Category: Trials
Western Dairies Employee Charged Allegedly Staging Robbery
Today, five individuals, including a former employee, were charged in connection with the armed robbery of a Western Dairies delivery truck that took place on Monday in Burrell Boom Village. According to reports, two Western Dairies employees were driving the company vehicle when they were stopped by four men who appeared to be customers. Suddenly, the men pulled out a gun. They climbed into the truck and made off with four thousand, seven hundred and thirty-seven dollars in cash and goods, including an iPhone belonging to one of the employees. The employees involved are twenty-three-year-old Willman Aspinall and forty-one-year-old William Bermudez. Police managed to catch the suspects and have charged Deandre McKoy, Tarique Gillett, Christian Castillo, and Emory Lino with conspiracy to commit robbery. Evidence found on Aspinall has led the police to believe he was involved in the crime, and he has also been charged. Aspinall’s attorney, OJ Elrington, provided more details on the case.
OJ Elrington, Attorney-at-Law
“The persons before the court were charged jointly for robbery and for conspiracy to commit robbery. And so, our argument was that while the, for those who were charged under the offense of robbery, we know that falls under section sixteen of the Crime Control and Justice Act. Our submission was that the one client, Mr. Willman Espinal, was not in the same position since he was solely charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, which we submitted did not fall under section sixteen of the Crime Control and Justice Acts, which prohibits a magistrate from granting bail to an accused. The magistrate agreed that it did not fall under section sixteen. However, she submitted that she would exercise her discretion and not granting bail still. And so obviously now we’re in the process of applying for bail for the defendants in the matter. My client has put on record. He told me, and he said that he submitted when he was interviewed that he was beaten by the police and forced to open a phone. And that he was he was subject to police abuse, essentially that the police were trying to force him to make certain admissions, which he did not agree with.”
Reporter
“And also this client, Mr. Aspinall?”
OJ Elrington
“Yes.”
Reporter
“Is he one of the truck drivers for the company?”
OJ Elrington
“ Yes. He is one of the persons who is a driver for Western dairies, I believe it is.”
Man Charged for Allegedly Firing Gun While Riding Motorcycle
Tonight, twenty-five-year-old Edward Saldano, also known as “Scrubby,” remains in police custody at the Queen Street Police Station. He was detained after reports of gunshots on George Street around 8 p.m. on February twenty-third, 2025. Video footage showed a man, identified by police as Saldano, riding a motorcycle and firing shots into the air. After initially evading capture, he was caught on March fourth at the Michael Finnegan Market with a gun in his possession. Saldano, who claims he was shot in the foot by police, was handcuffed to a wheelchair and taken to court where he was charged with one count of discharging a firearm in public and two counts of gun-related offenses for the firearm and ammunition. Represented by attorney Leroy Banner, who couldn’t appear in court today, Saldano argued he was only served two charges. However, it was confirmed that he had been served all three charges before coming to court. Following his arraignment, Saldano was taken to the hospital for treatment of his gunshot injuries after complaining of pain.
K.H.M.H. Worker and Boyfriend Busted for Kept Ammunition
Lengthy Prison Sentences Handed Down for Convicted Bank Robbers
This morning, Chief Magistrate Jayani Wegodapola handed down sentences for three convicted bank robbers after considering their mitigation pleas overnight. Out of the five men accused, four were tried and convicted, but only three received their sentences today. Sentencing for George Meighan was postponed to March sixth, 2025. The men involved are Anthony Barrow, Jason McKenzie, Leon Westby, and George Meighan. The trio faced charges of robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of possessing a firearm without a license, one count of possessing ammunition without a license, and two counts of aggravated assault on police constables Robert Sutherland and Robert Parchue. They also faced charges for damaging an ATM during the robbery. However, only Meighan and Barrow were found guilty of damaging the ATM. The charge of assaulting PC Robert Parchue was dropped because he didn’t testify. Anthony Barrow received a total sentence of twenty-one years and ten months. He was sentenced to twelve years for robbery, ten months for assaulting PC Robert Sutherland, one year for damaging the ATM, ten years for possessing a firearm without a license, and another ten years for possessing ammunition without a license. His sentences for firearm and ammunition charges will run consecutively. Jason McKenzie was sentenced to ten years for robbery, eight months for assaulting PC Robert Sutherland, and six years each for the firearm and ammunition charges. Leon Westby received seven years for robbery, six months for assaulting PC Robert Sutherland, and six years each for the firearm and ammunition charges. Their sentences for the firearm and ammunition charges will run concurrently with their other sentences.
Brawl on Plues Street Leads to Disorderly Conduct Charges
Tonight, three of the six men police claim were being investigated as possible members of the George Street Gang were dragged to court to face disorderly conduct charges after a public fight on Plues Street on February eighteenth, 2025. Out of the seven men identified from police footage, only three were criminally charged this morning: Damion Saldano, Jaheim Bent, and Shemaud Nunez. The trio, who had been detained for several days, arrived at court on the prison bus and were finally brought before a Magistrate in Court #4 around noon, unrepresented. Each was read a single charge of disorderly conduct. Nunez, the first to be arraigned, explained that he, Bent, and Saldano were friends and had been smoking weed when they intervened in a fight between some girls down the street. According to Nunez, they were then accused of beefing, leading to their charges. When the Magistrate asked Nunez why he pleaded guilty if he wasn’t guilty, Nunez said he had been in custody for two days and just wanted to get it over with. Upon hearing they would be fined instead of imprisoned; all three men maintained their guilty pleas. They were each fined two hundred dollars, plus a five-dollar court cost, with a payment deadline of March twenty-first, 2025, or face one month in prison.
Alvaro Tun Freed of Murder Charge in San Pedro
Alvaro Tun, a thirty-four-year-old from San Pedro, was found not guilty of murdering Elder Arana on March fifth, 2023, at Jeemar’s Night Club in the San Pedrito area. Arana was stabbed six times after a fight broke out in the bar sometime before two a.m. The bar owner had closed early, and when the security guard tried to clear the patrons, a brawl erupted over a woman, leading to Arana’s death. Police found a box cutter belonging to the security guard, but he wasn’t charged with murder. Instead, Tun was arrested based on a witness account from Diego Santos. However, Judge Derick Sylvester dismissed Santos’ testimony, ruling it was not credible and likely fabricated. The judge noted contradictions in Santos’ statements and evidence that contradicted his account, leading to Tun’s acquittal.
Life in Prison for Darbin Romero
While one man walked free from a murder charge in San Pedro, another Belize City resident, Darbin Joel Romero, was sentenced to life imprisonment today after pleading guilty to murder. Romero, twenty-four, of Sibun Street, was represented by attorney Peta Gay Bradley of Legal Aid. He entered his guilty plea on December seventeenth, 2024, and sentencing was deferred until today by Justice Nigel Pilgrim. Justice Pilgrim handed down a life sentence, starting at twenty-five years. Due to Romero being a repeat offender, the sentence was increased by two years, making it twenty-seven years. Considering mitigating factors like Romero’s good character, remorse, and potential for rehabilitation, five years were deducted, bringing it to twenty-two years. An additional two years were deducted for his guilty plea, resulting in a final term of twenty years. Romero’s sentence is effective from April twelfth, 2022, when he was first remanded to the Belize Central Prison.
DPP Plans to Appeal Dismissal of Dwayne Gabourel Murder Case
On Thursday, twenty-seven-year-old Dane Gillett was acquitted of the murder of fifteen-year-old Dwayne Gabourel after spending over three years in jail awaiting trial. However, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, plans to appeal the decision. Gabourel, a student at SJC, was shot and killed in September 2021 while shopping at a convenience store. Surveillance footage captured the shooter, and although his face was covered, a police officer later identified Gillett by his tattoo and body type. Despite this, the High Court judge upheld a no-case submission, resulting in Gillett’s release. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams provides more details on the case.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“I’m not the judge in that matter. I cannot speak to what the judge saw and what judge, what made the judge arrive at that conclusion. But I am happy to hear that the DPP has said that she’s going to appeal the matter.”
Reporter
“Sir, in that matter you said in October of 2021 that police would be requesting assistance from the FBI through the U.S. Embassy to enhance the video and try to build a strong case. Was that ever followed through?”
Chester Williams
“From the time I hear the DPP said that she’s going to appeal, it’s because she, in her wisdom as well, do believe that we have sufficient tool. have secured a conviction. So we’ll wait for the appeal and see what goes on there.”
Dane Gillett is Acquitted of Murder
Dane Khalil Gillett, twenty-seven, has been acquitted of the shocking, execution-style murder of fifteen-year-old Dwayne Gabourel, an SJC student, who was gunned down in September 2021. Gabourel’s death was believed to be a gang-related retaliation for Michael Henry’s murder. Wearing a red shirt, Gabourel was shot four times by a masked gunman who jumped off a motorcycle, approached him at a shop, and fatally shot him before speeding away. After his acquittal, we spoke with Gillett and his attorney. Here’s News Five’s Isani Cayetano.
Dane Gillett, Acquitted of Murder
“Dis just go fi show that di system full ah lotta abstract, yoh undastand. Di court clearly prove todeh that whateva dehn mi charge me fah, no evidence deh fi prove that di person, da me da di one weh pull di trigga. No evidence deh fi prove that.”
After spending three years and five months on remand for the shocking murder of a fifteen-year-old SJC student, the alleged shooter, Dane Gillett, is now a free man. Today, Justice Derick Sylvester delivered a thirty-five-page ruling, setting a new precedent.
Orson “OJ” Elrington, Attorney-at-law
“We had both oral submissions and, as well as written submissions, and at the conclusion, the judge felt as though the evidence was so tenuous that a conviction on the evidence presented by the crown would have been unsafe and, therefore, upheld our no case submission.”
The case relied heavily on video and circumstantial evidence, which was too weak to convict. Justice Sylvester concluded that the evidence was so tenuous that a jury couldn’t safely convict the accused.
“And dehn know that fi dehn evidence weh dehn got mi cyant prove that from di start. Dehn still mek I sihdown da jail three years and five months and tek weh lotta time outta my life and outta my family, yoh undastand. I just mi wah mek people sih. End a di day I just wahn di system do dehn job properly because then at the end ah di day fi deh backa dehn place deh soh, man di suffer back deh, back deh rough.”
Dwayne Gabourel was tragically shot on September twenty-fifth, 2021, while running an errand for his mother at a grocery store on North Front Street. He was an innocent bystander, targeted simply because he was wearing a red shirt. The murder was thought to be in retaliation for Michael Henry’s execution. After being released, Gillett expressed his condolences to Gabourel’s family.
Dane Gillett
“I just woulda wahn tell di lady condolences fi ih loss. I know how ih feel fi lose somebody close, like that. I got somebody weh mi dead, fourteen years old, dehn shot he up nine times, yoh undastand. No justice neva come out fi he neither. So I know how da lady wah feel. I know dehn mussi di sihdown deh and dehn mussi bex right now because dehn mussi feel like da me kill dehn pickney. Ah hope dehn realize that di court prove todeh that I da noh di one weh do di crime, yoh undastand. So I just would wahn dehn clean fi dehn heart towards me. I just wahn dehn clean it up. Condolences and everything towards di people and love all the time.”
Isani Cayetano for News Five.