The declaration of the state of emergency has resulted in several police raids in areas of high gang activity or in the homes of crime affiliated individuals. On Tuesday morning, during one of those raids, an officer of the Mobile Interdiction Team was discovered in the homes of one of the targeted individuals. Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams said that the officer, John Gamboa, is a relative of the homeowner and wasn’t breaking any law by being there.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“I think Mister Gamboa lives with the daughter of one of the person in that particular area. They are his in-laws. If there was nothing illegal found at the home when the police raided, then I don’t see what charges can be levied against him. It would have been good if he was not there, certainly. But again, his common-law and his child live there. And if he sees the need to go and visit them, then we can’t stop him.”
Reporter
“Do you see this as a possible compromise in terms of information reaching out of the police department, given the familiarity between these two persons?”
Chester Williams
“I don’t think so because Jean Gamboa would not have known of the SOE. And if a matter of fact, if he had the information then, and he would have shared it, then we would not have found nobody at the house.”
Reporter
“But in terms of other operations, the MIT might be going on, that he could warn somebody living in the house?”
Chester Williams
“Certainly, that’s something we’ll have to look at.”
The man who was on the run since Saturday, when thirty-year-old Damion Baptist was murdered between miles eight and nine in Ladyville, has been captured. Thirty-five-year-old Jamie Young was arrested and charged on Thursday with Baptist’s murder. The construction worker was charged with aggravated assault against Amber Dawson. He reportedly surrendered himself to police. In the presence of his attorney, Dickie Bradley, Young was read the two criminal offenses. No plea was taken from him due to the nature of the offenses, and he was denied bail and remanded to the Belize Central Prison. Dawson told News Five this week that she had broken up with Young last year and that ever since she started to date Baptist in February and Young became aware of it, he began to harass and threaten them. She said that she had made two police reports against him in that space of time and that she was in the process of taking out a restraining order against him. They were due to appear in court on Wednesday to go through that process, but Baptist was murdered on Saturday. Dawson explained how the incident unfolded on the Philip Goldson Highway and how Young had initially tried to run his truck head-on into their car near Maxboro. When Baptist swerved away and continued towards the direction of Ladyville, Young turned around and set chase, taking out a gun and aiming at the car. When heavy traffic didn’t allow Baptist to proceed any further, Dawson said Young got out of his truck, walked up to the passenger side of the car, and shot Baptist. The car careened off the highway and slammed into a lamppost on the other side of the street. An ambulance that was passing at the same time transported Baptist to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Young will be taken back to court on May thirtieth.
Convicted attorney Oscar Selgado is appealing his ruling. News Five is told that Selgado signed the appeal documents himself. On March eighth, Selgado was found guilty of abetment to commit murder. High Court Justice Nigel Pilgrim ruled that Selgado attempted to hire Giovanni Ramirez to murder Marylyn Barnes, who had filed a complaint against him for unethical behaviour with the General Legal Counsel. In his ruling, Justice Pilgrim established Ramirez as the key witness for the prosecution, affirming the veracity and dependability of Ramirez’s testimony. Selgado is expected to be sentenced on April twenty-ninth.
A pregnant woman is spending her first night behind bars for failure to comply with the conditions of her Visitor’s permit. The Salvadoran, twenty-five-year-old Martha Hernandez, was caught living illegally in Belize after she had reportedly been here for more than five years. She pleaded guilty to the charge and was ordered to pay her fine of a thousand dollars forthwith, or she would spend six months behind bars. Hernandez paid the fine, and the magistrate ordered her expulsion. Hernandez will await her expulsion from Belize, which is expected about a week or so from today. Hernandez, who is in the early stages of pregnancy, was charged with failure to comply with the conditions of her visitor’s permit. Authorities say that Hernandez was found at the San Pedro Express Water Taxi Terminal in Belize City and could not produce any form of documentation to show her status in Belize. According to the immigration facts, on Thursday morning, the Belize City Immigration Investigation Unit conducted routine checks at the San Pedro Belize Express Water Taxi Terminal, where persons of interest were stopped and asked to produce a form of identification. In doing so, she could not provide any documentation to show that she is Belizean, and she was taken to the Belize City Immigration Department Office, where it was discovered that her Salvadoran passport, which was issued on January fifth, had expired. Hernandez entered Belize in September of 2018 through the Western Border and was later issued an extension to remain in Belize until February of 2019, but she got another extension thereafter.
And, though that brawl may have occurred between residents from two feuding communities, ComPol Williams says there has been an increasing number of public fights that are posing a challenge to cops. He spoke to one incident outside of a Belize City nightclub over the weekend involving a group of women. He says the physical altercation stemmed from a love triangle involving basketball athletes.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“I looked at the fight in front of Shisha over the weekend and again you can see where a number of ladies, engaged in a fight. From what I am told they are fighting over basketball players that come from abroad that they don’t even know. It makes you really wonder what we are coming to. Nonetheless some of them are in custody and they will be charged and taken before the courts today. I am proposing to the cabinet to increase the penalty for persons who are engaged in unlawful fights in public. I think the current penalty as stipulated in the law is too miniscule and there is a need for us to upgrade that and hopefully that can serve as a deterrent to people to know that if they engage in fights in public it is going to cost their pockets a lot of money.”
Reporter
“How does it make you feel to get all these footages being in the month of women month to see these things play out in public eyes.”
Chester Williams
“Well it is very dreadful to see that women are behaving in such a way. Normally in society we look up to women. All of us came from women and we expect the women among us are going to display behavior that are worthy of being emulated. But when we see women behaving in such a way it is very distasteful and whenever I get the video footage, I would send it to the police and tell them to arrest and charge. We cannot have a society where people have unlawful fights in public and go uncharged. That cannot be the order of the day.”
He murdered his mother, sister and stepfather in November 2012 and since then, has tried everything to stall the case by changing several attorneys, requesting two sentence indications and frustrated a trial judge to the point of recusing himself from the case. But today, thirty-six-year-old Jared Ranguy opted not to stand trial and instead entered a guilty plea via a teleconference session from the Belize Central Prison. It was an emotional morning and a packed courtroom before High Court Justice, Nigel Pilgrim. News Five’s Marion Ali was there and filed this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Jared Ranguy, who had for many years tried to usurp the justice system, by firing his attorneys to force adjournments, has finally decided not to let his court matter languish any longer by pleading guilty, instead of going to a trial. Relatives of the three deceased persons sobbed as Ranguy admitted to the court that he murdered his mother, Karen Skeen, his sister, Teena Skeen and his stepfather, Robert Vellos, as they slept inside their home in Ladyville. In responding to questions posed by High Court Judge, Nigel Pilgrim, Ranguy told the court that he indeed murdered his three family members and that he did so without provocation. He said that he was admitting to the triple murder without being coerced by anyone to do so, and that he was pleading guilty because he is guilty of the crime. When the judge asked the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, who sat in for Crown Counsel Riis Cattouse, to read the details of the three murders, Ranguy told the court that it wasn’t necessary because he was admitting to wilfully killing his family. The facts were read anyway, in order that he could agree to the sequence of events and admit guilt. D.P.P Vidal told reporters that she expected today’s outcome.
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal, Director of Public Prosecutions
“I think that we anticipated [this] because of the way the discussions were going that we would have reached this point.”
Marion Ali
“And this came after many years of adjournments and change of attorneys and a previous sentence indication and even a judge recusing himself.”
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal
“Yes, I imagine that the prisoner, we can call him now, would have taken a very long time to come to terms with what the sentence might look like if he pleaded guilty to three counts of murder. Whatever operated on his mind in recent months that led him to this point.”
This point for the family was also one that they had waited almost twelve years to see. While they were still very shaken, Karen Skeen’s brother, Rene Skeen, told reporters that they were consoled by his nephew’s guilty plea.
Rene Skeen
Rene Skeen, Brother of Deceased
“We’d like to thank God. The most important thing, we got justice. And the emotions, that’s – you can’t explain it. It’s been over 11 years we’ve been waiting for this, and the day has finally come. We will never get full justice. Three people are dead, but for him pleading guilty, it helped a little bit. The pain – we can deal with it a little bit better now.”
Skeen said the guilty plea saved the family a lot more heartaches than if there had been a trial.
Rene Skeen
“The family wouldn’t have to go relive what happened 11 years ago. We would have to be in court seeing guns, knives, bloody clothes, everything. We believe in the system. We’ve been doing interviews with you guys for years and years. We have family members coming from the U.S just for court every six, eight months, nine months, so after trying to manipulate the system for so long, justice caught up with him. Although we would like to see no parole at the end of the day, like I said, for the family, we got what we were requesting for him to say, look, I’m guilty. We used to say that. You guys interviewed us and we said, you guys asked, can we forgive him? I used to say no, but now you know what? I think I can.”
Ranguy’s decision came after he had gotten a sentence indication from Justice Pilgrim on March first. In that sentence indication, Justice Pilgrim informed Ranguy that if he entered a guilty plea, he could get three life sentences without the possibility of parole until after forty years, minus the eleven years that he has served behind bars. Vidal said that the guilty plea has saved considerable time because of what that process would have entailed.
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal
“There were quite a number of witnesses who would have had to have been called. There would have been voir dires in relation to the statement that would have been given admissions that were made. So it did save the court some time, but of course this matter has been before the court for a very long time.”
Rene Skeen says that moving on now will be a bit easier for the survivors.
Marion Ali
“Now this has taken a toll on all of you. We heard the subs in the courtroom. How are you all coping now?”
Rene Skeen
“Man, today the family decided to meet no matter what would have happened today for a prayer meeting. It’s going to be a good prayer meeting today. We’re going to cope better now.”
Marion Ali for News Five.
Justice Pilgrim has ordered that a psychiatric evaluation be conducted on Ranguy and that the Belize Central Prison present a report on him. As the D.P.P. pointed out, the sentence indication is not the actual sentence. Ranguy’s attorney, Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith has until April twenty-second to submit a mitigation plea in writing and the court was adjourned until May thirteenth.
This week, we reported on the matter involving Aaron Wilson, who was detained for almost a day on grounds that he was boisterous towards a police officer when he confronted her at the police station in Ladyville. As it turned out, the police officer had hung up the phone on Wilson and he went to the station to tell her about it. Well, Wilson was held for about twenty-two hours, and following that, Crown Counsel, Riis Cattouse fired off a letter to the Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams in which he criticized the police for what he felt was frequent violation of the human rights of persons who are detained. The matter did not sit well with Williams or the Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa, who both thought it was unfortunate that Cattouse had that to say. Today, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl-Lynn Vidal told reporters that it is not what Cattouse said that she had a problem with, but the way he went about it.
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal, Director of Public Prosecutions
“Whenever a file is being advised on and there has been any impropriety on the part of the police, the [Crown] Counsel would write about it in their memoranda. Perhaps this is the first time it has been sent to the media.”
Reporter
“Okay, so this is standard practice for the Crown Counsel to engage the Commissioner in this manner?”
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal
“I don’t think the Commissioner directly, but anytime a file is sent to the office and there is some evidence of impropriety on the part of the police and the Counsel will speak on it. I do not believe that Counsel has in the past written directly to the Commissioner in that manner, but it is not as though the DPP’s office is in the habit of endorsing police impropriety.”
Reporter
“Do you endorse the fact that Crown Counsel Cattouse decided, you know what, this is a matter that I should, and he took it upon himself to write to the Commissioner of Police?”
Earlier today, businessman and recording artist Aaron Wilson stopped by our office to share his side of an incident that took place inside the Ladyville Police Station over the extended weekend that resulted in him being detained for over twenty hours. As we initially reported, Wilson’s employee, a deliveryman, was taken into custody for a motorcycle offense. When Wilson showed up at the station sometime later to present the documents for the motorbike, an exchange of words ensued between him and a female officer. That led to Wilson being detained and placed inside a holding cell at the precinct, before being released without charge twenty-two hours later. Here’s his story.
Aaron Wilson
Aaron Wilson, Detained by Police
“When I reach Ladyville now, nobody tell me my workman released. Soh I reach Ladyville and I gaan da di station because I expect that, you know what, I bring my documents here, release di man. But because Mr. Barrow trusted what I mi di tell ahn, Mr. Barrow gaan head and released di man. And when I reach station, da like di whole station bex wid me because I call dehn boss and I jump dehn and dehn feel like dehn da nobody now and dehn done bex wid me from I reach station because my workman mi done tell me dat di W seh ih wah charge me because I call and cuss ahn dats why she heng up di phone. I‘m like neva bro, dat neva happen. I am upset that she heng up di phone because I di tell ahn dat I di bring di documents and she noh got time fi hear dat or wait fi mek I reach from Cayo to ya. So when I reach, she done deh eena my face. Di minute I walk eena di station, she jump out fi she seat and staat seh dat she wahn charge me and I tell ahn fi what. I cohn tell unu dat unu du wrong.”
As part of the Police Department’s modernization and upgrade from the budget, Commissioner Williams explained that one of the areas that will also be enhanced has to do with securing and gathering evidence and testing, as well as being able to conduct DNA-testing.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“We’ll be looking at expanding our camera surveillance system. We’re looking at the fingerprint system. So everything that has to do with technology to enhance policing is what we’re going to do. The minister spoke about the issue of DNA, the field DNA testing. That’s a very important thing for us, likewise especially in this area. If we have a sample, for example, where we can do the field DNA testing and it proves positive, then we can then send it, the sample, to the lab to get that official result. That way it’s going to eliminate the cost to send something to the DNA lab that may not come back with a match. So we’ll only be able to send those that we believe will have that match when the time comes. There’s a lot from information technology-wise that the ministry is pushing. All in a view to ensure that we can enhance the police department we, do appreciate the importance of the service that we provide to the Belizean people, and we want to make sure we do so in the most professional and expedient manner as we possibly can.”
Over the weekend, Crown Counsel Riis Cattouse called out the Belize Police Department for “flagrant human rights violation”. Crown Counsel Cattouse wrote to the Commissioner of Police following the detention of Aaron Wilson at the Ladyville Police Station. According to the letter, Wilson visited the police station to inquire about one of his employees who was detained on a traffic charge. Cattouse noted that Wilson was detained while at the police station for alleged boisterous behavior. The letter further notes that Wilson was detained for twenty hours, which Cattouse referred to as a breach of Wilson’s human right. A video surfaced, following the detention that showed Wilson and a female police officer engaged in a back and forth. In the video the officer informed Wilson that he was being detained for disrespecting a police officer. ComPol Williams was asked about the letter and the video today.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“I watched the video and the night when Mr. Wilson was released from police custody on bail he reached out to me and sent me the video footage. After viewing them I responded to him and said what I saw does not amount to boisterous behavior. I also advised him to go to the Racoon Street police station to make a report to PSB and that I would have the matter addressed by PSB. I again contacted him yesterday and spoke at length and he said he was going to PSB to make the complaint. I have not checked with PSB if he did go in. You all would know I have a very though stance when it comes to police abuse. And, that is the reason why I do not agree with the statement of the crown council from the DPP office. I think that his statement that he gave to the media, while I agree with some aspects of it, I think it was more defamatory to the police and try to paint the police in such a way that is not true. As members of the media you can say without a doubt that over the years you have seen a tremendous dec4rease in police abuse across the country and that is because of the stance that myself and the minister have taken and even the Human Rights Commission, because he copied the Human Rights Commission, the Human Rights Commission can also attest to the fact that the police department has done a lot with them to try and sensitize the police in terms of human right norms and get the police to adhere to these norms and we have gone at length to make sure we train our officers in the different human rights norms. So for Mr. Cattouse to have said that everyday police are violating the rights of people in this country, that is not true. That is a statement that is far from the truth, and I think he should retract that aspect of his statement and with that I would have no issue in terms of what he has wrote, because the truth is as a law enforcement organization there is a need to ensure we do our jobs in a way that does not infringe the rights of people.”
