May 23, 2025 - Channel 5 Belize

Prison Knew About Tyreick Rodriguez’s Mental Health, Says CEO

According to Virgilio Murillo, C.E.O. of the Kolbe Foundation, prison officials were aware of Tyreick Rodriguez’s mental health condition before he arrived. That information, he says, came through the Belize Health Information System. When it came to monitoring Rodriguez in his cell, Murillo explained that the prison tried to strike a balance—keeping him safe without violating his dignity. In his words, they aimed to ensure that safety checks didn’t feel invasive or dehumanizing.

Virgillo Murillo, C.E.O., Kolbe Foundation

“It is only through the BHIS, the Belize Health Information System that we managed to realize that he was a mental patient on medication.”

Paul Lopez

“What sort of safety checks is done in these psychiatric holding cells to ensure that items are not around that could lead to self-harm?”

Virgillo Murillo

“Well there were no items that led to self-harm. He was in bare clothing, a boxers and a T-shirt as I was told. If we get paranoid about how to treat mentally challenged prisoners and think that all of them want to commit suicide, one of the protocols is to strip them down to their birthday clothes. But that would be infringing on their human dignity. We don’t want to subject people to that type of treatment because we are paranoid and blown away by their mental state. So, we put them in their holding cells and observe them and if they display any behavior that would be indicative that they might be suicidal then we have a protocol for that. In this case we hadn’t have time to figure him out. As a prison we don’t have any control over who is sent to us. Once the magistrate or judge sends a person with a comital warrant to us, whether remanded or convicted, we need to honor that. Not doing so will boil down to contempt of court and we can find ourselves on the other side of the law.”

Alguacil del Tribunal Municipal Brandon Gillett Exonerado de Cargos por Arma Modificada

Tras meses de procesos legales, el alguacil del tribunal municipal Brandon Gillett ha sido exonerado de todos los cargos.

Acusado en diciembre de 2023 por cinco cargos de modificación de arma de fuego, los fiscales retiraron cuatro cargos y el último fue desestimado en el tribunal.

El magistrado superior dictaminó que las adiciones al arma con licencia de Gillett eran meros accesorios y no alteraban su función. Gillett inicialmente se declaró culpable, pero cambió su declaración al conocer que podría enfrentar prisión. El caso surgió de un conflicto familiar durante un funeral que llevó a la policía a registrar su residencia.

Prison C.E.O. Responds to Allegations of Human Rights Violation

Earlier this week, we brought you a story that raised eyebrows, a local attorney claimed he was denied access to his client, who is currently detained under the State of Emergency. The attorney argued that this was a clear violation of his client’s right to legal representation. But today, we followed up with Virgilio Murillo, C.E.O. of the Kolbe Foundation, who offered a different explanation. According to Murillo, the prison simply follows the rules outlined under the State of Emergency regulations. Here’s how he explained the decision.

On the Phone: Virgillo Murillo, C.E.O., Kolbe Foundation

“I am not too sure if you read the regulation governing SOEs. All I can tell you is that although I am not a lawyer, I do have a proper command of the English language and what I read in the regulations is that when people are detained on a detention order signed by the minister, they are not entitled to bail and not even the high courts can summon that these people be brought before them for anything whatsoever. So that is what we have applied for any state of emergency taken place over the years, because remember SOE is nothing new to the prison. This is our tenth SOE. So we are too familiar with how we handle these things. The particular individual the attorney had asked to come and see had no criminal charges against him. So there was nothing against him and no legitimate reason for that attorney to come here, unless he wanted to come here and ease the tension on detention on him. I am not sure if that was the objective of the attorney.”

Roaring Creek Truck Driver Found Chopped to Death

A chilling discovery in the early hours of Thursday morning has left the Cayo District reeling. Just after two-thirty A.M., police responded to a distress call along the Valley of Peace Road. What they found was nothing short of disturbing—a freightliner truck, its yellow trailer stacked with sugar cane but stained with blood. Nearby, a machete lay ominously on the ground. As officers combed the area, they made a heartbreaking discovery: the lifeless body of thirty-two-year-old Fredi Ortega, a truck driver from Roaring Creek Village. Ortega had suffered multiple chop wounds. He was rushed to the hospital, but tragically, it was too late. He was pronounced dead on arrival. Tonight, Ortega’s family is devastated, grappling with the sudden and brutal loss of a loved one. And the community is left asking: who would commit such a heinous act? As of now, police have not identified a suspect, but investigations are ongoing. We’ll continue to follow this developing story and bring you updates as they become available. If you have any information that could assist the police in solving this case, you are urged to come forward.

Tiroteo a Plena Luz del Día Cerca del Bulevar Central Americano Involucra Vehículo Gubernamental

Un vehículo oficial del gobierno fue impactado por múltiples disparos en un audaz tiroteo en pleno día cerca del Bulevar Central Américan en la Ciudad de Belize.

El incidente ocurrió cuando tres hombres se enfrentaron en una violenta confrontación, en el que un sospechoso sacó un arma de fuego oculta y comenzó a disparar.

El superintendente adjunto Francis Williams se encontró en la línea de fuego, pero escapó ileso. Los investigadores han recolectado evidencias balísticas que incluye casquillos y una pistola de 9 mm, de la escena mientras trabajan para esclarecer las circunstancias de este impactante ataque público. La policía continúa siguiendo pistas en la investigación en curso.

Tensions Rise as Elmer Nah’s Trial Moves Forward

The high-profile case against Elmer Nah is moving forward, but not without tension inside the courtroom. At today’s continuation of the case management conference, Nah’s sole defense attorney, Doctor Lynden Jones, requested that the court be closed during the upcoming voir dire hearings, citing safety concerns—including death threats he says he received during earlier proceedings. But Justice Nigel Pilgrim denied the request, stating that the court has adequate security measures in place and emphasized the importance of open court proceedings, especially in a case of this magnitude. The trial is set to begin Monday, May twenty-sixth, starting with a voir dire into the statement of Vivian Ramnarace, followed by another on the video evidence of the shooting. Doctor Jones also raised concerns about late disclosures from the prosecution, including access to video metadata that the defense had requested for over two years. Despite his objections, the judge ruled against delaying the process. Both the prosecutor and Elmer Nah appeared virtually today, while Doctor Jones was present in court. Nah is expected to appear in person for Monday’s proceedings. We’ll continue to follow this developing story as the trial gets underway.

Murder Case Moves Forward as Accused Awaits Next Court Date

Tonight, a murder case from 2024 continues to unfold in the courts. David Friesen, a Mennonite man accused of murder, has been further remanded to the Belize Central Prison as he awaits his next court date on June sixth, 2025, for a case management conference. Friesen, who turns thirty on May twenty-sixth, is charged with the murder of Alexander Villamil, which took place on February seventeenth, 2024, in Corozalito Village. He has pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Lynden Jones, told the court he plans to request a voir dire—a special hearing to challenge the admissibility of a statement Friesen gave to police. Jones argues that the statement was coerced and possibly tampered with. We’ll continue to follow this case and bring you updates as it develops.

Shaking the Salt out of the Belizean Diet

The Ministry of Health and Wellness is turning up the volume on a quiet but serious health threat—too much salt in our diets. With the launch of its “Shake the Salt Habit” campaign, the ministry is encouraging Belizeans to cut back on sodium under the theme “Less Salt, Better Health.” The goal? To reduce the rising number of deaths linked to noncommunicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes. As part of the campaign, the ministry hosted the Shake the Salt Forum at Old Belize, where they also unveiled a new educational video aimed at food vendors, a key step in changing how salt is used in everyday meals. We spoke with Robyn Daly, Technical Advisor for Nutrition at the Ministry of Health and Wellness, who shared more about this important initiative.

Robyn Daly, Technical Advisor for Nutrition, MOHW

“One of the main strategies is to use less. So we highlighted the excessive use of salt because many times they do bottled seasonings and you don’t see herbal based seasonings. So that’s one strategy that we are enforcing and encouraging, which would be to use more onion and garlic, cilantro, that kind of thing. Refrain from using a lot of bottled seasonings. Also, make sure that your food isn’t cooked with a lot of fat as well. We highlighted fat today as well. In terms of food preparation, making food prepared in a healthier way. So the type of fat used. We also discussed individual portions as well, and we also touch sugar. But salt is an important part of the entire campaign because of the fact of heart disease. Heart disease is the number one cause of mortality in the country. So we share statistics on that. And we also highlighted that when we look at what causes heart disease, hypertension is a major risk factor. What causes hypertension? There is a major risk factor, again with the diet, having high sodium or high salt diets. So there is a link overall looking at NCDs and looking at how we can use nutrition to help manage NCDs in terms of less salt, less sugar, less fat, better food preparation.”

Louis Wade Jr. Comes Out Swinging at Dissenting PCC Commissioners

Earlier this week, we reported that eight former commissioners of the People’s Constitution Commission voiced strong objections to the final draft of the P.C.C. report submitted to Prime Minister John Briceño. But tonight, a new voice is entering the conversation, and he’s pushing back. Former commissioner and current Church Senator Louis Wade Junior is challenging the narrative put forward by his former colleagues. In an exclusive interview this afternoon, Wade described their claims as a “misrepresentation” of what actually took place during P.C.C. meetings. Wade emphasized that none of the eight dissenting commissioners were part of the Thematic Chair Committee, the group responsible for shaping key sections of the report. As such, he argues, they lack firsthand knowledge of the discussions and decisions made within those sessions. He also revealed that the P.C.C. chairman and deputy chairs are currently unable to speak publicly, pending the creation of a formal mechanism that would allow them to share their perspectives. Until then, Wade says he’s stepping up to clarify the record and represent the church’s position.

Louis Wade Jr., Former Commissioner, P.C.C.

“It is very interesting that this is the frame that the former commissioners chose to put forward this attack at what I consider to be an attack on the report itself and against the chairman who in our opinion, the vast majority of commissioners, have done an excellent job at being able to put twenty-one different organizations, twenty-one different backgrounds together, and with limited funding, because we needed about seven million dollars, we received about one to two million, yet within the two year period a lot of work was done to bring to the fore what the wishes of the mases of Belizeans wanted as it relates to the constitution. Now to have an attack from within that seeks to give the impression that millions of dollars were wasted and two years were wasted because some commissioners were disgruntled, it is an unfortunate situation that I cannot remain silent about.”

Former PCC Member Backs Chanona, Urges PM to Take Criticism Seriously

George Myvett, a former Alternate Commissioner for Third Parties, has stepped forward to support former P.C.C. Chairman Anthony Chanona. In a message to the media, Myvett expressed hope that Prime Minister John Briceño will take the recent criticisms seriously and not dismiss or derail the process. He emphasized that the final draft report submitted to the Prime Minister is both meaningful and valuable. We also asked Wade for his thoughts on concerns raised by former Commissioner Caleb Orosco, who believes the final recommendations may have been compromised during the process. Here’s what Wade had to say.

Louis Wade Jr., Former Commissioner, P.C.C.

“The P.C.C. process started out with consultation and education and over forty thousand people showed up, over a hundred and fifty thousand were on the stream, almost half a million different accounts interacted over the two-year process. So, this P.C.C. consultation is probably the largest in Belize’s history, the only thing closest to it I could think about is yes to No to the I.C.J., which is seven million. And I am going to say that in the future I am going to release in emails to show that there has been a constant attack from certain commissioners, not on the process but on the integrity of the chairman himself and that the individual also leaked the entire report. So, they write in the letter they did not have the report in their hand. They mean literally, because they had the report, they had all the drafts. They chose to leak the report to frustrate the process, but the thematic chairperson found a way to let the process move forward. So, the last report just before it went to the prime minister, it is true that it did not get into their hands. But it simply means they could not hold it. But this is modern era where it was shown electronically and we went through the entire document and agreed this is what would be presented to the prime minister. So why did they not write why they could not hold it in their hands, it is because we were afraid they were going to leak it again, before it gets to the prime minister.”