Guilty! Belize Watches as Verdict Comes Down for Ex-Cop Elmer Nah

The long wait is finally over and today, in a packed courtroom, the High Court delivered the moment many had been anticipating for years. At the center of it all is former police corporal Elmer Nah, once a familiar and respected figure in law enforcement, now facing judgment over one of the most shocking crimes in recent memory. Prosecutors say Nah pulled the trigger in a violent New Year’s Eve attack in Belmopan back in 2023, an incident that left three members of the Ramnarace family dead and another woman wounded. The case has gripped the country from the very beginning, not just for the brutal nature of the killings, but because of who stood accused, a well-known officer entrusted to serve and protect. After countless delays, legal wrangling, and intense public scrutiny, the court has now had its say. News Five’s Shane Williams was inside the courtroom as that decision came down and has the details in this report.

 

Steven Pascascio, Cousin of Vivian Ramnarace

“God is Good… God is Good.”

 

Shane Williams, Reporting

“After waiting for three years and five months and listening to the deliberation of Justice Pilgrim for two hours and a half, the Ramnarace and Belisle family finally got the verdict they have been praying for. Elmer Nah, guilty on all four counts, three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder”

 

Tension filled the High Court this afternoon as relatives of the victims, attorneys, and police officers packed the gallery awaiting the long-anticipated verdict in one of Belize’s most closely watched murder trials. After months of testimony and years of court proceedings, Justice Nigel Pilgrim today found Elmer Nah Guilty of the murders of Jon Ramnarace, David Ramnarace, and Vivian Ramnarace.

 

Vashti Belisle, Sister of Vivian Ramnarace

“We’re overwhelmed, grateful, thankful. Vivian really played the most significant role in convicting her murder and her husband’s murder and her brother’s in- brother-in-law’s murder.  As much as we are thankful today, we are still, overwhelmed because despite this victory, we are still without Vivian.”

 

The case dates to the night of December 31^st, 2022. Members of the Ramnarace family were gathered at their Belmopan home celebrating New Year’s Eve when a gunman arrived and opened fire. John and David Ramnarace were killed that same night. Vivian Ramnarace survived initially, but later died from her injuries while receiving medical treatment. A fourth victim, Yenie Alberto, survived the attack and later became a crucial witness for the Crown. But it was the statement Vivian gave to police just forty-one hours after the horrific incident that the judge found honest and credible.

 

Vashti Belisle

“She was in her right state of mind. Vivian never lost her mental faculties and that was our greatest fear that knowing that she – she didn’t name him, but she described him and identified him and if he had gotten away with that, I don’t know how we mi wa take that because at the end of the day a child is left without a mother and father. So as much as we are grateful today that he has been convicted the damage has already been done. A child has to grow up the rest their life without their ma and pa. But I’m just glad that justice was served, especially for her today, and I’m proud of my sister. I’m very proud of her. She was fearless.”

 

The Crown relied heavily on surveillance footage, forensic evidence, and statements made by Vivian Ramnarace before her death identifying Nah as her attacker, which Justice Nigel Pilgrim says was remarkable just how much the video corroborates her testimony. But the road to today’s verdict was anything but straightforward. Nah’s defense team shifted repeatedly as the case dragged on. Senior Counsel Arthur Saldivar first took the lead, but a series of attorneys later joined, and left, the case amid ongoing delays and legal disputes. By the final stretch, attorney Doctor Lynden Jones stepped in to head the defense.

 

Relatives of the Ramnarace family waited more than three years for closure. There were audible sighs of relief inside the courtroom when the verdict was delivered, followed by hugs and even tears. Following the verdict the usually loud Elmer Nah walked out quietly with a stone-cold stare towards the Ramnarace family.

 

Shane Williams

“What’s your reaction to Nah staring down the family just now?”

 

Vashti Belisle

“Nah is always staring down the family. Me especially, ’cause I don’t know if you’ve seen pictures of her, I resemble her a lot. So I always said, even if he got acquitted, I know that it’s him just from his body language and the way he looks at me every time he sees me. I know he’s looking at Vivian when he sees me.”

 

Now that the verdict has been read, the attention now turns to the sentencing date of June nineteenth and a possible appeal. Reporting from the High Court of Belize. Reporting from the High Court of Belize I’m Shane Williams.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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