Category: Crime

A man was murdered in Belize City in the wee hours of today and police say it has all the bearing of a domestic situation gone terribly bad. It happened on Caesar Ridge Road, and the victim is fifty-nine-year-old Linbert Flowers. The deceased apparently went to a residence in the area and reportedly tried to enter the premises but was prevented. Shortly after, a badly wounded Flowers was seen with a stab wound in his chest. News Five’s Marion Ali has the story.

  

Marion Ali, Reporting

Fifty-nine-year-old Linbert Flowers was fatally stabbed early this morning. The incident happened when Flowers went to this residence sometime after three o’clock to visit a woman. But he was denied entry into the house, and a dispute erupted. At the end of it, Flowers had suffered a fatal stab.

 

A.C.P Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division

“On Monday, the 8^th of April 2024 around 3:30 a.m. Police responded to reports that someone had been stabbed at Cesar Ridgewood in Belize City. They proceeded to the area and upon arrival they found Lindbergh Flowers, 59 years with stab wounds. He was taken to the KHMH where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Investigation revealed that Flowers was in the area when he was approached by someone who inflicted the stab wounds.”

 

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hilberto Romero, who heads the Eastern Division Police Station, told reporters today that this incident involved a woman and was the result of a domestic issue.

 

A.C.P Hilberto Romero

“We don’t have all the facts, but we suspect it has to do something with a domestic dispute.”

 

Reporter

“So it is a chance that it was self-defense?”

 

A.C.P Hilberto Romero

“Yes, that’s a probability. Persons have been detained for questioning.”

After Flowers was stabbed, he made his way up the street to this yard, where he collapsed on this refrigerator, asking for help. But before long, he passed away. Today, no one wanted to talk about Flowers. His family only told us that he was a hard-working man who has been with the Customs Department for the past twelve years. Marion Ali for News Five.

 

An American woman died following a brawl she was involved in on La Isla Bonita over the weekend. A postmortem examination is expected to determine whether she died from injuries received during the fight or the accident that led to the brawl. The victim, forty-six-year-old Jennifer Lynn Griffith, was in the passenger seat of the golf cart that her husband, forty-one-year-old Maynor Rene Ancona, was driving when they crashed into El Norte Bar on Saturday night. That accident led to an altercation between the couple and the bar’s employees. It was during that fight that one of the employees threw a conch shell at Griffith, hitting her on the head. She was taken to the hospital but refused medical care, discharging herself. The pain in her head returned a day later, when she was rushed to the hospital, where she succumbed. Police Commissioner Chester Williams briefed the media this morning.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“It is my understanding that prior to the brawl, the  lady was on a golf cart along with her husband, and it collided into a building with the golf cart during which she may have also hit her head. She had a concussion. And that it was that collision that eventually led to the brawl.  And, during that brawl, she was also stoned with a conch shell, which also caused her head injuries.  She went to the polyclinic with the police and she refused medical treatment and self-discharged herself from the clinic and went home.  The next day morning, she seemingly was having pain and she went back to the clinic where she succumbed.  At this time, we are not able to say what the cause of death is. If she died as a result of the conch shell or as a result of the accident.  So I spoke to the director of the National Forensic Service this morning and I requested that the postmortem examination be expedited.  And so it will be done first thing tomorrow morning. Once that is done, then we should be able to ascertain a cause of death and then we will be able to consult with the DPP for guidance in terms of what charge or charges to be levied on those persons who are involved in the brawl with her”

 

Reporter

“Is it an employee who stoned that conch shell?”

Chester Williams
“I’m not sure if it’s an employee, but one of the persons were involved in the brawl.”

 

Reporter

“So multiple people?”

 

Chester Williams

“A few persons involved, yes, but I think one person threw the conch shell. From what I was made to understand is that subsequent to her discharging herself in at hospital, she had indicated to the police that she didn’t want anything against those individuals. So, they’re in custody, and they’ll be charged at the very least for disorderly behavior.”

Two men are expected to be charged soon for the murder of police officer Dylan Anthony. Anthony was on a motorcycle, driving on the Roaring Creek Bridge, when he was targeted in March. The twenty-nine-year-old Camalote Village resident was on his way home when he was murdered in a case of mistaken identity. Tonight, investigators believe they have the killers. Police Commissioner Chester Williams is expecting the men to be charged soon.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“The investigation involving the shooting death off Dylan Anthony police constable  was ongoing. We were interviewing a number of persons with the hope of getting sufficient evidence to be able to not just charged, but maybe even eventually securing a conviction upon trial. And so we were able to gather enough and based on that, today, two persons will be arrested and charged for the crime of murder in respect to pc Antony’s murder. One of those person is  Mr Hugh Milton. And the other one is a guy, I can’t remember the first name right now. From our investigation, it tells us that  Gideon was the  driver of the motorcycle and Milton was the pillion rider and the one who  executed the act upon PC Anthony.”

 

Reporter

“Police had initially said this was a mistaken identity, do you know who they were actually after?”

 

Chester Williams

“Yes, we do know who that person is. So what happened to that person? Well, that person knows that he was intended target as well. And that person is also in prison under the SOE. The two suspects are also in prison under the SOE. So we so they  have been sent for from prison to be charged and will be arenas sometime today.”

 

Tragedy struck the Santánder Sugar Factory in Valley of Peace, Cayo, on Saturday. Thirty-four-year-old Khalil Hewlett of Teakettle Village suffered an accident while working and died at the scene. He sustained injuries to his face, head, and leg. Hewlett, who had been employed at the company for more than five years, is the second person to die because of an accident on the compound. In February, fifty-three-year-old Anastacio Vasquez died in a freak accident.

A man is hospitalized at the Western Regional Hospital after being shot by a woman. Forty-nine-year-old Ronald Gibson is also under police guard and that’s because he attempted to rib the woman who shot him. It happened on Friday night along Independence Park. Police Commissioner Chester Williams said Gibson will be charged after he is released from the hospital.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“On Friday night, a lady was working on the sidewalk in Belmopan upon she and her daughter were accosted by a male person who demanded that they hand over their properties. The lady took out her license firearm and ordered the person to stop and he made a move towards her and she fired one single shot at him with her license firearm causing injuries to his stomach region. He was taken to the hospital or the Western Regional Hospital where he received treatment and is currently admitted in a stable condition and a police guard. It is our hope that once he is released from the hospital that he’ll be charged for the crime of attempted robbery.”

 

 

 

A man was shot dead after being given a ride on the Phillip Goldson Highway. Investigators suspect that twenty-seven-year-old Malcolm Reynolds was murdered by individuals who were giving him a ride home. Reynolds’ body was on Thursday night near the Boom/Hattieville junction. Reynolds had been dropped off by an SUV, which was traveling in the direction of Burrell Boom Village, after which a male person exited the said vehicle and fired several shots toward him, resulting in his death. News Five’s Britney Gordon went looking for answers.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

In Lemonal Village, the family of Malcolm Reynolds was expecting his arrival home after a day’s work in Belize City on Thursday. However, the twenty-seven-year-old construction worker failed to walk through the doors. Instead, his mother, Cherry Reynolds received a call. Her son had been found shot dead at a bus stop in Burrel Boom Village.

 

Voice of: Cherry Reynolds, Mother Of Deceased

“It was last night about, about seven thirty, I da say. Somebody called me, not the police. They noh call and they tell me say, they shoot up Julian, which is the next brother. But I know he ni deh home yah soh, so I tell ney, da noh he. So the person say he will check and call back. So, he go work da Belize do construction. And I tell ih pa fi call the bus weh usually come back this side. And when he call the driver, he say he noh de pan di bus. So, instant I start to bawl. So, when the boy call me back, I couldn’t even answer him.”

 

Reynolds explained that they were unsure if the killer was someone her son was familiar with. She says that there is some tension between a few residents of Double Head Cabbage and Lemonal Village. She had been told that a recent dispute after a horse race at Castleton Park on Easter Monday had led to her other son receiving a chop wound.

 

Britney Gordon

“Do you think that he was familiar with this person?”

Voice of: Cherry Reynolds

“Me noh think. I noh sure. I cyah she. I don’t think so. I noh sure.”

 

Britney Gordon

“Do you know anyone that could have possibly wanted to cause any harm to your son?”

 

Voice of: Cherry Reynolds

“Well, I know you got two village, Bermuda Landing and Double Head. When they like sih my lee boy there, they like fool with Lemonal on a whole. So, I don’t know, babe. So every paat ney sih ney, ney faas with deh. Ney mi ga wa fight Easter Monday weh wa bwai from Double Head Cabbage get cut weh ney she da my son but not Malcolm.”

 

Reynolds had been told that the two incidents may be related but was unsure of the details. Police have yet to establish a motive and are looking for suspects.

 

Britney Gordon

“So that incident was unrelated? Or one of your sons did get involved in the incident”

 

Voice of: Cherry Reynolds

“Yes dat dah weh ney seh. Cuz I neva de deh.”

 

Britney Gordon

“Have you spoken with anyone that they said was involved with that other incident?”

 

Voice of: Cherry Reynolds

“No, no.”

 

Britney Gordon

“So you’re not familiar with the details of that?’

 

Voice of: Cherry Reynolds

“No.”

Reynolds feels that her son’s murder was unfair as he did not have anyone around to assist him. She said he came from a large, loving family, and his loss would be felt greatly.

 

Voice of: Cherry Reynolds

“I noh know weh fi say, but all weh I have to say is closing, all weh I have fih seh, they chancey, whosoever do that, dah wa coward, because I think they could a mi come when all ah ney deh together, noh only when he one, they coward, whosoever did that.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.

This morning, a routine search was conducted at a house in Siene Bight Village, Stann Creek. This search resulted in the arrest of seven individuals after police discovered an unlicensed firearm and ammunition inside the building. Police arrested and charged fifty-one-year-old Rita Lopez; fifty-three-year-old Neville Henry Lopez Senior; twenty-four-year-old; Neville Henry Lopez Junior, eighteen-year-old Azzani Mossiah; twenty-three-year-old Kenrick Chi; twenty-three-year-old Nevon Lopez; and twenty-three-year-old Jahfari Gonguez. All seven persons were arraigned at the Dangriga Magistrates Court today, where Nevon Lopez pleaded guilty to keeping a firearm without a gun license and keeping ammunition without a gun license. He was remanded to the Hattieville Prison for sentencing until April seventeenth. The charges the others were withdrawn.

 

It has been nine days since the state of emergency was declared in southside Belize City, Roaring Creek, and parts of Camalote. Since then, there has been a relative sense of peace across the Old Capital, except for one murder on Good Friday. Today, we caught up with Police Commissioner Chester Williams, to get an update on the department’s work under the SOE and to get his response to one complaint about police abuse.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“So far I can say that it is going well and as much as the regulations that accompany the declaration do give the police a number of powers, we have not been using those powers. So if you move around the areas that are under a state of emergency you can see that the law abiding citizens still move around freely as the SOE was not intended to disrupt the movement of law abiding people but rather to get a better grip on those gang members who continue to demonstrate that propensity to perpetuate criminal acts. So far I can say we have a total of twenty-three persons detained from Roaring Creek and Camalote and thirty from BElize City.So, we have fifty-three persons currently in prison.”

 

Paul Lopez

“There are people saying the police are abusing their authority under the SOE, how do you respond?

 

Chester Williams 

“I would respond to that by simply saying, if you as a citizen have seen that, I personally have not seen any. I believe that the police, as much as there is an SOE, the police have not acted in such a way to even enforce some of the provision. For example, under the SOE you would see that there loitering and these sort of things. You still see people the loiter but for they most part they are law abiding people so we try our best not to disrupt that. Some people, no matter what happen they are going to have a negative aversion and say things that are not so, but even if you look at social media, everything that happens out there it is always on social media. Do you see anything out there to the effect that police are abusing their powers?”

 

Paul Lopez

“We published one story of police pointing a gun at and individual in a bathroom and he was not fully clothed”

 

Chester Williams

“Was that the day the police were executing the SOE? Come one Mr. Lopez unu have to learn to stop give airtime to stupidity. This is the reason why criminals behave the way they are, because unu give them air time.”