36 year-old Belmopan resident George Hyde was acquitted today in the Belmopan Supreme Court for the murder of 69 year-old Canadian Keith Haslam. You may remember the story from December 2013, when Haslam was savagely beaten and chopped to death in the Village of Buena Vista, CAYO.
Hyde was charged with murder, and he stood trial before Justice Antoinette Moore. The Crown, represented by Senior Crown Counsel Cecil Ramirez, relied on a caution statement and 2 oral confessions that Hyde allegedly made.
But none of the statements were admitted into evidence after a trial within this trial revealed that Hyde was promised that if he gave the statement, his girlfriend would not be charged.
His girlfriend, who became a witness for the Crown, had testified that he told her not to worry because he will take the rap. Hyde's attorney, Leeroy Banner, argued successfully that even if the statement was true, it does not necessarily mean that Hyde had confessed to committing the crime. According to the police officer, Hyde had told him that it was he who committed the murder and his girlfriend is innocent.
Because none of the statements were allowed as evidence in the case, there were no other pieces of evidence which tied Hyde to the crime. Justice Moore ruled today that there was no evidence the accused committed the murder, and she acquitted him.
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