Peyrefitte Claims 97 Murders, ComPol Says NO

During the United Democratic Party (UDP) press conference on Tuesday at its headquarters, former Minister of National Security, Mike Peyrefitte, criticised Commissioner of Police Chester Williams and Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa over alleged underreporting of homicide statistics.

Peyrefitte accused them of misleading the public by claiming 89 murders for 2024, while his research shows there were actually 97, not including 10 additional deaths that were “suspiciously classified as mere death investigations.” According to him, this discrepancy “is not just a minor clerical error.”

When asked about it earlier today, Minister Musa accused Peyrefitte and Opposition Leader Moses “Shyne” Barrow of being overly focused on the death toll. Musa said, “I get the feeling like they are the grim reapers of governance and politics. I have never seen two people, well, three, pray out the lives of Belizean people more than these people.”

Meanwhile, ComPol Williams addressed concerns about discrepancies in reported figures, confirming that his department’s count stands at 91, but that this includes an unresolved case in San Pedro and a manslaughter incident, which cannot be categorised as murder. Williams added that even a projected 24 homicides per 100,000 “it is still far better than what existed during the UDP’s twelve years in office,” he said.