, he will be sentenced to one year in prison. Vernon expressed remorse, saying he picked up the drug for a friend and was later stopped by the police on Castle Street. A house on that street is known to sell drugs, including crack cocaine.
A Ladyville resident, accused of causing the death of a young man in a tragic traffic incident, will face trial for manslaughter by negligence. He is fifty-three-year-old Manuel Ramos. He stands accused of killing twenty-two-year-old Joshua Martinez on March twenty-first 2023. Ramos faced multiple charges, including causing death by careless conduct, driving without due care and attention, driving with an alcohol concentration above the legal limit, and causing injuries to Tyreec Junior Usher. Following the preliminary inquiry, the court committed Ramos to stand trial at the High Court’s June 2024 session. The fatal accident occurred between miles eight and nine on the Phillip Goldson Highway. PC David Griffith was also injured in the incident. After the commitment to stand trial, Ramos had his bail revoked, but he was granted a new bail set at five thousand dollars along with two sureties of two thousand five hundred dollars each, which he was able to fulfill.
Police in Belize City are investigating a shooting that left twenty-eight-year-old Christian Molina injured. It happened on Sunday night on Crown Street, and according to the police, Molina was socialising outside when someone he thought was his friend shot him. A.C.P. Hilberto Romero told reporters today that the suspect is being sought.
“On Sunday, the thirty-first of March, nine thirty-seven p.m., police responded to a shooting incident on Cronk Street, Belize City. Upon arrival, we saw Christian Molina with gunshot injuries. He was taken to the KHMH for treatment, where he is now there listed in a stable condition. Christian reported that he was at a yard in the area when he was approached by a male person who followed a firearm and fired a shot towards his direction, he ran off and was shot, but is now stable. We are seeking one suspect in regards to this shooting.”
Reporter
“Any motive?”
Hilberto Romero
“No motive at this time. He said that he knows the person, so we are looking for this person.”
Reporter
“And does he have a has he had confrontations with the person before?”
Haiti continues to be plagued by violence as gangs engage in ongoing gun battles with police. This complicates efforts to find a political resolution to the crisis. Last week, you heard from Haitian Alexandra Pierre, who described the horror Haitians are living in. The need for international intervention is clear. Over the weekend, twenty Coast Guard officers and thirty-one Belize Defence Force soldiers arrived in Jamaica to participate in Exercise Trogon Shield. This brings together service members from Jamaica, The Bahamas, and now Belize as they integrate into a CARICOM Joint Task Force. The exercise primarily focuses on training, planning, and executing a variety of scenario-driven security activities. Exercise Trogon Shield aims to enhance regional cooperation and readiness among Caribbean nations. A release from the Canadian Defence Ministry indicates that approximately seventy Canadian Armed Forces members have been deployed to Jamaica. Their mission is to provide training to military personnel from CARICOM nations who are preparing to deploy to Haiti as part of the United Nations-authorized, Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission. We spoke to the Commandant of the Belize Coast Guard, Rear Admiral Elton Bennett.
“This training that we are currently undergoing is actually the second phase of training. We started to train along with the Canadian military in January of this year. And the same, very same team that is currently over in Jamaica did a one-week training here in Belize where the Canadian military came in country to do an introduction to what peacekeeping operations under the United Nations umbrella really looks like. So they looked at, issues such as international humanitarian law, um, use of force policy and so forth. So now we are moving over into Jamaica to do, um, more operational training along with those other countries that will form a part of the joint task force in preparation for a possible deployment into Hattie. So they’ll be there for four weeks and they would do operation operational training that will prepare them for the different scenarios in Haiti. We do understand and appreciate the level of risk that there will be taken into Haiti. Therefore this, this training is very, very crucial to prepare these men for the possible deployment. So you’re looking at peacekeeping and stability, operational, um, serials, what to do in certain events, looking at use of force policy and to ensure the men are best prepared to go into that very high risk environment.”
The Canadian training initiative is designed to prepare CARICOM troops for deployment to support the efforts of the Haitian National Police (HNP) in restoring security for the people of Haiti. According to Commandant Bennett, the men sent for the training are the best that Belize has to offer.
“The guys that are deploying from the Belize Coast Guard. This is our very best These are members of the coast guard special operations group. They’re the best that we have to offer for high risk operations . So they are very well trained. They have been exposed in the region doing exercises, special forces exercises in Jamaica for the past two years. Last year they had the opportunity to go into Columbia to do exercise along with the different maritime forces in the region. So the exposure is there. This will be our very first operational duty. So we can only prepare these men at the best that we can. And, and in this case, the Canadian military is there to help us to prepare them with training and to ensure that they are mentally prepared to go into a situation like this. But we have all confidence that these guys are, are very well prepared to want to take this training and to be prepared for the level of operations that they could possibly be involved with.”
The ninety-fourth running of the Annual Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic is in the books. It was one for records. After five hours and thirty-nine minutes of race time, Honduran rider, Luis Lopez emerged as the victor. He is the first Honduran national to win the race. Belizean Carlton Robinson placed fourth after a valiant effort in the one-hundred-and-forty-four-mile race. He was the first Belizean to cross the finish line. Even more impressive, the first nine riders to finish the race broke a sixteen-year finishing time record. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
At six a.m., one hundred and sixteen riders lined up at the starting line in front of the Digi Park in Belize City. According to the Cycling Federation of Belize, nineteen of them were foreign riders. Leading the pack at the starting line is defending champion Oscar Quiroz. After a ride through the streets of Belize City, the race officially began at mile one and a half on the George Price Highway. Just outside of Belize City, six riders broke away from the main field of riders, creating a small gap. Among them are Honduran Luis Lopez, Belizeans Gregory Lovell, Carlton Robinson, Brandon Cattouse and American John De Long. At mile twenty-six, it’s still these six riders leading the pace, riding some twenty-six miles an hour.
Just outside of La Democracia, Joslyn Chavarria Junior broke away from the group of lead riders as the chase group, in hot pursuit, was finally able to close the gap. By mile thirty-three the entire field of riders was back together. Three at mile thirty-five, a small group of lead riders has been formed, when out of nowhere, Honduran Luis Lopez emerged from the chase group and launched a massive attack. He blew across and began opening a massive gap. Into Belmopan, it was all Luis Lopez, that is until American Clayton Travis blew past Lopez. Wasani Castro was in hot pursuit of Clayton. Travis displayed an elite level of endurance and racing, riding into San Ignacio and crossing the halfway point with an over one-minute gap between himself and the main field of riders. In Unitedville, on the way back to Belize City, it is still Travis Clayton. He has been in the lead for more than thirty miles.
With American Cory Lockwood leading the pace, the main field of riders finally caught up with Travis heading into Camalote Village. Towards Rockville, Belizean Carlton Robinson and Joslyn Chavarria are on the chase with two American riders, as they try to catch up with American Cory Lockwood who had a thirty-second lead. It wasn’t long after that Lockwood was caught and it was a whole new race leaving Hattieville, with only two Belizeans in a lead group of seven. Heading into mile eight, Carlton Robinson sets chase behind Guatemalan Alex Julajuj, with the other lead riders in hot pursuit.
A few miles from the finish line, Luis Lopez is in the lead as he is being marked by Carlton Robinson and Alex Julajuju. Lopez launched an attack in front of the Lord Cemetery, Robinson answered the call along with two other riders and reined in Lopez. A mile outside of the finish line it’s all Luis Lopez. Fans assembled at the DIGI Park, cheering on, as Luis Lopez crossed the finish line first and claimed the coveted Garland. He was followed by Julajuj, Abner Maxwell in third, and Carlton Robinson in fourth, also the first Belizean to cross the finish line. With finishing times below five hours, forty minutes and twelve seconds, the first nine riders to finish the race, broke the record of five hours, forty minutes and twelve seconds set by Rayan Baumann in 2008.
Luis Lopez
Luis Lopez, 94th Cross Country Champion
“To have a good race for the most important competitions I really wanted to push myself hard to give me confidence for the important races that come later. I wanted to push it to the end. There was a big lead that came later, and I waited, I was very patient. I felt very exhausted, but I found that the ones ahead of me were much more exhausted, so I waited until the end to push myself although I was exhausted.The strategy was to hit it with everything I had, save nothing. I knew I was coming in with so many riders, but I knew if I put in a though race, possibly in the end I was going to have a small advantage, a difference and well that turned out in the end.”
Carlton Robinson
Carlton Robinson, First Belizean to Cross Finish Line
“It was a day, a really really hard race. I just want to thank God, my dad, my sponsors. I really tried keep it together, I know if it was brought a bit closer I could have won it in a sprint. I know if ih came closer I could have won it in a sprint. I guess the guys figured I am very fast and so they started to attack, attack, attack and I couldn’t go anymore.”
Paul Lopez
“Despite the position you came, how does it feel to be the first Belizean to cross the finish-line?”
Carlton Robinson
“It feels amazing, but I really wanted the win, but I have to be happy with this result.”
