A pair of 20 year old Belize City men are in prison on remand tonight
for the relatively minor charge of handling stolen goods. Tonight, the girlfriend
of one of those men is demanding his release. We’ll have her plea shortly
but first to the details of the case. Selvin Castillo and Marcus Williams were
charged with handling stolen goods in connection with the break in at the house
of attorney Darlene Vernon.
Castillo was charged for handling a number of stolen items including
a thousand dollar diamond ring. He pleaded not guilty but was denied bail and
remanded until April 19th. Williams was also linked to assorted jewelry items
which the police recovered from a pawnshop. Williams wanted to plea guilty but
the magistrate entered an equivocal plea of not guilty when Williams told the
court he did not know the items were stolen.
So, he too was remanded and when his mother heard that news, she fainted
in court and a BERT ambulance had to be called to take her to the hospital.
And Williams’s girlfriend Elizabeth Higinio is also taking the news of
his remand badly. She’s right in the middle of it, because he pawned the
stolen items using her Social security card. She escaped being charged, but
says she wants her boyfriend out of jail.
Elizabeth Higinio, Common Law Wife of Suspect
“They said they are charging him for handling stolen goods but I am 
asking why are they charging him for handling stolen goods when they can’t
give him a bail.”
Jules Vasquez,
“So you are not upset that they charged him for handling stolen goods
because he was handling stolen goods?”
Elizabeth Higinio,
“He was handling it. He handled it but he didn’t know it was
stolen. See if I buy this chain from off the street, a young man just came and
say Miss you want to buy this chain. Police will come and jump down my throat
just because I bought this chain? How will I know it is stolen if the young
bwai never told me.”
Jules Vasquez,
“But sometimes you know things are stolen by the price we pay for it or
from the people we get it from.”
Elizabeth Higinio,
“I know police want justice but come on that is a human being. He
has a three year old son the wait home for him. I am not working, how will I
buy pampers and feed for my son.”
Jules Vasquez,
“So what do you want is for him not to have gotten remanded? What you
object to is the remand because he was handling.”
Elizabeth Higinio,
“He was handling but he didn’t know it was stolen. He didn’t
know. He thought it was for my brother’s girl.”
Jules Vasquez,
“Now are you angry at your brother?”
Elizabeth Higinio,
“I am angry at he because even me they locked down for it. They pressured
me, I didn’t eat for three days in the cell, I was in there for two days,
they treated me like I was a dog. They didn’t want to make me go see my
baby. My sister had my son and I asked them for me to go see my son and they
didn’t want to. The policeman said I was on camera stealing when I was
at home plaiting a lady, I was plaiting the lady. And when I went to the station,
they didn’t even ask me if I wanted water or anything. They threw me in
the cell like I was a piece of dog when you could see that I am a human being.
That is what I don’t like.
I want to make Jeffries know that they better come better than that because
people in Belize are getting fed up of those policeman out here. Why would they
charge my bwai for handling stolen goods. Come on Jeffries, come on Minister.
They are the ones to help. I will not give up. I will not give up. I will go
on Love FM, I am going all out, just to let my bwai come out from there. I won’t
give up. Just like how that man front of court was going with his wife and he
died, I will be the same in Belize and I will make them know, I will watch in
the camera and make them know that this black woman won’t give up and
let them know that people in Belize tired of it.”
Williams is remanded until April 19. The thieves broke into the attorney’s
home at mile one and a half on the western highway last week Wednesday by entering
through the backdoor. They packed two suitcases full of stolen items. The suitcases
have been recovered as have a few pieces of jewellery but other items including
computer peripherals are reportedly still missing.
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