Tonight, three members of the Dominquez family from Biscayne Village are out on bail after being charged with harm. This family feud, which has been simmering for years, erupted on Boxing Day, leading to a cross-complaint incident. A woman police officer from the Special Patrol Unit and her nephew were charged with harming their cousin during a heated dispute. The two women involved are daughters of two brothers, and their animosity was evident outside the courtroom. They sat as far apart as possible under the court tent, waiting for over five hours before being called in at 1:30 PM. When Shania Dominquez, twenty-five, her cousin Lunnet Dominguez, thirty-two, an S.P.U. officer, and a seventeen-year-old minor appeared before Chief Magistrate Jayani Wegodapola, the charges couldn’t be read due to discrepancies in the court books. The arraignment was postponed to Friday, January third, 2025, and their police bail was extended. The feud escalated when Shania claimed her home was invaded by her cousin and others, leading to the Boxing Day incident. Shania, a mother of an autistic six-year-old, insists she is the victim, not the troublemaker. She alleges that her cousin, Lunnet, and others barged into her house, traumatizing her son and causing damage. Shania denies throwing hot water at the seventeen-year-old boy, stating that she acted in self-defense. The three family members will return to court on January third, 2025, to face their charges. The seventeen-year-old and PC Lunnet Dominguez are charged with harming Shania, while Shania is accused of harming the seventeen-year-old. The family feud continues, with both sides maintaining their innocence.
Category: Trials
Buck is Sentenced to One Month in Prison for Crack
Tonight, a man who claims to be a beggar and unable to work is behind bars after pleading guilty to possessing a small amount of crack cocaine. The man, forty-eight-year-old Kenroy Emmanuel Fisher from Kelly Street, Belize City, initially told the court he was twenty-nine years old. However, court records show that he is actually forty-eight and seems to have trouble remembering his own age and birth year. Fisher, who was unrepresented, appeared before Chief Magistrate Jayani Wegodapola and faced a single charge of possession of a controlled drug. On Monday, December thirtieth, 2024, he was found with a tiny amount of crack cocaine on Castle Street, Belize City. The quantity was so small that it didn’t even register on the scale. Despite this, Fisher pleaded guilty. He explained that he has never worked a day in his life and survives by begging. Given his inability to pay a fine, the Chief Magistrate opted not to impose a non-custodial sentence or a fine. Instead, Fisher was sentenced to one month in prison.
Manuel Moralez is Arraigned for Arson
One of the suspects believed to be involved in the arson of three vehicles, totaling almost half a million dollars, is now behind bars awaiting bail at the High Court. Twenty-two-year-old Manuel Anthony Moralez, a construction worker from Sandhill Village, appeared before Chief Magistrate Jayani Wegodapola this afternoon. He was read three counts of arson, but did not enter a plea due to the severity of the charges. Allegedly, on December twenty-second, 2024, in Belize City, Moralez and others intentionally set fire to a black 2022 Escalade valued at a quarter million dollars, owned by Bob Hotchandani, which was parked in front of his residence on Barrack Road. He is also accused of destroying a 2023 grey Audi Q-7 worth one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, also owned by Bob Hotchandani, and a brown Chevy Silverado valued at eighty-five thousand dollars, owned by Sunjay Hotchandani. The prosecutor objected to bail, citing the grave nature of the offense and the substantial damages involved. He also highlighted the strength of the prosecution’s case, including surveillance footage, and expressed concerns that Moralez might flee or interfere with the ongoing investigation. Additionally, there are fears for Moralez’s safety, as others involved might harm him to prevent him from naming them. Chief Magistrate Wegodapola agreed with the prosecutor’s objections and denied bail, remanding Moralez to prison. His next court date is set for January twenty eighth, 2025.
Amado Badillo Swindles Customer Out of Vehicle, Again
Forty-five-year-old Amado Badillo, owner of Prestige Auto Sales, has been charged with obtaining property by deception. His arrest came after Teresa Flores filed a report on December nineteenth. Badillo has faced similar accusations from unhappy customers who claim he took their money but didn’t deliver the vehicles they paid for. In January, a doctor from Caye Caulker took legal action against him for not delivering a 2020 Ford Ranger pickup, a deal worth sixty-five thousand dollars with Dimas Sansorez dating back to April 2023. Earlier today, Badillo appeared in the lower courts to face the latest charges. On December nineteenth, 2024, Teresa Flores, a thirty-five-year-old receptionist from Ladyville, went to the Crimes Investigation Branch at Queen Street Police Station. She reported that on November fourteenth, 2023, she got a call from Amado Badillo, someone she had known for over ten years. He offered her a black 2018 Ford Focus for fourteen thousand dollars. Flores said she gave eleven thousand dollars to Badillo’s driver, Raydon Popper, that same day. An hour later, she got confirmation and an electronic receipt from Badillo via WhatsApp. On November seventeenth, 2023, Badillo visited her workplace and took her to Holy Redeemer Credit Union, where she withdrew the remaining three thousand dollars and handed it to him. Badillo promised the car would arrive in Belize within two to three weeks, but it never did. Flores followed up with Badillo multiple times, including on December fifteenth and twenty-ninth, 2023, May eleventh and thirteenth, 2024, and October twentieth and twenty-fourth, 2024. Despite her efforts, she never received the car or her money back. Badillo, who was unrepresented, appeared this morning before the Chief Magistrate, where he was read a charge of obtaining property by deception. Badillo pleaded not guilty to obtaining property by deception and since the prosecutor had no objection to bail being offered to him, the Chief Magistrate granted him bail in the sum of ten thousand, plus one surety of the same amount or two sureties of five thousand dollars each. Conditions to his bail are that he must stay away from Flores; and he is not to be arrested and charged with any other offenses whilst out on bail. It was at this point that Badillo told the court that he would have to make one contact with Flores since she has a vehicle that belonged to him. According to Badillo he had given her a vehicle to use in the interim her vehicle arrived in Belize. The prosecutor then informed Badillo that he will have to have a third-party contact Flores or he will be in violation of his bail condition, and he will risk going to jail if found in violation of the conditions of his bail. Badillo’s next court date is set for February twenty-sixth, 2025.
Third Suspect Arrested in Double Murder
Tonight, a third suspect has been arrested and charged in connection with the double murder of two Belmopan taxi drivers who went missing at the end of November. Their bodies were later discovered in a shallow grave in the Hattieville area. Twenty-year-old Ronald Steadman Frazer, a laborer from Ontario Village in the Cayo District, has been remanded to prison. He joins two other suspects already charged with the murders of cousins Marvin Cante and Juan Raymundo. Frazer, who was arrested on Thursday, appeared in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court this morning, facing two counts of murder. Unrepresented, he stood before a Senior Magistrate in Court #2, where he was formally charged with the murders of thirty-seven-year-old Marvin Elisandro Cante and thirty-two-year-old Juan Carlos Raymundo. Due to the severity of the charges, bail was denied, and Frazer was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until February twelfth, 2025. Frazer now joins Alexander Smith Jr., a construction worker, and Carl Lindo, an unemployed resident of Mile 15 Hattieville/Boom Road, both twenty-one years old. Smith Junior and Lindo were arraigned on December sixteenth on the same charges and are also being held at the Belize Central Prison. The trio is scheduled to appear in court together for the first time on February twelfth, 2025.
Doctor’s Trial for Sexual Assault Continues
Today, Doctor Desmond Arzu, accused of sexually assaulting a female patient during an ultrasound in March 2023, was back in court for his trial. The forty-year-old doctor, who was charged on May twelfth, 2024, appeared before a Senior Magistrate in Court #2. However, the trial couldn’t proceed because the crown’s representative, DPP Cheryl Lynn-Vidal, was absent due to another case at the High Court. The matter was adjourned to January second, 2025. Doctor Arzu arrived at court around ten a.m. with his attorneys, Bryan Neal and Arthur Saldivar. After waiting for nearly an hour, the Senior Magistrate postponed the trial. Attorney Saldivar objected to cross-examining the virtual complainant virtually and insisted she appear in person. This issue will be addressed when the trial resumes on January twenty-first, 2025. Doctor Arzu, who remains out on bail, left court with family members who came to support him. The trial was moved from Dangriga to Belize City for continuation after starting in July this year. The incident allegedly occurred on March twenty-sixth, 2023. The victim reported that Doctor Arzu assaulted her during an abdominal ultrasound by touching her inappropriately and making her feel horrified and shocked. She described how he inserted his fingers into her private parts and massaged her breast during the procedure. Doctor Arzu is a radiologist and has been out on bail since his arraignment on May twelfth, 2023.
Lincoln Diaz is Acquitted of Bredda O’s murder
Lincoln Daniel Diaz, who was just nineteen at the time of the July twenty-seventh, 2020, shooting of Ladyville businessman Orin Velasquez, also known as “Bredda O,” has been acquitted of both murder and manslaughter charges. Now twenty-three, Diaz walked free after the High Court’s decision this morning. Justice Candice Nanton delivered the not guilty verdict, explaining her reasoning to the parties involved. After more than four years on remand, Diaz left the courtroom smiling and happy, supported by his family. Throughout the trial, Diaz’s attorney, Lynden Jones, maintained his client’s innocence. Diaz admitted to planning a robbery but denied shooting Velasquez. Despite evidence presented by the prosecution, including a caution statement and an interview with police, the judge found that there was not enough proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Diaz intended to kill Velasquez. Justice Nanton emphasized that while there was a plan to rob, the intent to kill could not be established. She also rejected several statements, including one from a witness who claimed Diaz confessed to the shooting, due to credibility issues. Diaz’s defense was that he and another man, known only as “Coolie,” planned to rob Velasquez. Diaz stayed outside while Coolie went inside, and Diaz heard gunshots but did not participate in the shooting. The court found that the evidence did not prove Diaz’s intent to kill or harm Velasquez, leading to his acquittal. Late this evening, Emilda Velasquez, the wife of the deceased, spoke with News Five by phone.
“ That was the worst day of my life. And it seems like it’s reliving this day because all that we wanted was justice for my husband. That’s all we wanted. It’s very rough because at the moment I was pregnant and my twins are three now and they grew up without a dad anytime I look for a child with ney pa. They want to know, like, where my daddy at? You know, and many days I tell my son, like, maybe daddy is sleep or he dih work. And that’s what they told people that my daddy to sleep or to work. In reality, we know that he’s not coming back. Because they know that there should be a mom and a dad and their dad is never around. You know, and for the oldest kids, it’s really rough and hard for, from four years ago till now. I mean. The next girl is graduating this year, but my son, he took it really, really hard because he literally witnessed everything and he was just 14 at that time to have somebody relive those when they come and give you a not guilty verdict. Really, really hurt. At the end of the day, you don’t know who you’re going to rob. It doesn’t matter if you pulled the trigger or not. You went there, nothing in and out of shock and concern. Nobody. Because we work hard for everything what we have on right now. I am a single mom and I’m working hard for my 4 children by myself, not a help from no one. And it’s really, really rough and hard, especially to explain to my children. Why their dad is not around.”
What is Prosecutor’s Fallacy and Can It Help Elmer Nah?
Former police corporal Elmer Nah is awaiting trial for the brutal New Year’s Eve 2022 murders of siblings Jon, David, and Vivian Ramnarace in Belmopan. Despite being arrested, charged, and remanded for the killings, Nah maintains his innocence. But what if he’s not the real killer? Could investigators have rushed to judgment based on surveillance footage from that night? Earlier today, defense attorney “Dickie” Bradley discussed the concept of a prosecutor’s fallacy and how it might work in Nah’s favor.
“I recently read in one of those legal articles about prosecution fallacy. You may have heard that I was sharing with the citizens of Belize, some who don’t quite take it in the correct light, but there is a strong possibility that the unhappy police officer who is charged for that double, triple murder in Belmopan. The decision to arrest and charge him falls right into this principle of prosecution fallacy. Somebody hollered, “Oh, that da da person. Dat da da police soh and soh and soh…” And that’s it, no further investigation to see the possibility. The family says they have all kinds of videotapes, he was at a function with over a dozen persons. Dehn noh wahn hear that, somebody looked at the video and said, oh dat da Nah , da he dat, dah soh ih walk, da soh ih run. That’s it, and now it is turning out that it is highly likely that they were dead wrong. No pun on the word dead. If he is exonerated in a court of law, I must say that there is nothing else he can do but to sue and not accept small money either, because mein, that is really an egregious error and a failure to give a person the opportunity to say, “We are charging you, we are going to charge you.” And for him to say, which he has been saying from the very outset, “It cannot be me. It can’t be me. I was with persons all night. We have videos. Dehn noh wahn interview nobody, dehn have wahn videotape which it turns out now is likely to show that it is somebody entirely different who was that murderous, evil person that did that crime.”
Who is Footing Government’s Legal Expenses in Stake Bank Dispute?
Developer Michael Feinstein’s claim against the Government of Belize over the compulsory acquisition of about twenty-three acres on Stake Bank is set to be heard in the High Court on Thursday. The Briceño administration has defended the takeover, but Prime Minister Briceño also mentioned that the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) is interested in buying the island to finish the tourism development project. When reporters spoke with the PM this afternoon, they asked who is paying for the high-priced lawyers representing the government.
Reporter
“While the acquisition doesn’t cost the taxpayers, who is paying for the legal bills for the two foreign attorneys and Magali Marin?”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Well they are suing the government, they are taking the government to court for an action that we think is within our right or our ability to do as a government. So obviously, we will have to defend our position, so then the government will have to pay for that.”
Reporter
“Which means that the taxpayers will pay.”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Obviously.”
Reporter
“But if the acquisition goes through then the taxpayers are paying for an attorney for land that will eventually belong to a private [land]holder.”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“No. I think what you need to do is to start speaking to Mr. Feinstein because he continues to take out lawsuits for everything and we have a responsibility to defend. If we do not put anybody and then we lose the case then what? One: it will set a bad precedence. Secondly: I don’t think he’s right, but he just continues to prolong. So we have to ensure that we put the best possible minds to ensure that we do not set a precedent, that the government can make these decisions to acquire land on the national interest.”
Julio Paiz Jr. Gets Life for San Pedro Murder
When Julio Paiz Junior was eighteen, he shot and killed his friend and former co-worker in a shocking act of revenge. After bullying his co-worker’s wife and getting reported, Paiz Junior came back to settle the score, executing his friend in public, right in front of his wife. After spending three years on remand, Paiz Junior claimed he had changed and asked the court for leniency, expressing remorse for his actions. However, this morning, Justice Nigel Pilgrim considered various factors before sentencing Paiz Junior to a fixed life term of thirty years, starting from December sixteenth, 2024. Paiz Junior will be eligible for parole after serving half of his sentence. Justice Pilgrim considered the circumstances of the crime, the offender’s background, and both mitigating and aggravating factors. He noted that while the murder was premeditated and carried out in broad daylight, it did not qualify as the “worst of the worst,” thus avoiding a death sentence. Instead, a fixed term was deemed appropriate. The judge also reflected on the impact of the murder on the victim’s family, reading heart-wrenching statements from Hilberto Cáliz Junior’s mother and brother. Despite Paiz Junior’s young age and claims of remorse, his history of infractions and the heinous nature of the crime led to the thirty-year sentence. Paiz Junior’s sentence will be backdated to December sixteenth, 2021, when he was first remanded. In court, the prosecution was represented by Senior Crown Counsel Sheniza Smith, while Paiz Junior was defended by attorney Emerita Anderson.