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William Mason’s Wife Acquitted
posted (February 10, 2017)
It's been 3 months since we've last reported on the case of Pastor Lu who was decapitated in July of last year. Since then, the accused mastermind, William "Danny" Mason, has been in jail along with the men police charged for murder and kidnapping. Mason's wife, Melissa Ferguson, was charged in connection to the kidnapping, but tonight she is free and clear.

That's after a adjournment at the Magistrate's Court today when the police prosecution told the Chief Magistrate that they are withdrawing the conspiracy to commit kidnapping charge that they brought against her. In August, she was arraigned on the charge because the police said that they had linked her the kidnapping of Pastor Lucas and his fellow kidnapping victim, David Dodd.

She's been on bail since August, and so today, when her case went back before Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith, police prosecutor, Assistant Police Commissioner Chester Williams, was expected to update the court on the status of their case against her. But, instead, Williams told the Chief Magistrate that the Director of Public Prosecutions has directed that they withdraw the charge against her.

Our news team was at the Magistrate's Court when she walked out after the hearing, and we spoke to her about the very favorable outcome..

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"Share with us your feelings being acquitted at this time."

Melissa Ferguson - Acquitted of Kidnapping Conspiracy
"Relief."

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"Do you know why exactly they decided to withdraw against you?"

Melissa Ferguson - Acquitted of Kidnapping Conspiracy<
"There was no evidence that I was ever involved in anything in the first place."

Richard "Dickie" Bradley - Attorney for Melissa Ferguson
"Melissa was just out of bad mind and malice added as someone who was involved in conspiring to commit an offence and as she had said in the magistrate court in Belmopan when it was first a arraigned that she is 100 percent innocent. She can't understand what is happening. as a matter of fact she explained that it was her previous attorney who advised her, quite rightly so, in the heat of the moment at the night when matters were unfolding that there had been a murder that for her safety, the lawyer arranged for her to leave her home and as you all know, Melissa in fact after the hurricane Earl, she turned herself in to the authorities. They promised her all she needed was a statement for her to explain what little she knew about the layout of the house and who arrived that day and so on. then after she gave the statement they held on to her, kept her in a dungeon in san Ignacio and then brought this bogus charge for which unfortunately the magistrate in Belmopan who could have granted bail did not grant bail and Melissa went to prison and had to come to the supreme court and suffer the indignity of being a prisoner of her name all over the internet, of her family in Canada suffering not only the humiliation, but the stress of what is happening in a faraway country. Now this morning without any apology to her the court in informed that the charge is being withdrawn."

ACP Chester Williams, Esq. - Police Prosecutor
"The DPP having gone through the file decided that there was not sufficient evidence to proceed against Miss Melissa Ferguson and she directed that the matter against her be withdrawn."

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"Did the attorney had said that this should have been the mature decision that the police should have taken from the get-go."

ACP Chester Williams, Esq. - Police Prosecutor
"Well, the attorney has a job to do and he is the attorney representative his client and it isn't wrong for him to say that, if I was the attorney for the defense I would say the same thing too, but the police do act on evidence but evidence is charged and evidence to convict is 2 different things."

Richard "Dickie" Bradley - Attorney for Melissa Ferguson
"Wreck up her life, her farm was unattended, horses got away, people stealing pigs, people breaking into the home. Nobody want to pretend that that has happened, but God be praised, she is a free woman now. She can move forward and hopefully get on with her life. I will advise her that if she wants to sue it is her prerogative."

ACP Chester Williams, Esq. - Police Prosecutor
"Anyone can bring a suit against the police. I don't know what the suit will be for but if it is for malicious prosecution the law of malicious prosecution clearly states that not just because the charges are drawn against you by the DPP or by the court means that there is grounds for malicious prosecution, so I am sure that the attorney will be very careful when he thread, if he decides to take a suit against the department where that is concerned."

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"Those cynical persons in the public would view this as, 'see that case against the mason family and his workers is slowly starting to crack, its falling away.' Is that a fair observation?"

Richard "Dickie" Bradley - Attorney for Melissa Ferguson
"When you are cynical these things are feared, but let us be clear Melissa had nothing to do with the allegations against Mr. Mason and several of this workers and she was dragged before the courts as I just explained in detail and she maintain from the outset to the Belmopan magistrate, I don't even know why my name is being produced."

ACP Chester Williams, Esq. - Police Prosecutor
"I am not the person who will decide the outcome of this case, so I am not in a position to answer that question, but I can tell you that as an attorney and as a person who is dealing with the matter at the magistrate court level that there is sufficient evidence in the file against the other defendants and that is the reason why the DPP did directed a charge against anyone else other than Melissa Ferguson."

The court has scheduled a preliminary inquiry for the other defendants, William Mason, Ashton Vanegas, Keron Fernandez, Terrence Fernandez, and Ernest Castillo for 21 February, 2017. Indications are that it could be a straight-forward committal of the case to the Supreme Court, which is where these men will have to face trial.

That could change if the attorneys defending the men decide to make submissions challenging the evidence that the police have.

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