Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
There was a double murder in Roaring Creek last night. And while that western village is no stranger to shootings - last night targeting of a couple and their child in a very humble structure does not fit the known pattern of violence.
So what caused it? Jomarie Lanza headed West today and here's what she learned.
It was just after 9:30 last night, here in the heart of Roaring Creek village, when neighbors were startled by the sound of gunshots.
A couple was murdered inside this zinc house - the mother killed in front of her 15 year old son.
Police say a lone, masked gun man entered the house from the side door and opened fire, killing both adults and injuring the teenager.
According to one of the neighbors, desperate attempts were made to alert the authorities:
Voice of: Neighbor "And I came out and started flashing around and then he saw my light and came back and he said boy something happened over there to Ms Chaya. He said it looks like they shoot her and kill her. But he said he was scared to go there by myself so I wanted someone to go with me to see what happened. So I came out and got my flashlight and we went there and I tried to. Well I realized something had happened so i immediately called the police because he was trying to get 911 and there was something wrong with the phone that it was not connecting."
"Because people started to gather and so on you know and police took so long I decided to come and shortly after I saw the police vehicle arrive and came around. But that was the situation I think they took a while to respond. I'm not sure if it's because of the young man who was injured perhaps they were trying to get some information from him because i understand he was taken to the hospital so I under that maybe that is the reason why there was a delay in coming to the scene."
The bodies of 47 year old Saida Perez and 49 year old Morcel Neal were discovered by her daughter. Sources claim the family had been living in the area for years and no one knows why anyone would have a motive to harm them.
Voice of: Neighbor "They were nice people you know they were always respectable. The lady use to work hard and so on to send her child, a 15 year old her son who also i understand was injured, to send him to high school. Everyday she used to religiously go to work and come on her bicycle and you know and walk home and the young man I don't think he used to work but he used to move around doing little hustling here and there but they were nice people law abiding citizens I don't know why anyone would want to hurt them or do them something of that magnitude to kill them. I don't know if they had enemy's or things that I don't know but yeah."
So far nothing points to any involvement of drugs or gangs. The commissioner of police says that they will continue to gather more information to establish a motive.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "This murder from what we gather so far has nothing to do with those persons who were part of the SOE. As a matter of fact, the victims are not known to be involved in drugs or gangs or anything other than the fact that we know that the deceased husband was somewhat of an alcoholic. What we're gathering is that there was some dispute with some people yesterday and that is what may have led to that particular murder. We're still trying to confirm certain things and we're hoping that by the end of the day today, we should be able to get more clarity in terms of what transpired, leading to that double murder."
The minor was shot in the buttocks and is in a stable condition. Police do have a known suspect. The gunman fired at least 6 rounds.
And while that murder happened in the west, the ComPol spent the weekend in the north, overseeing the joint operations between the security forces along the border.
In a press briefing this morning, he explained the purpose for his trip - which was to see what could be improved in terms of policing - but it was really about slamming the Leader of the Opposition for calling Belize a "narco-state" - and saying that the PUP was directly responsible for "narco infiltration."
The commissioner today called those comments reckless.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "We have certainly stepped up our presence in the area, I did a tour of the area over the weekend, I made several observations and I'll be putting my observations into a document and submit to Cabinet with recommendations in terms of what additional efforts I think that we can put into the area to enhance the level of security for people so there is where we are. I know I had listened to the Leader of the Opposition, I have to excuse him because it's mental health month so he had certainly made several baseless and irresponsible comments. Even going as far as painting Belize as a narco state. I don't know where he gets that from or if he knows what is the definition of a narco state and also speaking about he issue of the norther operations that we should bring other stakeholders from the NGOs and so forth to the table, this is a very highly sensitive operation that we're conducting and because of the nature of the operations, we cannot include NGOs or persons who are not a part of the security apparatus in the planning for several reasons. One, it also has to do with the security of those people because once people get to understand who are parties to the plan against them, then they become a target and so we will not do that and likewise to be able to ensure confidentiality in terms of how the operations are going to be executed, again, there has to be confidentiality because the security of the troops on the ground is important so we cannot have persons who are not a part of the security apparatus being involved in such operations so again like I said, he continues to make some very reckless comments that I think that he needs properly advised and maybe sometime just shut his mouth before spewing nonsense."
And Barrow also claimed that last week's murder in Patchakan was directly related to the narco activity in Quintana Roo.
The ComPol denied these claims.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "The leader of the Opposition alluded that it is as a result of the narcos and a whole pile of foolishness, I can say to the Belizean people that the young man's murder has nothing to do with the narcos or the whole issue that we're addressing in the north, it has to do with him and local people from the area. We have a suspect in mind that we're looking for at this time and we're hoping that we'll be able to locate that individual and bring some closure. I also visited that area over the weekend, I spoke to the family of the deceased person and gave them assurances of what we will do."
Courtney Menzies: "While the murder wasn't related to narcos and cartels, was it locally drug related?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "No it's not drug related either."
Courtney Menzies: "So do you have a motive for why they attacked him?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "We believe that it is over an issue involving money and a court case."
While we reported that the murder took place "a stone's throw away" from the river that crosses into Mexico, the ComPol clarified that the park where it occurred is about 5 miles from the river.
But the ComPol wasn't finished with Barrow just yet. He then veered very deliberately into the political lane, and offered advice to the Mesopotamia voters, that maybe they should opt for what he says is a "born-bred Belizean."
But was he talking about himself? We asked him.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Maybe it is time for the people of Mesop to decide if they want to be represented by someone who lives in Belize by choice and not someone who is forced to live in Belize, I think that's one of the issues. He doesn't want to be a Belizean, he he doesn't want to be here, he wants to be an American, it just so happens that he was sent back home and that's the reason why he's here. To have someone who is born bred Belizean and wants to be a Belizean by choice I think would be a better representation for the people of Mesopotamia."
Courtney Menzies: "Sir is this the beginning of your campaign?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "I'm done."
And back in crime news, with the increase in weekend murders, the number of murders for this year is higher than last year at this time. But the ComPol said that while murders are up, so are arrests:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Right now in terms of our overall national crime outlook, we are down in major crime overall but where murders are concerned, we are up by 7 compared to last year. We continue to do our best to be able to address the murders, one murder is one too much but we do understand that we can't stop all from happening but we certainly will continue to do what we can to stop as much as we can and again we continue to appeal to the Belizean people to assist us in whatever way possible to be able to prevent and solve murders. I have to commend the police for the good work done over the past week, we made three arrests for murders, one for the murder of Bobo in Belize City, one for a murder that took place in the St Martin's area, and then one for a murder in Belmopan and this week we should be making an arrest for the murder of Dalla Coin in Dangriga so the investigators remain extremely busy trying to do what they can to solve this cases, again, once we solve these murders and get these alleged murderers off the street, that also serves as a method of prevention because that person will be incarcerated and will not commit another murder unless he is released from prison."
But a lot of the crime has not been gang related - many of them are fights that turned deadly, or crimes of passion. While the police have spent years tackling gangs, we asked the ComPol how difficult it is to change strategies and go after crimes they can't predict.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "It's extremely difficult but we can't sit and find excuses, we have to find a way to see what we can do to try and allay the problem. One of the issues is that we try to encourage people, if you have an issue with somebody, please tell the police. If a person threatens you and say I will come back later, please tell the police because if we know about it then we might be able to step in and do intervention or mediation but when you take it for granted and don't say anything to the police then it comes back at you and you end up being harmed or killed then people will say, man, I should have told the police. It's too late so that important thing is for us not to take any threat lightly and nay threat we report to the police and let the police see what needs to be done to deescalate whatever may be happening between you and another person."
On Friday night we told you about the 4 page list of assets that the receiver for Stake Bank says the company acquired under its concession but can't find. Stake Bank is now suing Mike Feinstein for those almost 4 million dollars in assets- which famously includes two planes - for a cruise port development.
But, the Feinstein's say there is no fraud and that they have an explanation. Tonight Jules Vasquez looks at the a lawsuit filling and the Feinstein response:
The lawsuit by Stake Bank Enterprises against its former owner Mike Feinstein
They allege that he fraudulently made off with assets that the company had acquired for the project and refuses to return them.
They say he wrongly converted them to his ownership and use.
In total, they claim misappropriation of 3.89 million dollars.
And this is the list - 4 pages of these allegedly misappropriated assets - including luxury SUV's, furniture, gym equipment, and, yes, two planes for a cruise port.
The receiver claims these were only registered in the Company's name for the sole purpose of, quote, "allowing him to benefit from the company's duty and tax free exemptions", end quote.
The Feinstein group struck back today with a lengthy post from Michaela Feinstein. The post criticized 7News and said it was written to, quote, "dispel misconceptions" (about) "Michael Feinstein's application of personal funds."
Feinstein writes obliquely, "What may appear to some as excessive, for the Feinstein's is the norm. 30 years of business development has its rewards. All of which is due to hard work. One plane and a few cars only meet the needs of some of the family business ventures."
She says the purpose of the 7news story was to, quote, "mis direct (attention from) these small assets which have nothing to do with the bigger issue of Atlantic banks hostile takeover attempt." She refers to the entire receivership as, quote, "prematurely instigated….attempting to usurp control of (the) project…"
She adds, "A Belizean owning one or more planes/Jets should not be questioned much like a foreigner owning a jet. Success has its rewards. Mike not only owns planes, he has been a pilot for 50 years."
She adds, "As CEO, Michael Feinstein's role in managing a venture as vast as the $200 million Port Coral project includes customary entitlements and benefits that align with his responsibilities. Contrary to media portrayals, Mr. Feinstein personally financed the acquisition of assets like vehicles and an airplane for his consulting team-expenditures typically covered by the company to aid an executive's effectiveness."
In conclusion, she adds, quote,"the bank seeks to manipulate public perception and coerce the Feinstein Group into settling on terms that grossly undervalued the project and the investments made.
Another functionary of the Feinstein group sent us pictures of many of the assets including cranes and vehicles which she says are right at mile 5 on the George Price Highway. The receiver claims they are in an adjoining private property which he can't get access to.
The Feinstein group says a number of items on the list got damaged in the hurricane and that the cranes are for the Mexicans.
In January, former Stevedore 37 year old Rodman Welch was convicted for the murder of Shakeem Dennison that occurred at the Yabra basketball court.
Well, today he was sentenced to life in prison for the crime. Justice Nigel Pilgrim told Welch that he has to serve a term of 29 years before he would be eligible for parole. The sentence is to commence from October 16, 2020, when Welch was remanded into custody.
Before he handed down the sentence, Justice Pilgrim took into consideration the aggravating and the mitigating factors. He said the incident occurred in broad daylight and a firearm was used.
The incident occurred after 4 pm on October 12, 2020, at the Yabra basketball court. Dennison's friend, Jervis Usher, with whom he was playing basketball, testified that the ball went out of bounds and when he went to get it, he saw Welch pull out a gun and shot Dennison three times.
Welch was represented by attorney Orson OJ Elrington, while the Crown was represented by Crown Counsel Riis Cattouse.
He was caught red handed stealing a motorcycle from his own police station. And today Police Constable Ryan Bainton pleaded guilty to theft. After initially pleading not guilty, Bainton told the magistrate he was taking responsibility for his action. He stated to the court, quote, "I believe that God has spoken to me to be a man and do the right thing…." God might have also pointed out that the whole things was captured on surveillance camera.
Sentencing for Bainton has been reserved for tomorrow as he has asked to call one character witnesses on his behalf.
The theft occurred in August of 2023 when Bainton was seen pushing a motorcycle out of the police station yard. The cycle had been brought in from an accident scene because it had no proper document of ownership.
There was gunplay in the Martin's area this weekend and it continued today when a teenager was targeted while walking home just after midday. He is 19 year old Maximilliano Jones, a construction worker.
Jones was walking from the direction of La Croix Boulevard when he came under fire at the corner of Nicholas and Giles street. He sustained a single gunshot to his lower back, and was rushed to the KHMH for treatment.
According to a report a heavily tinted Mitsubishi SUV drove 30 feet past Jones and then stopped which is when a gunman jumped out and opened fire. 6 bullet holes were also observed on the side of a blue colored house within the area. No suspects have been detained as yet but the Mitsubishi was found this afternoon.
And the other murder attempt in the Martin's Area happened lats night. 47-year-old Eugene Gabourel fixing a vehicle in the CET Site area when a whole group came under fire. ACP Hilberto Romero told us more.
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "On Sunday, the 5th of May, around 9:30, there was a shooting near CET site, police visited where Eugene Gabourel was seen at one gunshot injury. He was taken to the KHMH, where he is now in a stable condition."
"Information he was there along with several other persons working on a vehicle when a male person came by and fired several shots towards the direction. He received a gunshot injury. We were looking for one suspect in regards to the shooting."
Reporter "Was he the target?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "He was along with several other persons, so we are not sure who was the target. There were several persons at the area at the time."
Reporter "No motive."
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "No motive at the same time."
The other shooting happened on Saturday night in Majestic Alley, and now a 20-year-old is recovering in the hospital. ACP Romero gave us the details.
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "On Saturday, 4th day of May, 2024, around 10:15, there was a shooting at Majestic Alley in Belize City. Police responded where they found Jahil Cervantes with a gunshot injury. He was taken to the KHMH, where he is in a stable condition at this time."
"Information is that he was at Majestic Alley when a vehicle drove by and an occupant from the vehicle fired a shot towards his area and causing his injury. Three persons are in custody and the vehicle is impounded and we are doing a follow -up investigation at this time."
Reporter "Does he know why anybody would want to shoot him?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "No, he is recovering at the KHMH. The suspects will be interviewed and further information will be obtained."
Reporter "How were you able to pinpoint these suspects?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "The police responded quickly. We had some video footage, a follow -up was done and the vehicle was found in an area in Belize City."
Reporter "Were they found with the vehicle?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "Yes, they were found with the vehicle."
ANTHONY BOOTS MARTINEZ - he spearheaded a recall petition drive back in mid 2023, and almost a year later - he's experienced nothing but setbacks.
The latest came today when his attorney Dickie Bradley got a letter from the Chief Elections officer saying basically, "it's ovah now!"
He had asked her office to re-consider the signatures it rejected - because he re-submitted them with sworn affidavits.
Well, the Chief Elections officer wrote back saying she cannot re-do the exercise.
But, the semi-retired politician is not tired yet - he says he will challenge the decision in court:
Anthony Boots Martinez, Will Challenge Rejection of Petition "And I think that the chief election officer is totally delinquent and incompetent in my view. And I think in other countries, those people needs to resign, you know. Who will you thwart the will of the people?"
"Nobody asks you for no help, Mr. Tamai. We are saying do your job, the law says you must verify the signature of the 188 signature that they say doesn't match. I personally witnessed the signature of 172."
"So I am certain that the people are willing to go testify that they signed a petition. The petition is the petition. The law is the law. And we want to take this as far as we could."
Martinez says his attorneys are Dean Barrow and Dickie Bradley.
For the second year in a row, 7News has taken home the top prize for the Investigative Journalism Award. If you're an avid news watcher, then you were probably following along with the gun licenses investigative series. It started with a whistleblower who told us how he paid for his gun license and ended with the responsibility for issuing firearm licenses being taken out of the hands of the Commissioner of Police for the first time in Belize's history. It is now controlled by a Firearms and Ammunitions Control Board.
The success of that series was recognized at the award ceremony which was held on Saturday night at the Government House. Courtney Menzies has a recap.
This year's Belize Prize For Investigative Journalism Award saw 19 submissions and 3 finalists, but only one winner. Our newsroom here at Channel 7 submitted seven stories, "Guns and Graft: Exposing the Licensing Racket" took home the top prize.
The story focuses on the corruption within the former gun licensing regime, and the government's ultimate decision to change it.
At this year's ceremony, the team behind the story, Jules Vasquez, Brian Castillo, Codie Noralez, and Denver Fairweather were awarded a prize of $10,000.
In his speech, Vasquez explained the importance of journalists who go the extra mile to uncover injustices.
Jules Vasquez, Guns & Graft, 7News Belize "We as journalists have to do more, I spoke last year about having to frighten people and I don't think they're frightened, that's the bad news. I think people in authority have to be scared of us, I don't think they're scared, I think they take us as just annoyances and that annoys me. So I really think that we as journalists have to do more."
"Today, May 4th is an important and auspicious day, May 3rd was World Press Freedom Day and the little known fact that we discovered today was that May 5th 2024 is the 30th anniversary of the Freedom of Information passing into law in Belize, Belize was prescient, Belize was the first country in the Caribbean and Latin America to pass Freedom of Information legislation in 1994. And so May 4th falls perfectly between those days. But we as journalists have not used this legislation properly."
"I didn't write it into 25 years into my practice, it's under utilized and I don't thin people utilize it enough, yes it can be an exercise use in futility because you know the government, how they operate, however, it's important legislation and we need to use it more and again today we made a step forward in that."
And the BPIJ will be seeing major growth the next time around - on Saturday night, the organizers signed an MOU with the University of Belize, officially making them the institutional host of the award. The hope is that one day, journalism will be professionally taught in Belize:
Jules Vasquez, Guns & Graft, 7News Belize "We don't teach journalism in schools and I know this is a first step towards that and William said a very important thing, people drift in and out of the media, it's not a very high paying job, it's very rough in terms of the hours, the stress, the constant, I mean, WhatsApp has changed the game a lot, because people are reaching out to you round the clock and I think we really need to develop the professional core of journalists so I'm very encouraged by the University of Belize's involvement here and I hope that with the help of Holly we can start to build some school of journalism, somewhere that journalism is taught, and it is taught as a noble profession, a reputable profession, an important profession, and a sacred profession where we get to live by words."
The two finalists were Channel 5's Hipolito Novelo, along with his team, and Andre Habet and Marco Lopez.
And finally tonight, a US actress with deep Belizean roots has been nominated for a Tony Award for a third time.
Kara Young's parents both come from Belize, and she embraces her Belizean identity and the history of her family. She has been nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role in Clyde's, a Broadway show.
And this morning, Young was a guest on Sunup on 7 via Zoom, where she spoke about the importance of her nominations as a black actress.
There's been a lot of talk in the news recently about the tension in the Sarstoon and tonight the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reporting that of Foreign Affairs Francis Fonseca met with Eric Jacobstein, Deputy Assistant US Secretary of State, in Guatemala City.
A Facebook post says, quote, "both parties acknowledged the significance of their robust partnership and engaged in discussions encompassing various topics of mutual interest, including migration, trade, and the situation in Haiti." End quote.
Fonseca also met with Acting US Deputy Secretary Kristie Canegallo, primarily focusing on, quote,"irregular migration patterns and pertinent security matters."
The post says, quote, "Additionally, Minister Fonseca provided an update to Canegallo regarding the Guatemalan claim before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and other issues of national significance."
There is notably no mention of a Sarstoon Protocol.
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There was a double murder in Roaring Creek last night. And while that western village is no stranger to shootings - last night targeting of a couple and their child in a very humble structure does not fit the known pattern of violence.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police 
And while that murder happened in the west, the ComPol spent the weekend in the north, overseeing the joint operations between the security forces along the border.
And Barrow also claimed that last week's murder in Patchakan was directly related to the narco activity in Quintana Roo.
On Friday night we told you about the 4 page list of assets that the receiver for Stake Bank says the company acquired under its concession but can't find. Stake Bank is now suing Mike Feinstein for those almost 4 million dollars in assets- which famously includes two planes - for a cruise port development.
In January, former Stevedore 37 year old Rodman Welch was convicted for the murder of Shakeem Dennison that occurred at the Yabra basketball court.
He was caught red handed stealing a motorcycle from his own police station. And today Police Constable Ryan Bainton pleaded guilty to theft. After initially pleading not guilty, Bainton told the magistrate he was taking responsibility for his action. He stated to the court, quote, "I believe that God has spoken to me to be a man and do the right thing…." God might have also pointed out that the whole things was captured on surveillance camera.
And the other murder attempt in the Martin's Area happened lats night. 47-year-old Eugene Gabourel fixing a vehicle in the CET Site area when a whole group came under fire. ACP Hilberto Romero told us more.
"Information he was there along with several other persons working on a vehicle when a male person came by and fired several shots towards the direction. He received a gunshot injury. We were looking for one suspect in regards to the shooting."
The other shooting happened on Saturday night in Majestic Alley, and now a 20-year-old is recovering in the hospital. ACP Romero gave us the details.
ANTHONY BOOTS MARTINEZ - he spearheaded a recall petition drive back in mid 2023, and almost a year later - he's experienced nothing but setbacks.
"Nobody asks you for no help, Mr. Tamai. We are saying do your job, the law says you must verify the signature of the 188 signature that they say doesn't match. I personally witnessed the signature of 172."
For the second year in a row, 7News has taken home the top prize for the Investigative Journalism Award. If you're an avid news watcher, then you were probably following along with the gun licenses investigative series. It started with a whistleblower who told us how he paid for his gun license and ended with the responsibility for issuing firearm licenses being taken out of the hands of the Commissioner of Police for the first time in Belize's history. It is now controlled by a Firearms and Ammunitions Control Board.
"Today, May 4th is an important and auspicious day, May 3rd was World Press Freedom Day and the little known fact that we discovered today was that May 5th 2024 is the 30th anniversary of the Freedom of Information passing into law in Belize, Belize was prescient, Belize was the first country in the Caribbean and Latin America to pass Freedom of Information legislation in 1994. And so May 4th falls perfectly between those days. But we as journalists have not used this legislation properly."
There's been a lot of talk in the news recently about the tension in the Sarstoon and tonight the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reporting that of Foreign Affairs Francis Fonseca met with Eric Jacobstein, Deputy Assistant US Secretary of State, in Guatemala City.
