Belize City Sisters to Stand Trial for Setting House on Fire

Belize City residents, twenty-year-old Janiece Augustine and her twenty-four-year-old sister, Janiene Augustine, are set to stand trial for arson. The sisters were charged for allegedly setting fire to a home in Crooked Tree Village back in July 2022. The wooden house was valued at thirty thousand dollars, and the household items inside were worth two thousand dollars. This week, their case wrapped up a preliminary inquiry before a Senior Magistrate, and it’s now headed to the High Court for trial in January 2025. During the inquiry, the police prosecutor presented over thirty witness statements to support the charges against the sisters. Interestingly, they weren’t charged with arson until two years later, on April twelfth, following directives from the DPP. Today, they were granted bail of eight thousand dollars each, with two sureties of four thousand dollars each, which they managed to meet by the end of the day. On top of that, Janiece picked up an additional charge for aggravated assault with a dangerous instrument—a hammer—related to an incident on September thirtieth. She pleaded not guilty and was granted bail of two thousand dollars, which she also met. Janiece is due back in court on December second.