Belize: Two charged for double murder near Crooked Tree over financial disputes

Belize: Two Burrell Boom residents were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the shooting death of a couple near Crooked Tree junction on Monday evening. The suspects have been identified as 29-year-old Rashad Jones and 23-year-old Jerwin Ormand Segura.  

Police said that they have levied murder charges against the two as they are the main suspects in the double murder occurred in Belize earlier this week.  

Reportedly, 37-year-old Felix Martinez and his partner 40-year-old Adelita Gillet were fatally shot inside their black coloured Chevy Equinox which was parked on the side of the Phillip Godson Highway in Belize. The police officers revealed that the couple had paid Jones 35 thousand dollars to purchase and import a vehicle from the United States back in October.  

After several weeks of waiting and no sign of getting their vehicle, the couple requested that their money be returned to them before they pursued legal means and asked their attorney to make a formal and written demand for a refund earlier this month.  

On the day of murders, the couple was reportedly lured to the area believing that they would be receiving a partial refund, however, Jones and Segura fired several gunshots in their direction, killing them on the spot while they were sitting inside their vehicle. The vehicle also had several bullet marks on both the driver and passenger side.  

Police Commissioner Chester Williams has also confirmed the detention and the motive behind this killing saying that the area where the couple was found dead was not an area they would usually visit.  

Williams further said that both the suspects are now expected to be arraigned in court later today (January 23, 2025).  

Meanwhile, several locals of Belize are taking to Facebook to confirm that the suspect Jones is a well-known fraudster who lures people into paying him money by committing them to provide with an imported vehicle.  

A local named Sylvian Roberts noted, “The same Jones crooked me off with a bus sale. I told him that he's going to have a great fall one of these days he can keep the money he's a hypocrite he uses his church as a disguise and professes to be a good person.” Another user noted, “This vehicle thing is out of control, two viable lives for the love of money. The rope needs to return.”