On Wednesday, we told you about arraignment of 4 people in connection with the firearm stolen from Belmopan Taxi Driver Daniel Aguirre, who police believe was killed and then set on fire on a deserted road near Tea Kettle Village. Well, the news tonight is that one of those four, 29 year-old Noel Alexander Torres, the Belize City resident who pleaded guilty to stealing and then stashing stolen weapon, has been charged for Aguirre's murder.
As we told you, a post mortem was conducted late Wednesday evening on the severely burnt body of what is believed to be Daniel Aguirre. Yesterday, police released the details of that examination where Dr. Mario Estradabran found evidence to suggest that the body was bleeding before it was burned. The result of the post-mortem was inconclusive, but Belmopan Police seem to have enough to ascertain that the body is indeed Aguirre, and that Torres was the assailant who murdered him.
As we showed you, the Officer Commanding Belmopan Police, ASP Sinquest Martinez, said that they recovered what they believe to be the murder weapon; 7News has since learnt that the suspected weapon is a knife.
The main evidence against Torres, however, is a caution statement he made to police in which he allegedly confessed to the murder, calling Aguirre's name and explaining how he used the knife to kill him.
This statement, the retrieval of the weapon, the retrieval of Aguirre's gun, strong circumstantial evidence, and Torres' cooperation with police, has led the Director of Public Prosecution to give the directive to charge him with murder.
Today, Torres was arraigned in Belmopan Magistrate's Court, and he was remanded to prison while he awaits trial for murder.
He is currently serving 5 years for keeping unlicensed firearm, keeping unlicensed ammunition, and handling stolen goods. The prosecution has since withdrawn the charges against the other 3 defendants who were jointly arraigned and remanded.
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