Email

Print

So, why was he violently killed last night? And who would want him dead? That's what our news team has been trying to find out since we started following the story last night. Daniel Ortiz reports:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
72 year-old Albert Cattouse was found dead inside his taxi cab last night on Hicatee Street. The senior citizen was shot to the back of the head, and there was another gunshot wound to the forehead, which could have been a second injury, or an exit wound.

Police say that he was driving his Lincoln Town Car from the direction of West Collet Canal, heading toward's Dolphin Street. When he was passing Bocotora Street, bystanders heard the sound of gunfire. Minutes later, Cattouse's car was found in a drain near the Rogers Stadium fence. That suggests that the killer may have been inside the vehicle, but that is not known for certain.

His niece told us that as far as she's aware, the area where he was killed is not somewhere he frequents.

Bernadette Cattouse - Niece of the Deceased
"After the end of the news, Channel 7 News said that a taxi person got killed by Roger's Stadium. So, whenever they say that a taxi person get killed, my mind goes to my uncle."

"I called my other uncle, who is Otto Cattouse, and I explained what happened, and he said, okay, let me call him. He called and got the same thing. So, then, After that, I hung up and he called me back, and said that a person that's his neighbour from Lords Bank, where he lives, by the name of Carol - I don't know her last name - called him and told him, that she saw my uncle coming down to Belize City 6:30 in the evening. She said that she questioned it and said, why is he coming down this late? So, obviously he got a phone call for a job. After that, I don't know what happened because at night time, he would never go around where that happened, especially that street. My uncle would never do that. He's very cautious."

No one knows why he was killed, but what his friends and family feel certain of, is that it wasn't a robbery.

Bernadette Cattouse
"He was having problems with his kidney and different things, so, he's at home sick. So, I think he got a phone call that lured him to his death. He did not get robbed, they had everything, his car keys, his money in his wallet, his phone, everything."

"Everybody knows my uncle, he's an activist. He's loud, he's outspoken. He doesn't care. I even used to run joke with him and say, 'Uncle, I saw you on news, you're in front. Be careful.' I would tease him like that, but other than that, he's a very nice person, a caring person, a family person."

"He was very boisterous, I am not sure which night it was, but he was saying a lot of stuff on the news. And, I just feel it's behind that, that they lured him and killed him."

Daniel Ortiz, reporter
"So, you think that it's because of his outspoken nature that someone targeted him."

Bernadette Cattouse
"Yes, yes."

Albert Cattouse lived a quiet life as a taxi man who was very close with his relatives.

Bernadette Cattouse
"He doesn't have any kids. He was not married. Us as the oldest nieces and nephews, we were like his kids. We were very close. And, he's the one that kept the family together all the time."

He was also a fiercely loyal activist for the grassroots organization, COLA. They were also a part of his family, and those members had a deep sense of respect for him.

Geovanni Brackett - President, COLA
"When we had different various programs, he would contribute out of his pocket, school supplies to kids, helpings out programs to donate chairs to Timmy Stamp. He helped out on various ways. He supported even the days of healing. Even if he wasn't there, his finance was there. He was a man to love."

Perry "Stix" Smith - Activist for Youths
"I get to know Mr. Cattouse when I joined COLA, and when I started doing Days of Healing, Mr. Cattouse was one of the gentlemen who used to always tell me, 'Stix, Don't stop what you're doing.' Sometimes, he would see me on my bicycle riding with chicken or rice, and he took those things, and he put it in his vehicle and drove it to my house for me. When he came, 'Stix, you know we don't have a lot of money, we are not rich people. Take this. I took a few dollars from him to go buy some beans, buy something toward Days of Healing."

Yhoni Rosado - Businessman/Activist
"We met Mr. Cattouse about 6 years ago, through COLA, and since we fight for justice, we have something in common. We were very easy, nice, laughing people, but when we are fighting for justice we get very serious, and we get very emotional, and I saw that in him. I opened a tired shop about 2 years ago, and he was the first person who stopped in there."

"But above all, I came here to tell this city, and this country, that they have killed an activist, a nice man."

Moses Sulph - Activist
"I can remember the first time I spoke with him on Albert Street. He said, 'Mr. Sulph, I took off my political hat, and put on [the] activism hat to support young people like you all, who are doing the right thing."

Cattouse is described as the man who refused to compromise his principles of social justice to the point that he would criticize even his fellow activists from COLA.

Geovanni Brackett
"Cat, like his niece said, is very straight up, so, when he wasn't happy with me, he was the one that put the most pressure on me. But, he came right back, and he said, 'Brackett, I love you, let me come speak to you. And we would have that kind of relationship. This really hurts."

Perry "Stix" Smith - Activist for Youths
"We lost a national treasure, people, a national treasure. Over 50 years, this man has been standing up and fighting for this country."

And even after those 50 years, he still had the vitality and fire of the younger activists in his circles. Just last week, Thursday, we saw him on the frontlines of the protest, where it was being demanded that the government reduce the gas prices, to ease the burden on poor people.

File: October 5, 2017
Albert Cattouse - Taxi Driver/Protester
"The government have taxi men under pressure, because you have a lot of rental cars out there, you have family members out there and the prices that the gas are under you have to run for small fare. The people say they don't have it, so taxi men are under pressure. I myself is under pressure too, but I try to work around the people and I try to monitor and I try. The prices are too high and like I said a while ago, this fight for crisis - we've been fighting this for over 10 years."

That's also the last time that "Stix spoke with him.

Perry "Stix" Smith
"The last time I talked with Mr. Cattouse was out at the march to lower the gas prices, and he told me, 'Stix, what's happening to you, activists? It's like you all are just getting quiet. We are not hearing anything from you all. What happen? Your voices are getting quiet.' So, I told him, 'Mr. Cattouse, you already know that we are living in some dangerous times right now. You know all the threats we get behind the scenes, we don't go out there and speak about those things publicly. I am threatened so many times. So many threats I get. You get threats. Moses and those guys get threats. Nigel and those guys get threats."

Cattouse may have been killed in one of those random and senseless acts of violence, but the activists around him interpret his murder as a message directed at them to keep quiet.

Geovanni Brackett
"When I heard nothing was stolen from him, I - I think it is the conclusion of all of us in the activist community, and the family that this was a hit."

We in the activist community see this as an act of aggression against the activists as well because that killer doesn't know the quality of the man that he took.

Yhoni Rosado
"Being an activist, or being outspoken against our country, Government, which is very small, you become an easy target. So, I hardly go out."

Moses Sulph - Activist
"We believe, Belize Leaders for Social Justice and other activists believe that this can be a message being sent to us, and we want to make it clear that we are not going to sit back and allow these things to happen."