Tonight, the village of Valley of Peace in the Cayo District continues to monitor closely how the police are handling the case of 54 year-old Donatilo Canales who was shot to death early Saturday morning.
Canales, who was shot by police 2 years ago, was found dead in his back yard with multiple gunshot injuries. The Police Press Office is calling it a shooting incident, but his family believes that he was murdered.
It's a complex situation because a gun and 4 expended shells were found on the scene, so police aren't labelling it directly as a homicide. That leaves it open to the interpretation that the injuries could have been self-inflicted. On the other hand, the family suspects a police officer of being involved in Canales' death.
7News has been following the story since this weekend, and Daniel Ortiz reports on what we've been able to find out so far:
Daniel Ortiz reporting
This is the home of Donatilo Canales, where he met his end just after midnight on Friday.
The circumstances of his untimely end leaves a lot of questions unanswered, but what his family does know is that he got up at around 12:30 a.m. The loud barking of his dogs woke him, and that's when he went out the backdoor.
No one knows for sure what happened after that, but it is believed that someone fired 4 shots at him while he was standing in his yard. He was hit in the leg, chest, throat and head, and then the shooter ran off.
His wife realized that he was gone for too long, and with the sounds of the gunshots, she became concerned. She quickly alerted the neighbors to help her look for him, and that's when they found his lifeless body here in the yard, about a little more than a hundred yards from the backdoor.
At this time, there are all kinds of wild speculation about the motive to target the 54 year-old Valley of Peace resident, said to be a family man.
For his wife and children, it comes as particularly tough blow because he had just recently started walking again.
He was almost at the end of his full recovery after being shot 2 years ago by Police Sergeant Paulino Reyes.
The officer, who has killed before, claims that in November 2012, he had to shoot Canales in the left leg after he became aggressive. Reyes classified him as, quote, "a known drug dealer", but his family denies that, and the allegations that he punched the officer in the face. Photographs show that Canales was injured to both legs and spent months trying to recuperate.
FILE: November 14, 2012
Daniel Ortiz
"They are saying (the National Security) that your dad is only shot once. Can you tell us; is that accurate information?"
Lucia Lopez
"I know that his 2 legs were shot, and I was at the KHMH yesterday. I saw that both of his legs were damage; they are fractured. So, the possibility is that he would be able to walk for a long time. He has to go through surgery."
Daniel Ortiz
"The police are alleging that your dad is a known drug offender - a known drug dealer, they're saying. How do you respond to that?"
Lucia Lopez
"I can't respond to that. If police is alleging something, they must have proof, and they can check my dad's record. My dad has no previous convictions. He has never been arrested for a type of - except the last time he got arrested for a possession of drugs, for which the case is still in court...The Sergeant was really pushing the issue so that my dad pleads guilty to the charge. My dad refused because he knows that he is innocent."
As we mentioned earlier, the police who recovered the body also found 4 expended 9mm shells, a hallow point slug and a glock 9mm pistol. We tried all of today to get a comment from Belmopan Police, but the Commanding Officer was unavailable. We were promised additional information and an opportunity to make important inquiries, but up until news time, none was afforded to us.
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