Earlier today, businessman and recording artist Aaron Wilson stopped by our office to share his side of an incident that took place inside the Ladyville Police Station over the extended weekend that resulted in him being detained for over twenty hours. As we initially reported, Wilson’s employee, a deliveryman, was taken into custody for a motorcycle offense. When Wilson showed up at the station sometime later to present the documents for the motorbike, an exchange of words ensued between him and a female officer. That led to Wilson being detained and placed inside a holding cell at the precinct, before being released without charge twenty-two hours later. Here’s his story.
Aaron Wilson
Aaron Wilson, Detained by Police
“When I reach Ladyville now, nobody tell me my workman released. Soh I reach Ladyville and I gaan da di station because I expect that, you know what, I bring my documents here, release di man. But because Mr. Barrow trusted what I mi di tell ahn, Mr. Barrow gaan head and released di man. And when I reach station, da like di whole station bex wid me because I call dehn boss and I jump dehn and dehn feel like dehn da nobody now and dehn done bex wid me from I reach station because my workman mi done tell me dat di W seh ih wah charge me because I call and cuss ahn dats why she heng up di phone. I‘m like neva bro, dat neva happen. I am upset that she heng up di phone because I di tell ahn dat I di bring di documents and she noh got time fi hear dat or wait fi mek I reach from Cayo to ya. So when I reach, she done deh eena my face. Di minute I walk eena di station, she jump out fi she seat and staat seh dat she wahn charge me and I tell ahn fi what. I cohn tell unu dat unu du wrong.”
Luis Siapas was fatally chopped early this morning while at an establishment in St. Margaret’s Village in the Cayo District. According to witnesses, the victim was at La Rumba Restaurant and Bar when he was attacked by some men who chopped him in the head, face, throat, and hands.
Blood stains on pool table at restaurant where murder occurred.
The victim’s common-law-wife, Julisa Narajo, told News Five that before the deadly attack, Siapas was calm and happy. She said she was alerted to the attack by her neighbour. As to a suspected motive, she said, “At no point did he have any problem with the men who attacked him.”
The Belize Police Department has confirmed that fifty-nine-year-old Robert Joseph has been charged with two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.
A tragic shooting incident at the Belmopan Market claimed the lives of Laura Fiorito, aged forty, and eight-year-old Megan Klassen, a neighbour’s child. Security cameras captured when they were fatally shot by Joseph, who had been living in Belize since 2012.
The incident occurred while Fiorito, her husband, Salvatore Lopes, and their two children were at Paradise Café.
Security cameras captured the interactions between the victims and Robert Joseph
The motive behind Joseph’s attack has left many puzzled. He claims the family attempted to poison him.
Police Commissioner Chester Williams told reporters yesterday, “Police have interviewed a number of persons in respect to that matter and we are trying to see how we can come up with a definitive motive…We are still trying to put the pieces together. We have gathered several statements and we have obtained some video footages that is helping the investigation pretty good. So, the accused was immediately detained by the police and the weapon used was also detained by police. So we have a good case going forward.”
A child and a woman from the Agua Viva community, just outside of Belmopan, are dead following a shooting incident inside the Belmopan Market. Forty-year-old Laura Fiorito and her husband Salvatore Lopes were at Paradise Café along with their two children and eight-year-old Megan Klassen, their neighbor’s child, when a gunman attacked them. Both Fiorito and Klassen were fatally wounded. The alleged shooter, fifty-nine-year-old Haitian American, Robert Joseph has since been detained by police. The incident has sent shockwaves across the relatively peaceful Capital City, especially since the incident occurred in broad daylight during one of the market’s busiest days of the week. But why would Joseph want to target this family? He alleges that they tried to poison him. News Five’s Paul Lopez was able to obtain some surveillance footage of Joseph’s initial interaction with the family, before he pulled out a firearm and opened fire. Here is that report.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
This is the moment, fifty-nine-year-old Haitian American National Robert Joseph and his son twenty-two-year-old David Joseph walked up to a couple that were sitting in front of Paradise Café eating up a cup of ice cream. The woman, identified forty-four-year-old Laura Fiorito is heard expressing surprise and excitement, as if seeing a friend for the first time in a long time. Her common-law husband Salvatore Lopes rose to shake Robert’s hand. She then got up from the bench and shook his hand. They continued to exchange pleasantries and soon after David Joseph walks off. Robert Joseph stayed behind and the couple sat back down. They are heard asking him about some construction work. It was at that moment that Joseph pulled a firearm from his waste and opened fire on the couple. In the process he killed Laura Fiorito. He then turned his weapon on three children that were with them, seven-year-old Tristan Lopes and eleven-year –old Sarah Lopes, the couple’s children, and eight-year-old Megan Klassen, their neighbor’s child. Klassen also lost her life. Ronaldo Logan co-owns the Belmopan Market and Paradise Café. He witnessed the ordeal.
Ronaldo Logan
Ronaldo Logan, Co-Owner, Belmopan Market
“The couple mih the sit down over there by the table, they get up, sit down, regular lee conversation, the guy ask them unu nuh start build yet. He say, no no, we nuh start build yet. Deh not even raise their voice, deh nuh give nobody like a warning that deh wah do something like that. I nuh know what set off the man, because he just come do that yah, because he had to pass several cameras. We have six cameras, right under the business have three big ones and that is why we keep them exposed so that we could actually see that somebody the sih yo, apart from all the eyes in the market.”
The suspect, Robert Joseph owned Super Palm Resort, a small accommodation just outside of Belmopan that was recently transformed into an Airbnb. No one was at the location this morning and most of the doors were left open. Several decks of cards, coins in various currencies and other items were scattered across a table in a living area at the entrance of the building. Reports are that Fiorito and Lopes were living at the Airbnb several months ago, after moving to Belize from the Netherlands.
Ronaldo Logan
“After I hear the gunshot, I gawn sih what I can do. Then the guy after he shoot yah, he gawn chase the kids in the playground. While we the exchange, I the try tell the guy mek he hold it down, yo done do foolishness and I mih the curse a lot. I seh, why you come do this dah this establishment, you really mess up a good business that me and my business partner the try keep open.”
According to Logan, when the shooter turned his attention to the children, two of them, Tristan Lopes and Megan Klassen ran towards the parking lot where their vehicle was parked. Eleven-year-old Sarah Lopes ran for cover, assisted by a market employee, she hid inside the restroom. In this video, that employee is seen holding on to a wounded and terrified Sarah Lopes. Sarah and her brother, though badly injured would survive the attack. But, eight-year-old Megan Klassen succumbed to the injuries she sustained. We spoke with her uncle.
John
John, Uncle of Megan Klassen
“My brother’s daughter, Megan was picked up by their neighbor, it seems that is the arrangement they had with their neighbors, dropping them off and picking them up. So, their neighbor picked up the children from school yesterday and stopped by this ice-cream place here where supposedly one of their friends met them, handshake the father of the deceased lady, his wife and the two of the children that were shot and Megan who was shot to death. They decided to pass by this place to have a treat for the children. They were playing in the playground when a man they know very well, approached him, handshake him and began to shoot.”
A police officer quickly responded to the scene and fired two warning shots in the sky. The suspect then threw his gun to the ground and surrendered himself.
Ronaldo Logan
“Lucky enough when he the do all of that and i the cuss ah up the try get ah fih surrender, lucky enough a police guy was in the area and the police guys did a real good job. the hall tell the man i dah the police. When I see him the walk towards me again, I run behind a building and the man throw his firearm and the police come behind and me and my brother in law help apprehend the man, you know.”
According to Logan, the shooter was begging him to take his life. The suspect also alleged, while being detained, that the couple he targeted was trying to poison him and his son while they were living at the Airbnb.
John
“I cannot say anything on what type of relationship they had, if it is true or not. Anybody can make up stories that they could have poisoned them, but does that give them to right to kill anyone, to kill innocent children, because probably they ate something and he felt bad, that doesn’t make any sense to me. To my knowledge they were a very friendly family and even the man that shot them, they said he was their friend as well. So I have, in my opinion, I do not understand what happened.”
Paradise Café were closed for business today. Black bows hung in front of the store in honor of the slain victims. This afternoon, people sat next to the café having lunch seemingly unphased by shooting incident that occurred less than twenty-four hours earlier.
Paul Lopez
“How difficult is it for you as an investor who has poured your resources into this business for something like this to happen.”
Ronaldo Logan
“I had to say from the get go for me and David from we start, it has been a hard struggle. We gone far and beyond to try and build what paradise is about. It is like sometimes I see people sit down and I always steer with a passion. I said, what was Belmopan before we open this. When I was cursing the guy I tell him mein, if you only know how hard it is to keep these doors open.”
Reporters caught up with Commissioner of Police Chester Williams earlier today. He was asked if police have established a motive for the shooting. ComPol Williams explained that the accused claims that the family tried to poison him and that his claims are still being investigated. ComPol Williams also revealed that investigators have gathered surveillance footage from the market that is proving to be helpful.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“Police have interviewed a number of persons in respect to that matter and we are trying to see how we can come up with a definitive motive. From what we have gathered so far from persons who were in the immediate area when the shooting happened is that the accused person arrived at the market, had a discussion with the family who he eventually targeted, where he accused them of allegedly poisoning him. We have also learnt that the victims had rented a house as the accused do owns an Airbnb rental and the victims had rented a house from him for a period of six months. They left that house in January and moved to the Agua Viva area. He was saying that at the time when they rented that house, they were trying to poison him and that is why they were targeted. We are still trying to put the pieces together. We have gathered several statements and we have obtained some video footages that is helping the investigation pretty good. So, the accused was immediately detained by the police and the weapon used was also detained by police. So we have a good case going forward.”
Paul Lopez
“Do you know how long the detainee was living in Belize?”
Chester Williams
“He was here for quite a number of years, from 2010 to 2011 thereabout, because a check of our records shows he got a gun license in 2012. So he would have had to be here before 2012.”
ComPol Williams also questioned why the perpetrator in the Belmopan Market double murder would target children. He contended that if the accused had an issue with the parents, then the children should have been left alone. Here is how he puts it.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“It is not a mass shooting. It is a rather unfortunate incident and when I look at the video it irks me because if it is that you had an issue with the parents, if you were saying the parents were trying to poison you, why go after the children? It shows clearly that having shot the woman he pursued the child all the way to a bathroom. What could a child do to you. If you have an issue with the parents, then let it be there. It is sad. But, again, it happened and we as the police need to make sure we put the pieces together to make sure justice is served.”
On Friday, attorney Orson “OJ” Elrington was arraigned on a charge of rape, several weeks after two women filed reports with the Belize Police Department alleging that they were sexually assaulted by Elrington after a night of partying on the entertainment strip in Belize City. Earlier today, Opposition Leader Shyne Barrow commented briefly on the matter during an appearance on Open Your Eyes. According to Barrow, he has since spoken with Elrington in the wake of the charge that has been brought against him.
Shyne Barrow
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“I wished him the best and, you know, I hope that justice prevails. We hope that he gets justice and if he’s innocent we hope that he gets justice and if he’s not, then we hope that the victims get justice.”
Isani Cayetano
“In the first instance he stepped down as legal counsel to the UDP, but on March sixth, he was in San Pedro functioning on behalf of the party during the municipals. How does the United Democratic Party now view this development in respect of Mr. Elrington?”
Shyne Barrow
“He has a relationship with the standard bearer in Belize Rural South, San Pedro. He actually has an office out there. So he was out there working with his colleague, but he has no official role in the party. That official function of the party stopped months ago when these allegations came about. So he’s not an official of the party… We condemn rape, we condemn violence against women. That remains and we take this very seriously and we encourage all of our colleagues to be very careful so that they don’t find themselves in these positions.”
Earlier today, an accused murderer walked out of the High Court a free man after Justice Candance Nanton rejected the Crown’s main witness statement which it attempted to enter into evidence. That main witness on whom they were relying on is now deceased. Malique Gentle has been acquitted of the stabbing death of twenty-seven-year-old Adrian Hyde which occurred at the corners of Mopan and Vernon streets back in November 2021. The trial which began on February twenty-sixth, concluded on March first with the Justice Nanton dismissing the charge brought against Gentle.
Police Commissioner Chester Williams told reporters today that investigators are still trying to establish a motive for the deadly shooting that took place in Belmopan on Tuesday afternoon. The man police say killed a mother and her child has been identified as fifty-nine-year-old Robert “Bob” Joseph, a Haitian businessman believed to have been living in Belize since before 2012.
Robert “Bob” Joseph inside the Belmopan Police Station
A picture shows him shackled and sitting on the floor of the Belmopan Police Station. An official police report says that when officers arrived on the scene, “they were informed that an eight-year-old student of the Agua Viva area, Cayo District, and Laura Fiorito, a forty-four-year-old Italian housewife likewise of the Agua Viva address, Cayo District, received gunshot injuries and both succumbed to the injuries they sustained. The other two victims were identified as a 7-year-old and an 11-year-old, who were reported to be in stable condition.”
Scene where the shooting occurred.
The report said that Joseph “went to the Belmopan Market Plaza, where he allegedly met Salvatore Lopes, who was with his common-law Laura Fioreti and the three minors. Allegedly, Robert Joseph pulled a 9-mm pistol and fired shots towards Salvatore Lopes, causing injuries to Laura Fioreti and the three minors.”
Joseph has since been detained, pending an investigation.
ComPol Williams told reporters that Joseph accused the family of trying to poison him during their stay at his rental property. “The victims had rented a house, as the accused does an Airbnb rental, and the victim had rented a house from him for a period of six months.” Williams said that the family had vacated the house in January and moved to the Agua Viva area of Belmopan.
Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams
Investigators have collected several witness statements and are reviewing video evidence. The gun used to commit the murders was retrieved by investigators. Williams said, “So we believe that we have a very good case going forward.”
The U.S. Embassy in Belmopan issued a statement saying, “We stand prepared to offer support to the Government of Belize in both its ongoing investigation and broader efforts to reduce crime and violence in Belize.”
An eleven-year-old child and his mother, both from the Netherlands, are dead, following a late-afternoon shooting incident in Belmopan. News Five has been reliably informed that the woman was with her husband and two of their children purchasing ice cream inside the Belmopan Market when a gunman opened fire on them. Reporters are that the family frantically ran in separate directions to escape armed attack. The gunman allegedly pursued the two children and opened fire in their direction. He then turned to the mother and shot her. As we said, one of the children and the mother unfortunately passed away. The father and the second child were also injured in the shooting. Police are yet to issue an official report with further information on the identities of the victims, but we understand that the shooter is a Haitian-American businessman. He has been detained. As for a motive, sources have indicated that the perpetrator is claiming that the family tried to poison him. News Five understands that the father was also detained by police. We will continue to follow this story.
