3 months ago, Milton Maza and Eli Avila Lopez went on trial for the October 2010 double murders of attorney Richard Stuart, and his wife, Maria.
These men waited for over 7 and a half years for their day in court, and they stood trial without jury in front of Justice Collin Williams. The judge heard the graphic details of the vicious attack that the couple suffered in their home in West Landivar, Belize City.
The killers ambushed the coupe they returned home from a night out. A post-mortem found that they were both stabbed 25 times each, while their children were asleep in their bedrooms. Their housekeeper heard the commotion, and locked herself in a walk-in closet, where she hid with the couple's youngest son.
Crown counsels Killeru Awich and Rene Montero called 19 witnesses to testify against the Maza and Avila, but all the evidence against the men was circumstantial. There was no eye-witnesses to tie the men directly to the crimes.
Additionally, the judge found that there were major gaps in the way police handled the evidence. There was enough, however, for the judge to examine closely whether or not they were guilty.
In the trial, Avila Lopez admitted to the court that he and Maza went to the home with the intention of robbing the couple. But, he said that he saw Maza stabbing them repeatedly.
Another important piece of evidence against Eli Lopez Avila was a suitcase found at his home in Saint Matthews Village. He took police to find that suitcase, which had some of the Stuarts' possessions. Specifically, there was a set of keys which had blood on it. DNA testing determined that it was Richard Stuart's blood.
But, there was a discrepancy there, which the judge pointed out in his ruling. There were 2 different accounts of where the keys were actually found. One account says that it was in the suitcase, and the other, coming from a testifying police officer, was that the keys were found in a bushy area. The judge did not find the officer's testimony credible.
In Maza's case, the main evidence against him was a caution statement in which he confessed to the crime. In the trial, he told the court that he was brutalized and forced to confess. But the judge concluded that Maza was not being truthful and ruled that Maza willingly gave this statement.
So, when the judge weighed the evidence, the conflicting statements, the gaps in the evidence, and the handling of that evidence by police, he was still convinced that both of them committed the crimes, and he found them both guilty of 2 counts of murder.
It's a dramatic end to a very high profile case, and the Stuart family attended court today to hear the judge's ruling for themselves. This afternoon, Glen Stuart, Richard's father, granted us a phone interview. He told us that while he and his family have gotten some closure, this guilty verdict does not help them move one from the pain and grief:
Glen Stuart, Father of the Deceased
"It's not nice losing a child, especially your first born. But I can say that closure has come. There is certain amount of closure and I believe that justice has been served. The rest of up to t6eh almighty."
Reporter
"What come to your mind when they finally arrived at announcing the guilty verdicts of the both men accused of killing your son?"
Glen Stuart, Father of the Deceased
"Well, I lost 2 dear persons; I lost a son and by extension a daughter, which is a daughter-in-law, but a daughter to me. So it was a double hurt. I also lost the parents of my grandchildren, which was more painful watching them over the years and thing - see all the pain that they are going through and especially the older that could understand and had knowledge of what took place. I was surprised there was no jubilation or no revenge. It wasn't a happy feeling. I felt very sad. Why kill 2 people? TO me it was some sort of vicious and malicious act that took place there. I can't understand that part. There has to be some kind of evil inside these people to perpetrate a crime like that. What hurt this morning was when they went over the evidence and they described the way how my son and my daughter-in-law was murdered - I did not attend court when that evidence was being advanced and that got to me. It kinda broke me down a little bit, because it sounded very barbarous, it's cruel."
We also got a chance to speak with, Leeroy Banner, the attorney for Eli Lopez Avila, and he told us that his client is already discussing an appeal of the conviction. Here's how Banner explained a few of their complaints against the judgment:
Leeroy Banner, Attorney for Eli Lopez Avila
"The judge is pretty much saying that because certain items were found at his house and those items belongs to the deceased. He is saying that based on circumstantial evidence that he was a part of this joint enterprise and he was one of the part that went into the house that night and murdered the Stuarts."
Reporter
"Give us an idea from your perspective. What was the evidence against your client?"
Leeroy Banner, Attorney for Eli Lopez Avila
"Pretty much that he took the police to his back yard where the police found a suitcase that contained a bunch of keys and also laptops. But what is important is that the keys had DNA that belong to the deceased. So because those items were found at his house, it was linked to him."
Reporter
"Are you and the other defense attorney considering an appeal?"
Leeroy Banner
"I can't speak for Mr. Selgado, but my client is saying that he wants to appeal, because he is of the view that not because stolen items were found at his house means that he commit murder and that is the issue. If the police go and find at your house that were stolen from a house, does it mean that you are guilty of murder? And that to me is the key question in this case. I believe that it is not sufficient, but we respect his lordship ruling. I will have to study the judgement again, but my client is saying that he wants to appeal the matter and that is all I can say for now that we are thinking about appealing the case, because we think that the evidence was not sufficient for a murder conviction."
"To me, at most it's handling stolen goods or theft, but not murder."
Reporter
"Has your client explained what he was doing with the possessions of these two murder victims?"
Leeroy Banner
"I can't say what my client told them, but it came out in court that those items were taken there by somebody else and he told the police was day 1. From back in 2010 he told the police that these items belongs to X person and he brought them here and that came out in court and he took the stand and he told the court that under oath how those items got to his house."
Reporter
"That person was never sought by police despite a name and an identity being given?"
Leeroy Banner
"That person is the first accused."
Justice Williams has scheduled the sentencing hearing for both men for November 9th. At that time, he will hear mitigation pleas for both defendants.
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