The Strange Saga of Dorian Pakeman and Dean Dawson, Revisited

Dorian Pakeman

Charges are expected to be levied on the embattled director of the Press Office, Dorian Pakeman. Back in March, Pakeman hit and killed Gardenia resident, Dean Dawson while driving his government vehicle. At first, it seemed like an unfortunate traffic mishap, but now ugly details are emerging of a file with missing documents as well as blood contamination. News Five’s Duane Moody revisits this story.

Duane Moody, Reporting

It’s been almost six months since the Director of the Government Press Office, Dorian Pakeman, was served with a notice of intended prosecution for a fatal RTA that took the life of popular Gardenia mechanic Dean Dawson. On the night on March thirtieth, 2016 between miles twenty-two and twenty-three on the Philip Goldson Highway, forty-five year old Dawson—according to his family—was traveling north towards Crooked Tree when he was hit by a government issued Isuzu D-max driven at the time by Pakeman.

Voice of: Teresita Abraham, Common-law Wife of Deceased [File: March 31^st, 2016]

“When I got out there, I honestly thought it was a hit and run because I wasn’t aware that the vehicle involved was out there and either the driver. So immediately I thought it was a hit and run when I got at the scene. He was lying face down and one of his hands was broken, one of his foot was broken, his clothes ripped and injury to the back of his head; he as bleeding from his nose, from his mouth and just lying face down motionless.”

Pakeman on his own did a drug test that indicated that he was not under the influence of alcohol. In a statement given to police after the RTA, he said that Dawson was traveling in the opposite direction; and he couldn’t avoid a collision when the mechanic, riding on a bicycle, swerved into his path.

Juanito Cocom

ASP Juanito Cocom, O.C., Ladyville Police [File: March 31^st, 2016]

“He was heading from the direction of Orange Walk to Ladyville and between the miles twenty-two and twenty-three in Biscayne he observed a person riding a bicycle in the same direction who suddenly swerved into his lane. He tried his best to avoid a collision by swerving to his left also; however, he still collided into the cyclist.”

As the deadline draws near for any charges to be laid against Pakeman, some troubling facts have been made public. According to official reports: Pakeman tested positive for use of cocaine when the accident occurred – that certification by the office of the Director of Public Prosecution only came up on by happenstance. There has also been an attempt to taint the blood sample of the deceased and the original copy of the lab test on Pakeman cannot be located.

ACP Edward Broaster, Regional Commander, Rural Eastern Division [File: September 12^th, 2016]

“We have investigation ongoing at this time as it pertains to the alleged tampering of the sample which was taken from the deceased, Mister Dean Dawson at the morgue and transported to the Forensic Lab. So there is an investigation as it pertains to that, given the results of that test.”

Duane Moody

“What was being done to tamper with it?”

Edward Broaster

ACP Edward Broaster

“The sample, according to the chemist, had concentration of ethanol which is impossible for any human being to consume.”

Duane Moody

“So who would have been in charge or responsible for that vial with blood, to be able to tamper with it before it reached the lab?”

ACP Edward Broaster

“I can tell you who is responsible for the vial after the sample was taken and it to have been transported to the lab and that would have been the scenes of crime person.”

Duane Moody

“So a member of the police department?”

ACP Edward Broaster

“That’s a civilian staff; a member of the scenes of crime.”

Dean Dawson

Even before this revelation, Dawson’s sister, Diana Stevenson told News Five that Pakeman was getting special treatment. But is he?

Voice of: Diana Stevenson, Sister of Deceased [File: April 4^th, 2016]

“If it was Pakeman dead and Dean the driver, would he have received preferential treatment and I allowed to take him in my private vehicle? Isn’t it prohibited to overtake in a village or inhabited area? Isn’t the speed limit for buses fifteen miles per hour and twenty-five miles per hour for all other vehicles in towns and villages? I Googled skid tracks against skid speed and Pakeman was going approximately eighty miles per hour. Oh how I wish Google Earth can replay that unfortunate accident. I have been a driver for over twenty years and I know an accident is an accident, but how unjust this is unfolding, one can only ask… how can one get justice in Belize? But I want to congratulate Pakeman. You were in an accident; took the life of a human being, a brother, a husband, an uncle, a nephew and a friend. And you simply got up, brush his blood off your vehicle and moved on. 

Pakeman has since been placed on unpaid leave. Duane Moody for News Five.