If you follow the news, you might remember the name Frank Edwards Jr. He's a 27 year-old fisherman from the San Mateo Area of San Pedro Town. He's also been in numerous run in's with the law, and he even got off a murder and a double murder.
But, last night at a few minutes before 9:00, he couldn't escape a group of determined killers who hunted him down in his house for a merciless execution. Frank Edwards Sr., the father of the deceased, told 7News that he knows very little about what happened last night, but what he has been told is that Frank Jr. was inside his home with other family members when they heard a knock on the door.
Someone from the outside shouted "Police!", and Edwards Jr. answered the door, thinking that he was going to meet police officers. He was greeted instead by a gunman wielding a shot gun who immediately unloaded the weapon on Edwards Jr. He fell back inside the house, and that's when other gunmen opened fire and released a hail of bullets. Some accounts are that he suffered as many as 40 gunshot injuries. After the attack, the gunmen ran out of the house and allegedly escaped on a getaway boat.
From there, the information is not so clear, but varying accounts to us are that his family members tried to rush him to a hospital, and they put him on a boat at the Francisco Arceo Dock, but he passed away before they could move off. That's where police found his lifeless body; right inside the boat his family was going to use to rush him to seek medical attention.
At this time investigators are looking into his murder, they have 2 persons detained for questioning. No specific motive has been identified at this time, and police are considering all angles, especially the possibility that Frank Edwards may have been killed in retaliation for past murders that his killers may have connected him to. The Deputy Commanding Officer of the Coastal Executive Unit, Assistant Superintendent Henry Jemmott, discussed it with our colleagues at the San Pedro Sun Newspaper:
ASP Henry Jemmot - Deputy OC, Coastal Executive Unit
"We have several motives, we are at this point, we think it's retaliation for other murders that have occurred. Today significantly is the 24th of February and if we can date back 24th of February is the day that Daniel Espat was murdered. He's one of the lead that we are exploring and there are number of leads we are following because of his affiliation."
Reporter
"Do you believe one of the motives may be drug related?"
ASP Henry Jemmot - Deputy OC, Coastal Executive Unit
"I don't want to speculate and say drug related at this time because the investigation is still in its infant stage, so we are still exploring retaliation as the number one motive."
No one has ever been charged for the murder of 2 year-old Toddler Charlie Daniel "Danny" Espat. Police did charge Gabriel Salazar and Edwards associate, for killing the 2 year-old's older brother, 22 year-old Rolando Espat Jr., who was murdered in September 2014. Salazar is on remand for that charge.
4 other family members of the Espat Family have been violently killed, those include Byron Estrada Espat in January 2013, 17 year-old Daniel Alamilla, and 18 year-old Charlie Espat, who were found buried in shallow graves in Orange Walk in June 2012.
Finally, there's Edwardo "Bro Lee" Guittierrez, brother in Law to the Espat family. Viewers will remember that his body, and that of James Swan were found buried in shallow graves 20 miles north of San Pedro Town, back in 2009. That double murder was believed to have been drug related.
Last night's victim, Frank Edwards Jr. was accused that double murder along with Gabriel Salazar, who as we said is awaiting trial for the murder of Rolando Espat Jr. In 2012 Edwards and Salazar were acquitted of that double murder.
Then, the now deceased Frank Edwards Jr. was also charged with the March 2010 murder of Steven Rudolph Lopez. Lopez was on duty as a KBH security guard when the Scotia Bank Branch in Spanish Lookout was robbed. Those armed thieves made off with approximately 300 thousand dollars, and they killed Rudolph Lopez on the way out of the bank, while escaping with the money.
Frank Edwards, was tried in March 2012, and he was acquitted of that murder. His brother, Alex Edwards, was a wanted man for that deadly Scotia Bank robbery. He was on the run from police, but he was killed in September 2010 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras when he and another man tried to rob a bus.
The family of Frank Edwards Jr. who declined to grant us any on camera interviews, told us that he leaves behind a new born baby.
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