7 News Belize

Belmopan: BELAM Murdered In Maya Mopan Mansion
posted (October 1, 2012)
A Belizean American couple who had built a home in Belize had their dream of retiring in Belize savagely snuffed out this morning when the husband was killed and the wife seriously injured in a home invasion turned murder.

Here's the story from Belmopan:

Jules Vasquez reporting
This massive home - easily the biggest in the Maya Mopan area of Belmopan - is where 53 year old Robert Lewis and his wife Ursula Patnett Lewis had decided to retire after working for years in the states.

But that dream was cruelly destroyed at about 1:30 this morning when an intruder got into the house - and killed Robert Lewis in his home theater - while his wife Ursula had to jump fifteen feet from this second floor balcony of the master bedroom to the ground below - fracturing her arm.

Martha Patnett - sister-in-law of deceased
"She said that she jumped from upstairs to downstairs where fracture her shoulder."

Jules Vasquez
"Has she explained her ordeal to you? I understand she was tied up in the room."

Martha Patnett - sister-in-law of deceased
"Yes she says that she was tied up and the guy told her that she was lucky. She says that he was going to do her something and she told him to please leave her alone and so he went and attack her husband because he was downstairs in the theatre room and she was upstairs in her bedroom."

The intruder - who was dressed in all black - tied her up on the bed - and went downstairs to go deal with her husband.

While she heard him shouting for her to come help him - she struggled with her bounds - and after a time slipped out.

She opened the grill door for this balcony and jumped off.

As she lay there hurt, she was surprised to see the intruder jump from the same balcony minutes later.

He didn't bother with her, bounded over this fence - you can still see the bloodstains from his injured hand and then down the road on foot towards the center of Maya Mopan.

Their neighbor Mateo Chuc says he family was awakened by the screaming - but when they got outside the intruder had already left.

Mateo Chuc, Neighbor
"She was screaming for me and for the other neighbor."

Robert Luis lay dead inside - stabbed to the chest neck and arm. The police found him dead face down in a pool of his own blood.

It's a real mystery because there was no sign of forced entry and every door and window on this home is secured with thick, recessed burglar bars - and has a number of security cameras.

Jules Vasquez
"How did someone get into the house?"

Martha Patnett - sister-in-law of deceased
"That is what have us all puzzled because there are no signs of breaking in and yesterday we left from there and the house was well secure because that house is well secure and everything is lock and key."

In fact, police say that after he got injured the intruder himself seemed to be trying to get out of the house through a window - 6 of them had bloodstains.

And only a few hundred dollars in cash is believed to have been stolen - police say there were electronic items, and lots of jewelry that were left behind - but the intruder only asked about the gun - which he never did find - and money.

Inevitably - with such a large home in a remote area - speculation might suggest some suspicious connection.

Martha Patnett - sister-in-law of deceased
"All I want to say is that I don't want anyone to make no rumors as to how they got their money because my sister and my brother-in-law worked hard for what they got. I don't want to get into details but she worked hard for what they have. She worked hard in the US and both of them saved their money and they decide to come back home and build something to live comfortable. Belize is messed up."

Mateo Chuc, Neighbor
"He is a very good neighbor - he doesn't say anything - he doesn't have any problem with us - they are very good people."

Martha Patnett - sister-in-law of deceased
"The part that hurts me is that both of them work hard in the States - as he told me that he is coming home and build his dream house for his family and that he will enjoy Belize."

"After when she came here she was discourage as she saw that Belize became terrible, it's dangerous."

Jules Vasquez
"Have they ever imagined that living in that secluded area poses a risk?"

Martha Patnett - sister-in-law of deceased
"That's the reason they took extra precaution - they put thick burglar bars - everything lock and key. There is no way we could see how anyone could get in there. Up to now we don't know how the guy got into the house."

That is what police will have to figure out know - as they try to unravel a murder with no known motive while this family has to come to terms with an entire dream destroyed:

Martha Patnett - sister-in-law of deceased
"Right now she is in a state of shock. She doesn't accept anything. Anything we tell her she does not believe but I guess with time she will accept it."

One theory is that the intruder may have slipped in when Robert Lewis stepped out to feed his dogs.

And as for the security cameras? There are four of them - but they don't record - they only show what's happening outside. And not to get into the people's business - but to provide some background… in case you're still wondering what the Lewis's did to earn the small fortune to build that house - we understand that Mrs. Lewis worked as a nurse and is the beneficiary of a significant inheritance from a wealthy person she formerly took care of.

No one has been detained but police do have a few leads.

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