7 News Belize

Man Kills Two Alleged Robbers: Police Say It’s Murder
posted (April 14, 2014)
It was a deadly weekend in Belize: there are 5 murders to report on tonight, plus two traffic fatalities, a total of 7 deaths, all males between the ages of 18 and 57.

We start tonight with a story of two killings In Carmelita Village, Orange Walk which many thought would not result in murder charges. Two alleged robbers were killed by the property owner whose farm they had just raided. He was defending his property but police said he went too far, and that's why they charged him for murder.

Daniel Ortiz has the story:...

Daniel Ortiz reporting
The Johnson farm was still smoldering, today, signs that it had been burnt to the ground. The two houses that they worked hard to build were ransacked and all the items of value were stolen.

Thieves tore off parts of their roof, probably to gain entry.?The family's life's work had been reduced to nothing.

That's the difficulty that 50 year-old Edson Johnson, the patriarch of the family found himself in on Friday when he visited the farm. He then opened fire on 2 men when he found them trespassing on his property.

The blast from his shotgun fatally wounded two them. He called police to retrieve the body of the first person:

Dennis Arnold, O.C., Orange Walk Police
"Whilst at the farm a short while later he heard what appears to be the sound of a motor vehicle coming. He was at his farm, the vehicle reverse unto his farm, two male persons alighted that vehicle. The vehicle was a double cab, red in color and I think it was a Mitsubishi. Whilst the two persons alighted that vehicle he yelled at them and apparently the persons were fleeing when he mentioned he fired a shot in their direction and saw one of the persons fell to the ground. Hence the reason for the phone calls to the police."

The responding officers found 23 year-old Luke Deon Emmanuel Cox, who had been fatally wounded with pellets to the back.

The next day, they went back to do more investigation, and they found the body of 24 year-old Saul Eliseo Garcia some 200-300 yards away from where Cox had fallen. Both had suffered fatal pellet wounds to their upper and lower backs.

The vehicle that they reversed onto Johnson's property was damage from the shotgun blast. The driver of the vehicle, a third man, was the only person who was there without permission and managed to speed off, leaving his companions behind. He handed himself in and was questioned and release by police. The vehicle remained in impound.

As for Johnson...well, police say that he used lethal force excessively, and so, he has been charged with 2 counts of murder.

Dennis Arnold, O.C., Orange Walk Police
"Between Friday and yesterday we had made contact with the DPP and we had given the leeway to charge Mr. Johnson. So, yesterday Mr. Johnson was charged for two counts of murder."

Hubert Elrington - Attorney for the Accused
"I think that the police ought to have sent the whole file up to the DPP and ought to have gotten her directions on a particular incident like this because you know if you are defending your property or defending somebody else or defending your own life then they ought not to charge you for murder or manslaughter and I think there are elements in this particular case given the very remoteness of this farm and the fact that the incident occurred around 6 o' clock in the evening and it was only he and his son that was here and then some people came in and the incident occurred. I think there are elements in the incident which the DPP would want to look at and to decide she ought to go ahead with any charge at all."

Johnson's family is now distraught, his wife could barely contain her desperation; her family savings, which was invested in the farm now lays in ruin, and more urgent than that, her husband is now on remand, for something they believe was justifiable homicide.

Rosita Johnson - Wife of the Accused
"I can't explain myself as to how I feel because I pictured myself is that what you sweat for is what you earn. When you work like this is not the same when you have a government job because when you stop work, you would get something like $3,000. This is all that we have and all our money was invested in this place. My husband plans were that this farm was a retirement for him, for when he gets old he could have something in life."

Daniel Ortiz
"Mr. Johnson reports that his house is destroyed. He sees these men on his property and fires at them when they ran. Is that another lead that you are looking at that he was protecting life and property?"

Dennis Arnold, O.C., Orange Walk Police
"I can't say in what way he was protecting life and property when the guys were fleeing."

Daniel Ortiz
"These gentlemen who passed away from the injuries from the gunshot, do they have an history with any police encounters where they were suspected of crimes before or is this the first time that they are showing up on police radar?"

Dennis Arnold, O.C., Orange Walk Police
"This is not the first time. They have been known to police; Cox was wanted 2-3 weeks ago for two counts of harm, we couldn't find him; last week an investigation came up and he was the main suspect of two sheep, while Saul has court proceedings before the court presently."

Today, Edison Johnson was arraigned in the Orange Walk Magistrate's court for those two counts of murder, and there's no bail for murder so he was remanded until May 13.

So, while that is the version of the story from the Johnson family; Saul Garcia, who was killed by Edison, says that he didn't go to that farm to steal anything. They say he went there to get paid for a work, and was allegedly set up.

Here's how his sister explained it to us today:

Reina Garcia - Sister of Deceased (Translated)
"Well, Humberto Garcia, my brother, received a phone call at 5 pm sharp saying that they had set up something, saying that they had set up something for them to have transport with a man who has a coloured truck. We want to know if they arrested the man with the coloured truck that was shot because they haven't told us anything about that truck, about the owner. My brother Saul received a call from the guy who was killed saying that he was shot in his ribs and shoulder, saying he needs help to please get a truck and pick him up where he is. My brother asked where but he could get a vehicle quick because he lives in Rhaburn Ridge. He was in Carmelita to look for a man with the red truck. He called the man before he got to his house that's when the man told him that he had an emergency and he is at the hospital with his mother in law, and that he can't take him to where the two guys are. When he got to the man's house- the owner of the red truck- he saw the truck there and asked the man why he said he was at the hospital with his mother in law when the truck is right there. The man then got out of the truck and told him that his brother was dead, that they set him, they set him up. My brother asked him what kind of set up and he didn't say anything else. After that my little brother continued to ask him question and he refuses to answer, his wife is the one who answers the phone calls now. We want to ask the police that we want to investigate, follow this because it's not a dog that they killed."

Our archives show that Saul Garcia was charged when he was 19 years-old for an unlicensed shotgun and ammunition which police say they found at his house in Rhaburn Ridge in Orange Walk in March of 2011.

Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize