7 News Belize

Man Found Dead In His Farm; Police Suspects Foul-Play
posted (July 16, 2012)
There are two murders to report tonight. We begin in Cotton Tree Village where this weekend 52 year old watchman David Martinez was found dead on the farm where he worked.

That's a farm near Cotton Tree village on the Western Highway where The Honduran born, naturalized Belizean had gone missing a week earlier.

Police found him this weekend. He had been savagely murdered. Monica Bodden found out more:..

Monica Bodden reporting
Around 3 o'clock on Sunday afternoon the body of 52 year old Daniel Martinez was found on this Papaya Farm located just outside of Cotton Tree village about 4 miles off the Western Highway.

Martinez was the watchman for the property and according to his friends they all became worried when he went missing 5 days ago.

A missing person report was made over the weekend and that was when the search began.

David Perez - Friend of Decease
"At 8 in the morning I received a phone call from a guy Ruben saying that I need to go with him to look for Daniel because some friends had been saying that for 3 days he has been missing."

"So we went to his farm looking for him and when we couldn't find him we called Mr. McCoy who made a police report in Belmopan."

"After the police came to the farm and started looking around they found him about 400 yards away from the farm house."

Martinez's body was found inside a cement culvert - about 400 yards away from the house he resides in.

His body was in a state of decomposition, wrapped in a white sheet and lying in a pool of water. According to police he had multiple apparent stab wounds.

It may have seemed that Martinez was attacked inside this wooden structure farmhouse that he was residing. The living area was ransacked and bloodstains were visible on the bed, wall and floor.

David Perez - Friend of Decease
"The body was swollen and completely bald. The police it might have been because it was lying in the pool of water."

"Possible stabbed wounds because when the police pulled him out and they rolled him over and pulled up his shirt he had a lot of bruises on his back and cuts that appeared to have been stab wounds."

"It also seemed as if he was tied up with his belt and a rope because he had marks on his arms."

Martinez was living alone on the farmhouse - his family lives in Honduras.

But even though he had no family in Belize, he was well respected and loved by villagers of Cotton Tree.

Customer
"The last time we came was Wednesday evening. We came and bought plantain because corn season is over, we chat for a while and then I went home. That was the last time I saw him. He usually has two dogs around that barks and stuff, to day I don't see the dogs. I don't know that became of the dogs."

Moises Perez
"He was not a man that drinks. He didn't have any problems in the village. He was in charge of the farm and he didn't have problems with anybody."

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