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Two Belizeans were gunned down in Melchor over the weekend. The shootings were separate and police say unrelated but both were fatal. 22 year old Rene Teck, a resident of Succotz Village, was shot as many as six times around 9 pm on Friday night. He later died while undergoing treatment at a Melchor hospital. His brother Carlos Teck, who worked with his younger brother at the Vaca Dam site, says the family got the news early on Saturday morning.

Carlos Teck, Brother of Rene Teck
“I saw my brother on Friday like 2:30 in the evening. After that I didn’t see him until I got the news Saturday morning. A guy from Melchor told me that my brother was in the hospital he told me. He didn’t tell me he was dead. I went to Melchor and checked and it was him. He had two shots but I sister told me he got six.”

Insp. Claudio Mai, Acting OIC - Benque Viejo Police
“On the third of April at about 9 pm, Ariel Teck was murdered at Melchor. I don’t know the exact location of where this thing happened, only that he was murdered in Melchor with two gunshot wounds to the right side of the abdomen. The details of that, I am privy to that at the moment.”

Carlos Teck,
“The police from Melchor they don’t give us nothing. They haven’t found anything and it will stay like that. I don’t think it is fair because a lot of people Melchor come and work in Belize.”

Keith Swift,
You and your brother worked together. When you last him, did he say where he was going?

Carlos Teck,
“No he didn’t tell me.”

Keith Swift,
Does he normally go to Melchor?

Carlos Teck,
“Well I can’t tell you that answer because I used to work with him at work but it’s different because I stay in a next house and I just come to check with my mom sometimes and then I go back. So I don’t know if he goes to Cayo or Melchor – I never know that.”

Keith Swift,
And is he someone who gets into fights or someone who has enemies?

Carlos Teck,
“No.”

Keith Swift,
So no reason why someone would want to shoot him as many as six times?

Carlos Teck,
“No.”

Keith Swift,
Do you think Melchor police will ever find who did this?

Carlos Teck,
“No they won’t find that because this is the fourth time they’ve done this. Four people from Succotz they’ve done it to and the police Melchor hasn’t given anything like that. They won’t find out nothing about who shoot him or they got the person or nothing. It will stay like that.”

Forty eight hours after Rene Teck was killed, 32 year old Noe Sanchez was also gunned down in Melchor on Sunday night around 10 pm. The murder scene was the Gallo Bar in an area known as Barrio El Centro. He was shot in the back four times and once in the face. Today, his family and friends told us they want to know why.

Irma Sanchez, Sister of Noe Sanchez
“We were called to identify the body and when we reached where they had the body it was upside down. After that we were told by the police to go down to where he was shot to see where he was shot and we identified the location as Gallo place which is a bar.”

Henny Silva, Friend of Noe Sanchez
“According to some friends from Melchor that he was killed in a bar. He was shot in a bar according to some friends. I didn’t believe it until I saw the body and a lot of guys were saying that he was killed and I still didn’t believe it until I saw the body. I saw him alive on Saturday evening when I came down to the river in my tube with my friends and we took a bottle of rum to drink by the riverside and we did some barbecue. He was right here in the yard but he never went down with us. After that, I never saw again until yesterday evening when he was brought in.”

Keith Swift,
Do you know what he went to Melchor to do?

Henny Silva,
“I would say he went to just a have little good time and probably relaxing.”

Keith Swift,
“What have Melchor police told you?

Insp. Claudio Mai,
“If I may, the police in Guatemala, they are not the investigators of any incidents. This is left to the Public Ministry and the Public Ministry is in charge of picking up the body and doing the investigation.”

Keith Swift,
Do you believe these two murders are related?

Insp. Claudio Mai,
“No. That is one of the situations. I don’t know what the motives of the murders are and we don’t know if they are related to each other."

Noe Sanchez was buried this morning in Benque. The acting officer in charge of Benque Viejo Police Inspector Claudio Mai says the most they can do is assist Melchor police in their investigation. A source close to the investigation says that Rene Teck had attempted to illegally cross the border at 5:30 on Friday evening – that was 4 hours before his death.