July 16, 2024 - Channel 5 Belize

Three Life Sentences for Ranguy Triple Murder

The infamous triple murder of the Skeen and Vellos family in 2012, concluded in court today after twelve years. In November of that year, Robert Vellos Senior, his wife Karen Skeen, and her daughter, Teena Skeen, were callously murdered inside their Ladyville home, having all been shot in the head and, in the case of Karen Skeen, her throat was cut. The suspect in the grisly homicide was Karen Skeen’s son, Jared Ranguy. The trial was a long-drawn-out affair, having taken over twelve years to arrive at a conclusion. Today, the Vellos and Skeen families breathed a sigh of relief after Ranguy was handed three life sentences. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the full report.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

It’s been twelve long years since a family said goodbye to a mother, a father and a daughter after they were brutally murdered inside their home in the early hours of November twenty-fifth, 2012. Robert Vellos Senior, his wife Karen Skeen, and her daughter Teena Skeen, are the victims of this heinous crime and since that day, their surviving family members have fought for justice to be handed down to the suspected murderer. That man is Jared Ranguy, the son of Karen Skeen, who was today sentenced to three life sentences in prison for the execution of his stepfather, sister, and mother. Krystal Holder, niece of the late Karen Skeen, expressed the family’s relief after the final trial today.

Krystal Holder, Neice of Deceased

“I would say that we’re feeling emotional relieved and grateful that this long journey is finally over And that justice has to be served. The loss of our loved ones, it was immense. It was profound because we’re such a poor state. And, so it was shocking, and it was truly a tragedy. And we have been coming here to these court sessions for twelve years. Some of the family behind me have been, they’ve been at every court session. So we are relieved. However, the sentence, it does not take away the. The deep pain that we feel and that we will continue to feel probably for the rest of our lives because the absence of Aunt Karen, Teena, and mister Robert, it’s felt every single day and they are dearly missed, but we are grateful for this closure.”

In 2012, the news of this murder sent shockwaves across the nation and the grim details of the act further rattled the public. Thirty-two-year-old Teena Skeen, and her stepfather, Robert Vellos Senior, had been shot in the head. However, her mother, Karen Skeen, a cancer survivor, had been shot in the head, as well as slashed in the throat. Since that day, the Skeen and Vellos family have awaited the day when the killer would be placed behind bars. Much to their disappointment and frustration, the matter was drawn out in court for over ten years.

File: July 19^th, 2023, Rene Skeen, Sibling of Deceased

“Justice for, like I said, my sister Karen, my niece Teena and my brother-in-law Robert. Justice for them, that’s the most important thing at this point. However, what I want to see, or what we want to see, we want to see him found guilty and spend the rest of his life in jail, that’s what we want to see. At this point, the way the family feels is that “justice delayed, justice denied”. It’s not about just us, the family, the surviving family but the three victims. It becomes a point where we feel like Jared, who allegedly committed these murders, is manipulating the system and it’s working on his behalf.”

Over the past twelve years, Ranguy has changed lawyers over seven times. At the conclusion of the trial, he was represented by Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith, who says that he is dissatisfied with today’s outcome. Ranguy will be serving three life sentences in prison concurrently and will not be eligible for parole until he’s served thirty-seven years. The twelve years spent behind bars will be deducted from this sentence, so he is likely to spend twenty-five years behind bars minimum. Smith, says that the decision was due, in part, to the fact that Ranguy was not able to undergo an extensive psychiatric evaluation.

Godfrey Smith, Attorney of Ranguy

“We would have preferred a fixed sentence, which means it’s fixed. And once you’ve done a certain amount of time, then you would be free. The main, or one of the main things we were relying on was the forensic psychiatric report of the United Kingdom Forensic Psychiatrist and a sleep specialist. Unfortunately, those reports could not be conclusive without having hooked up mister Ranguy to sleep machines, sleep study machines in the prison. The cost was too prohibitive. We couldn’t go that far and as a result, the experts could only go so far as to say non-REM parasomnia, in common parlance sleepwalking, could not be ruled out.”

Ranguy pleaded guilty to the charges and expressed remorse within his affidavit, however, he failed to apologize to the family during the trial. Holder says that while the pain of losing her family members will never fully dissipate, the gesture of an apology may have added to the feelings of closure the family is seeking.

Krystal Holder

“I think it would have been better if he had spoken to us and apologized. I think that would have meant much more. We are grateful that he pled guilty and that today is the last day that we have to be here and this is over. I think that now, individually, all of us have our own journeys that we want to get to forgiveness. We want to be at peace, and we hope that today, our family members are able to finally sleep in peace.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

M.O.H.W. Investigates Threats Against Southern Regional Hospital Staff

The Ministry of Health and Wellness is investigating a violent incident reported at the Southern Regional Hospital on the night of July fourteenth, 2024. The investigation was launched after the incident was reported by this news station on Monday night. As we reported, two traffic accident victims were brought to the hospital, where nurses promptly secured them and locked the doors to prevent overcrowding. Despite these precautions, a group attempted to force their way inside, prompting a police call after midnight. The injured persons were subsequently transferred to Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital without a security escort, and staff received threats from those trying to enter the emergency room. The ministry’s investigation revealed that the staff at the Accident and Emergency Unit faced violent behavior from individuals claiming to be friends or relatives of the accident victims who arrived around 10:54 p.m. Approximately thirty minutes after the victims’ arrival, these individuals forced their way into the triage area and tried to enter the Emergency Department. In response, the A&E doors were closed to allow staff to provide uninterrupted care. A female voice was heard threatening to break down the door if access was not granted, accompanied by loud banging. Hospital security attempted to defuse the situation but were unsuccessful, necessitating police intervention. In its release, the minister condemned the aggressive and threatening behavior, emphasizing that such actions hinder medical staff from performing their duties effectively. The Ministry stressed that medical emergencies require staff to have adequate space and privacy to provide life-saving care and that any obstruction or threat to medical personnel is unacceptable.

G.L.C. Fines O.J Elrington and Orders Him to Pay Pastor Dozie

Attorney Orson “O.J.” Elrington has been fined by the General Legal Council to the tune of fifteen thousand dollars after findings of grave professional misconduct. The G.L.C. determined that he breached three rules of the Legal Profession (Code of Conduct) Rules. The decision follows a complaint against Elrington that was filed by a former client. In May, 2022, Pastor Dozie retained Elrington to institute a constitutional claim against the Social Security Board to challenge certain provisions of the Social Security Act which deals with the recovery of widower’s pension under its provisions, which were alleged to be discriminatory. After the filing of the claim, settlement discussions between Elrington and S.S.B. resulted in the filing of a Consent Order in September 2023. Pastor Dozie later complained that Elrington entered into the consent order without his approval and that Elrington was,(quote), derelict in his duty in not securing the approval of Pastor Dozie as to the terms of the consent order, (end quote). The G.L.C., in its decision, also ordered that Elrington pays Pastor Dozie a sum of forty-six thousand, five hundred and eighty-eight dollars by July nineteenth. Earlier today, we spoke with attorney Elrington.

Orson “O.J” Elrington, Attorney-at-law

“The GLC, I respect their decision and the decision has already been adhered to. It’s already been paid.”

Isani Cayetano

“What do you take away from this entire ordeal, in the sense that you had a client, the business relationship between yourself, as a council, and your client, at some point, went sideways, for want of a better description, and you were brought before this particular body?”

Orson Elrington

“Well, of course the historical context of that is very important because, again, this is one of the many matters which I have taken on essentially pro bono on behalf of people. This was one of them and so oddly enough, it is in trying to assist others that we are in this position right now. Mr. Dozie contacted us, he had applied for a benefit from social security which was refused. He got zero dollars. On that challenge, I advised that he could bring a constitutional claim to challenge the legislation itself, the constitutionality of the legislation. Of course, you would know [that] it is rare in Belize’s history that you challenge the legislation itself and we were successful in convincing the officials and the government that it made no sense to proceed to further litigation because we were already in litigation and the point was that it was unconstitutional and we came to a settlement. But what is of importance here is that Mr. Dozie went from zero dollars to almost fifty thousand dollars.”

Isani Cayetano

“So while you were successful at arriving at a landmark decision it is marred by the fact that you have been brought before the General Legal Council for misconduct. That’s bittersweet for anybody who would say, “Look, I have litigated for something that is groundbreaking on one hand, but on the other hand, I am being dragged before a body to review my conduct.”

Orson Elrington

“And I would double it, to say that it was a pro bono matter. It was essentially a pro bono matter which was based on contingency. We have accepted the fine, it’s a significant fine, but the damage to my legal reputation is far more reaching than that and so it makes us have to question every single matter that we take on pro bono, every matter that we take on on contingency and therefore have to be even more stringent.”

A Tough Year for Attorney O.J Elrington

Viewers would recall that earlier this year, O.J. Elrington was charged for sexual offenses after being accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a pair of women following a night out on the city. While that matter is still before the courts, a few weeks ago, images of the well-known attorney were being circulated on social media. Those images depict various sexual acts in which Elrington was engaged in with several women. The decision of the General Legal Council adds to what appears to be a tumultuous year for him. Earlier today, we asked Elrington how he’s managing under these rather strenuous circumstances.

Isani Cayetano

“From a layman’s perspective, someone on the outside looking in, it would seem as if though you’ve been having quite a difficult year, I mean everything that’s seemingly stacked up against you since the beginning of this year. How are you navigating all of these challenges or these obstacles?”

Orson “O.J’ Elrington, Attorney-at-Law

“With prayer, with reflection, with trying to see what is the lesson. In every obstacle that we face in life there is always some lesson and therefore you have to seek what that lesson is. When you are in the moment it is at times very difficult for you to see what is the lesson, almost impossible at times, but it’s always that we must seek what is the lesson out of this. The Almighty puts his heaviest burdens on the strongest soldiers and so we never try to question him. We always just have to look at what is the lesson out of his and deal with it that way. And with the support of friends and family and everybody and there are persons who, I always tell people this, you know, people who want to hate you will hate you. People who will like you will like you.”

P.U.P. Prepares for Toledo East By-election

Tonight, all eyes are on Toledo East where the two mass parties, as well as a third-party candidate, are preparing for Wednesday’s by-election to determine the next area representative for that constituency. The People’s United Party, since choosing Doctor Osmond Martinez as standard bearer, has been campaigning diligently across all twenty-one villages, and Punta Gorda Town, that make up Toledo East. Earlier today, we spoke by phone with Doctor Martinez who was in the remote village of Machakilha about his campaign efforts leading up to tomorrow’s political showdown.

On the phone: Dr. Osmond Martinez, P.U.P. Standard Bearer, Toledo East

“We’ve been working, you know, towards July seventeenth and we are a few hours away from opening the polls, less than twenty-four hours, and we are excited. My team is excited, we are looking forward to just getting out there and cast the votes tomorrow morning, at seven in the morning.”

Isani Cayetano

“Do you believe that given the time that you’ve had to campaign, that you’ve perhaps reached every community that you’ve needed to reach within the Toledo East constituency?”

Osmond Martinez

“I have. I have been in all the communities, the twenty-one communities and one town and I have had the privilege to visit all the communities and the town. You know, one of our challenges is that people want to see us and continue to invite us to their homes and the time is short, but we are doing all our best and we will be visiting people up to six in the morning.”

Isani Cayetano

“What has the reception been in terms of the people that you’ve met on the ground and listening to some of their needs?”

Osmond Martinez

“Well the reception is excellent, you know, and it’s a testimony to what can or where we have seen that the reception is excellent is the response of the people during the Nomination Day. During the Nomination Day we had the largest crowd on Nomination Day and that was the largest of Toledo’s political history, not only Toledo East or Toledo West, where much of the or historically on Nomination Day you would have both constituencies.”

Osmond Martinez is Confident in Delivering Toledo East

Having covered as much ground as is necessary to secure his votes, Doctor Martinez is confident that he can deliver the constituency for the ruling party. According to the former C.E.O. turned politician, the results of the recent P.U.P. convention that saw him emerge victorious as standard bearer is an indication of his popularity in Toledo East.

Isani Cayetano

“How confident are you given the work that you’ve done, in terms of canvassing the constituency, going into tomorrow’s by-elections?”

On the Phone: Osmond Martinez, P.U.P. Standard Bearer, Toledo East

“I am very confident and I will give you the historical data so that it can help you to understand why I am confident and this is empirical data. So, for example, in 2020, the U.D.P. candidate received about one thousand, seven hundred and twenty-one votes. During the convention, you know, which was more an internal party convention, it was an internal party convention, I received one thousand, seven hundred and sixty-two votes which means that during the convention I received more votes than what the U.D.P. candidate received in the 2020 general elections. So that on its own speaks for itself, you know, and the confidence and the timing is very important. Since the P.U.P. is the central government, it’s the government right now, the administration that is running the government, it makes it a little bit more viable for me, or much more viable because the people are asking the questions that the citizens are asking, or the residents of Toledo East are asking the opponents, you know, the other candidates. What will you do for us? And so, timing is important.”

P.U.P. Party Leader Join Dr. Osmond Martinez in Toledo East

So, we just heard from the P.U.P.’s Toledo East candidate, Doctor Osmond Martinez. We now turn to Prime Minister John Briceño, the leader of the People’s United Party. He is in Toledo East tonight alongside Martinez. We spoke with P.M. Briceño about the party’s level of preparedness going into tomorrow. Here is what he told us.

On the Phone: Prime Minister John Briceño

“I have every confidence in Osmond’s campaign team. They have been very thorough in their organization. They have been organizing right up to the smallest detail. They have been not only to Bella Vista and Punta Gorda but also to the smaller villages to ensure that we can take out all of our voters and get out people to the poll. That is what is important. Tomorrow is to get our people to come out and vote for us. I have every confidence that the level of organization we will have in place can ensure that we will have a victory tomorrow.”

Paul Lopez

“There has been a bit of smear campaign or personal attacks against Dr. Martinez, how do you see these things affecting his chances tomorrow, specifically where his nationality is concerns and I know the opposition heralded on a statement he made on a morning show concerning the BDF.”

On the Phone: Prime Minister John Briceño

“Again, that shows how desperate the U.D.P. is. They are trying to create an issue where none exist. Everybody know Osmond Martinez is a Belizean. He has one passport. He has one country. He has always considered himself one hundred percent Belizean. So when you have nothing good to say about your candidate then you try to do a smear campaign about your opponent and that has always been the way the UDP has operated. I am not surprised. We are running a positive campaign, one of how Osmond Martinez can continue to build on the work of the late Mike Espat, on the work of the P.U.P. government, the work we have been doing since November 2020.”

U.D.P. Flexes Political Muscle in Toledo East

In Punta Gorda campaigning along with U.D.P. Standard Bearer Dennis ‘Desho’ Williams is Party Leader Shyne Barrow. We were unable to speak with Williams today, as he was out of the service area campaigning. We got a word with the Leader of the Opposition who says that there has been a seismic shift in Toledo East where the U.D.P. has gained significant grounds since the November 2020 general elections.

Shyne Barrow, Party Leader, U.D.P.

“We have been working for the last eleven weeks. We are fortunate that we had the upper hand because the People’s United Party did not have their candidate until they had a convention. And so, we had at least another thirty days head start to get the work done and, fortunately, Desho Williams has been in the constituency his entire life, but has been here as the caretaker, then standard bearer for the last three and a half years. So he has done the groundwork, the people know him, the people like him very much and the people are prepared to give him a chance; U.D.P.s and P.U.P.s, because I can tell you that the People‘s United Party is extremely unpopular. So things have made a dramatic shift here in PG Town since the 2020 general elections where we lost by a thousand and in the 2021 municipal elections where even the independent mayoral candidate got votes than us. So we’ve come quite a long distance and we expect that tomorrow that will culminate with Desho Williams becoming the next area representative for Toledo East.”

Shyne Barrow Says P.U.P. has Abandoned Toledo East

According to Party Leader Barrow, the primary concern of residents in Toledo East is the ever-increasing cost of living. He also spoke on the abandonment of Toledo District under the present Briceño administration.

Shyne Barrow, Party Leader, U.D.P.

“You know, today we were eating in the restaurant and, you know, I asked for onion sauce and they said, “There’s no way we could afford onion sauce because the price of habanero has increased exponentially. The price of bread, the price of rice, the price of chicken, the price of beef, sugar which is a controlled price, you know, is being sold above the controlled price. That is the centerpiece of the complaints that we hear. We also hear about a government that lacks compassion and lacks a social tenets upon which the People’s United Party was built during the George Price era. When you hear Osmond Martinez say, over and repeatedly, that Toledo East has been abandoned and Toledo East has been neglected and Toledo East is the dark ages, that is an indictment of his People’s United Party government that has been there for the last three and a half years. That is an indictment of him as C.E.O. in the office of the Prime Minister, controlling a billion dollars, having done nothing for the people of Toledo East and that’s what you hear them saying. And in the other half of it, you hear them saying that this is an ungrateful party, the People’s United Party, they are ungrateful. They use you and they throw you away and they look at what they did to Mike Espat, some think they drove him to an early grave. Some feel that they totally used and abused the family and threw away Melhelm Espat. So you have U.D.P.s and P.U.P.s united.”

Osmond Martinez Responds to Opposition Leader Barrow

On the adjournment of Thursday’s special sitting of the House of Representatives, Opposition Leader Shyne Barrow rose to demand an apology from the People’s United Party for comments made by Doctor Osmond Martinez regarding the Belize Defense Force. Doctor Martinez raised the ire of the U.D.P. when he alleged that while growing up in his home village, members of the B.D.F. were responsible for sexually assaulting the women in that community. Here’s what he had to say in responding to Barrow’s criticism.

On the phone: Dr. Osmond Martinez, P.U.P. Standard Bearer, Toledo East

“When it comes to that position of the honorable Leader of the Opposition, I want to be clear that I am, I dare the honorable Leader of the Opposition to prove me wrong. And if he cannot prove me wrong, and I have said it already on another station, if he cannot prove me wrong within twenty-four hours, twenty-four hours have now gone since yesterday, then I am demanding a public apology from the Leader of the Opposition and the United Democratic Party to the affected population. Additionally, or on a different note, I want to be clear on one point, when it comes to the B.D.F., the Belize Defense Force as an institution, I have a lot of respect for them. I have very good friends in there and there are some officers that work extremely hard, very honest people and they have given everything to the country, to our beautiful country Belize.”