7 News Belize

Canadian Filmmaker Murdered near Spanish Lookout
posted (January 5, 2016)
You may have seen the movie named, "Curse of the Xtabai". The 2012 film was probably the first full length creole language movie which was made completely in Belize. Or how about the first Spanish soap opera filmed in Belize called, La Isla Bonita Telenovela?

Well, tonight, the Canadian man who made the ambitious film and television series is dead. 37 year old Matthiew Klinck was killed sometime over the past few days - and left dead outside his house which is not far from Spanish Lookout. Daniel Ortiz went there today looking for answers:...

Daniel Ortiz reporting
Police found the body of 37 year-old Canadian Filmmaker Matthiew Klinck here in Selena Village, on the outskirts of the Spanish Lookout Community in Cayo.

The last time he was seen alive was mostly likely on Saturday, at around 4 p.m. Klinck drove past the caretaker of the property as he normally does. Since it was not unusual for him to work long hours in total privacy, nothing was suspected to be amiss.

It wasn't until his friends came to visit him last night that his body was found decomposing near the house. He had been violently stabbed to death.

Edwin Paz - Caretaker, Property
"Last night around 8:30, I was working at my house and his friends came in and they found the door open. They didn't found him. They had no light with them. So they ask me to come along with them and bring a flashlight, so I came back with them and ask for Matthiew. We call him, but he didn't answer. So I came downstairs and I had my flashlight along and then I went in the yard and I found the body."

Supt. Andrew Ramirez - OC, San Ignacio Police
"San Ignacio police visited the area where they saw a male Caucasian lying face up about 15 feet away from the house that he use as his premises, apparently motionless with a stab wound to the neck. The body was in a state of decomposition already. An onsite post mortem was conducted today where at the conclusion the doctor certify that he had a total of 14 stab wounds to the upper part of his body mainly in the neck area."

There are some puzzling elements to the crime scene. Police say, his house was left wide open, as if it had been searched. The caretaker says that while that is true, his very expensive filmmaking equipment and cameras, were left untouched. The caretaker told us today that as far as he could observe, nothing appeared stolen.

Supt. Andrew Ramirez - OC, San Ignacio Police
"They also observed the house ransacked. The vehicle that he had also was open amongst others."

Edwin Paz - Caretaker, Property
"I had no idea how he was killed, because everything was inside the house. So I guess they just came straight to kill him. There was no reason - they stole anything, so I guess...."

The remoteness of Klinck's home could pose difficulties for police in trying to solve this crime

Reporter
"Who would normally come to visit him? Was he always alone - that sort of thing?"

Edwin Paz - Caretaker, Property
"Only his two friends came very often and sometimes he comes in with different girls. So beside that nobody have reason to kill..."

Supt. Andrew Ramirez - OC, San Ignacio Police
"The investigative team is presently in the area trying to follow any sort of leads that they may find. The motive is unknown at the moment. The only information we have at this point in time is that he was last seen at about 4pm in his vehicle around his premises. If you guys had visited the area you will note that these areas are isolated. The houses are not really close, cluster together and imagine one committing an act at night time, the possibility will always be there that it will be a very challenging investigation."

Klinck, who was the producer and director of The Curse of the Xtabai movie, as well as the La Isla Bonita Telenovela, was very passionate about making films in Belize. He believed in the people of the country where he was killed. In September 2014, he discussed that enthusiasm with us at 7News.

FILE:
Matthiew Klinck, Filmmaker

"I think this is huge news for the Belize Film Festival and I think its huge news for Belize too. Because I think what we did here is we prove that it's possible to create a film industry right here in Belize."

Edwin Paz - Caretaker, Property
"He was happy. He says they had given him a good contract - that he soon he will get a good contract."

Supt. Andrew Ramirez - OC, San Ignacio Police
"On behalf of the San Ignacio Police Department and by extension the Government of Belize, I'd like to express our sincerest condolences to the Klinck family in Canada and also to the Canadian Government in having one of their national die here in Belize."

Police have reached out to the Canadian Counsul in Belize so that they can communicate the news of the tragedy to his family.

Later on in the news, we will speak to his other film making peers in Belize as we get their reaction to his untimely passing.

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