Che Brothers Found Guilty of Attempting to Murder Man

A Belize Supreme Court judge has convicted two Toledo District brothers of attempting to murder a Silver Creek Village man who was chopped in the head, elbow, wrist and ear in a late-night attack at his home nearly five years ago.

Justice Natalie Creary-Dixon delivered the guilty verdict against Orville Che and Fredrick Che, finding that the brothers used a machete, a stick and a hammer to inflict life-threatening injuries on Alanberto Teul at his Silver Creek home in the early hours of May 9, 2021.

The court heard that the attack began around 11:30 p.m. when someone banged on Teul’s door calling his name. Believing it was his brother, Teul opened the door and was immediately set upon by two armed men. His then 14-year-old son, Edvin, tried to fight off the attackers and was struck with a hammer and cut on his hand.

Edvin testified he recognised both attackers, having grown up in the same area, and identified Fredrick as wielding the machete and Orville the stick. He said the house was lit well enough for him to see their faces clearly, even after one of the men briefly wore a mask.

Police arrested the brothers the next day at a Big Falls Village address, recovering a wet camouflage suit, rubber boots and a yellow and black hammer.

Doctors who treated Alanberto Teul testified his skull was fractured so severely that brain tissue was exposed, and that he required an emergency blood transfusion to survive. Two later medical witnesses said he has been left with permanent brain damage, partial paralysis and seizures, and is now largely confined to a wheelchair.

Because of his condition, a statement Teul gave police three months after the attack was admitted into evidence, though the judge ultimately gave it little weight, questioning whether he could have been coherent enough at the time to give a detailed account. The court instead relied heavily on Edvin Teul’s eyewitness testimony, which the judge described as credible and unshaken under cross-examination.

The defense argued the brothers were asleep at home at the time of the attack, but their alibi witness could not confirm their whereabouts during the relevant hours, and the court rejected the defense’s case.

A possible motive raised during the trial centered on suggestions that Teul had practiced obeah against the brothers’ late mother, with the judge noting the attack occurred on Mother’s Day.

Sentencing has been scheduled for a separate hearing.