BDF Soldier, Cop Found Guilty in 2021 Escobar Shooting Cover-Up

A Belize Defense Force soldier and a police officer have been found guilty of trying to cover up the 2021 shooting death of fellow BDF soldier Jessie Escobar. The verdict came down just before eleven this morning in the Magistrate’s Court. BDF Private Ramon Alberto Alcoser and Police Corporal Juan Carlos Moralez were convicted of perverting the course of justice. The Senior Magistrate ruled they lied in their statements about what happened during a tense standoff with villagers in Santa Familia on September fifth, 2021, the night Escobar was shot and killed. Despite claims of trauma and pressure, the court found their accounts didn’t match the evidence. The DPP, Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, led the prosecution and argued the men deliberately misled investigators. The magistrate agreed, saying their statements were false and given when the events were still fresh. Both men were remanded to the Belize Central Prison and will be sentenced on December fourth. Attorney Marcel Cardona, who represented Alcoser and stepped in for Moralez’s absent lawyer, said he was shocked by the ruling but respected the decision. The Director of Public Prosecutions spoke with reporters following today’s decision.

 

Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, Director of Public Prosecutions

“It’s an extremely important decision. This involved the charge of perverting the course of justice. We have felt before that sometimes law enforcement officer would have not told the entire truth in matters, in order to shield their colleagues who may have shot or killed persons. But in this particular case, we had incontrovertible evidence to show that the version of events given by this soldier and this police officer was entirely fabricated. Well, first she found that the statements had been given and that the defendants were in a proper state of mind to have given the statements because part of their defense was that they were tired and they were hungry and that they shouldn’t have been made to give those statements. But our evidence is that they did not indicate at any time that they were not in a position to give those statements and that they gave them of their own free will. So, first she found that they had given them and that they were properly given. Then she went through the actual statements themselves to show what had been said by each of the defendants and then she went through what the wife of Jessie Escobar had said in her evidence, and then you would have seen painstakingly through what she, herself observed, from the recording. And, as you may recall, the recording showed very clearly that Jessie never reached out and grabbed anyone’s gun. It showed very clearly that he was not behaving in any aggressive manner.”