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Woman Murdered In Front of Family By Pig Thieves In More Tomorrow
posted (June 4, 2015)
There was a murder on the outskirts of More Tomorrow Village, a quiet area off the Western Highway, just before the City of Belmopan. It happened this morning just after midnight when a farming family from Orange Walk was awoken to armed bandits trying to rob their new boss of his pigs.

Our news team was in the area today, and Daniel Ortiz found out that a mother and wife was shot and killed in front of her children and husband inside her new home:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
This farm, with the house in the distance, is located at about 2 miles on the road to More Tomorrow Village in the Cayo District, just outside of Belmopan. This area looks peaceful, but at around 1:00 this morning, that house became the scene of a violent shooting which left one woman dead.

She's 39 year-old Guatemalan Paula Garcia, who came to live here with her husband and children last week Saturday. 5 days later, her life was taken from her.

Michael Myvette - Chairman, More Tomorrow Village
"I was in my bed laying down and when I heard the dogs barking and then I saw the man who was on his phone. My son told me that the man was asking for me and so when he opened the door and I come outside I see the man crying. He told me that some people went up there in a vehicle and they start to shoot at the house and one of the bullet caught his wife and she died. That's all he told me. He said that he tried to call for the police. I told him that I will call the police and then the police came."

Right after calling the police the next call was to his new boss, Michael Flowers, the owner of the farm

Michael Flowers - Farm Owner
"About 3:30 this morning I received a call from the chairman of the village saying that my caretaker is at his house and that his wife is dead."

Flowers made his way over and that when Garcia's husband recounted to him that armed thieves killed her after invading the farm.

Michael Flowers - Farm Owner
"On arriving here at my farm I discovered that some people came apparently to steal some more pigs from me, because I have lost several pigs over the past few months and it seems like they have returned to steal some more pics. At that time the caretaker did not have a lot of dogs and the caretaker was very old. But I just change caretaker on Saturday of last week and it was an entire family this time and they were much younger than the previous caretaker and they brought a lot of dogs with them. So, according to the caretaker, about 1am he heard some noise and he heard that the dogs were barking by the pig pen and he decided that he was going to go and check. As he opens the door, gunshots started to fly."

Garcia and her family were asleep, and as soon the bullets started to penetrate the house, her husband ordered the children lie flat on the ground. He ordered her to do the same, and while she scrambled to the floor, one of the bullets struck her in the neck, and she bled out on the bed.

Michael Flowers - Farm Owner
"It seems like there was one person in front of the house and there were another coming from the pig pen chasing the dogs and both of them start shooting at the house and during which the wife got shot and sadly she died."

Flowers had high hopes for the farming family, he believed that they would take his dream of being a successful pig farmer to the next level. He told us today that he is sure that Garcia didn't deserve to die.

Michael Flowers - Farm Owner
"I must say that these people were very nice people. They were excited to take care of the farm and I was excited also to have them on the farm, because they seem like genuine farmers and I was very excited. It hurts and it pains my heart to just incident happening on my farm. It pains my heart to see somebody who is trying and myself who has the vision of having one of the biggest pig farm in this area. All that goals and aims that I have somehow got shuttered, because I cannot believe people would actually kill just like that - just for a few pigs."

It is an unusual crime for this area since, More Tomorrow Village and its surrounding areas aren't known for this type of violence.

Michael Myvette - Chairman, More Tomorrow Village
"We don't have that in our village. It's so ridiculous when we heard that. We would want the location, if it's More Tomorrow road - so much miles off the Western Highway, they found this off More Tomorrow feeder road, but not in the village itself."

As we told you, the family is from Orange Walk Town, and Garcia's husband took the job as the new caretaker of the farm on last week Saturday. Immediately after the police allowed them, the family packed up their belongings and left the area as soon as they could.

Michael Flowers told us that until police solve this crime, he is minded to close down the farm and put his business on hold because he does not want to put another caretaker's life in jeopardy. He tells us that 6 months ago a thief stole one of his pigs from the farm. 2 weeks ago, thieves came back and stole 5 more. He believes that the murder of his caretaker's wife is motivated by that theft, and that they attacked the family because they came dangerously close to being exposed. He says that a fully grown pig nets a price of 450 to 500 dollars each.

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