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Two Charged For Killing Bullet Tree Butcher
posted (October 2, 2017)
On Friday, we took you to mile 18 on the Hummingbird Highway, where 46 year old Luis Sierra's family was looking for him. They found the butcher from Bullett Tree on a hillside, dead from a gunshot wound, and Dangriga police wrapped up the case with lightning quickness. They charged two suspects, plus they got the alleged murder weapon, with the expended shell still inside.

The suspects are the same 2 suspects we told you about on Friday, but tonight, they have been charged so we can release their names; they are 34 year-old Saul Campos, and 31 year-old Lyndon Lewis.

Tonight, Daniel Ortiz looks at how the two allegedly lured Sierra to his death.

Daniel Ortiz reporting
The man who was lying down in this police truck on last Friday was 34 year-old Saul Campos. Police believe that he was the gunman who shot and killed 46 year-old Luis Sierra, the butcher from Crooked Tree. He's been charged with murder.

All indications are that Sierra hoped to do an honest business transaction with this man, 31 year-old Lyndon Lewis, who police have now charged with conspiracy to commit Robbery.

He's the owner of this property at mile 18 on the Hummingbird Highway that Sierra visited; it became the murder scene where Sierra's body would be retrieved 24 hours later.

Sierra's family believes that they wanted to rob him, and that's why he was lured out to Lewis' farm.

That's consistent with the charges police have brought: "Conspiracy to Robbery." and "MURDER." as well as " Kept Unlicensed Firearm and Ammunition."

Jose Erazo - Brother of the Deceased
"So he told him to come and see for himself. So my brother came and he didn't have the cow here at his house, he said he had it in the bushes. He had a cow here and my brother ask if this was it and he said it's not that. He said that he has it in the bushes and when they went in the bushes, he said that the man started to call the cattle, but nothing came. So they walk a little bit around the bushes where he has his pastures, but it wasn't pastures, it was high bushes. Only a little clearance was there. So when he came back and stand up in the clear, the man who set him up to take him up there."

The robbery most likely went wrong when the gunman, who police have identified as Saul Campos, shot Luis Sierra in the abdomen.

Jose Erazo - Brother of the Deceased
"So when he came back and stand up in the clear, the man who set him up to take him up there, he stayed behind. So my brother was already coming back with his worker and at the same time somebody came out from the bushes with a gun and he point at two of them and he told my brother that he will die and he pointed the gun to him and he shot him in his stomach and then after that he follows the worker, he chased him, but I don't know if the gun snapped or what but he didn't fire at him, but he chased him a good distance in the bushes."

One can only speculate as to ordeal Luis Sierra suffered as he slowly bled to death hoping that somebody would find him in time

Jose Erazo - Brother of the Deceased
"My brother he called Lester (the guy who came with him) and told him that he got shot and to come and look for him, But Lester ask where is he and he said that is by some animals and then he (Lester) said he called him again, that was about 2pm when he called the first time. He say he (Luis) call again about nearly 3pm and then from that no more calls. I mean they tried to call him, but the no ringing from the phone. He (Luis) called another friend who works for him at his meat shop in Bullet Tree and he told him that, the only word that he said was that "I am dying" and then he (Luis) didn't say anymore and the phone went off."

But that wasn't to be, and there are still unanswered questions, like why Sierra's body was found at the bottom of a hill, in a dangerous and hard-to-reach place? Police struggled to climb down safely, and so, an injured man, who's life was slowly ebbing away, most likely would not be able to make that descent.

Both Lewis and Campos were arraigned today in the Dangriga Magistrate's Court. Campos was remanded to the Belize Central Prison, while Lewis was granted bail of $3,000. The case has been adjourned until November 6.

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