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Another Murder By Decapitation Near Belmopan
posted (October 28, 2019)
This weekend saw another gruesome murder out west, just outside Belmopan. A man was decapitated, and his body and head flung in different spots in the bush off Mount Pleasant road between miles 45 and 46 on the Western Highway.

The victim is 32 year old Roaring Creek resident Michael Gladden also known as "Wangsta". His remains were found yesterday morning around 8:00 - and police have been busy trying to unravel the mystery of his very cruel demise.

Courtney Weatherburne and Codie Noralez went looking for answers in this latest homicide.

From Michael Gladden's fun filled Saturday night out to Sunday morning's discovery of his decapitated body in the bushes on the Mount Pleasant road.

He was beheaded on the roadside and then his body dragged and thrown into the bushes.

This morning when we arrived on the scene, the search party along with police were clearing the bush a second time trying to find Gladden's head.

They finally found it tucked inside a plastic bag about 200 yards from where his body was found.

Bret Smith, Cousin
"Going down to where we found it we found signs of vultures and we decided to just sit back a little and see where they are going and right where they were flying over I decide to go in the bush and when I went there I saw what looked like plastic bag and a shirt and I bend down and see the plastic bag and shirt and I called the police immediately and informed them I found something so they asked us to leave the scene and after that we left then they went in and confirmed it was the remains of my cousin."

Now Gladden's family is trying to fill in the blanks to find out what happened to him but it is unclear at this time. The only information is that on Saturday night Gladden went to a football game in Belmopan and then to Stars club where he was captured dancing. But police say they are following a lead.

ACP Jospeh Myvett, Commander, National Crimes Investigation
"At this point in time no we have not been able to establish a clear motive, we do know that one of the leads being followed is that it may be over a female but we are still following that at this point in time."

Courtney Weatherbrune, reporter
"So you are not sure if there was a misunderstanding or altercation he had with someone at the night club."

ACP Jospeh Myvett
"No, not that we know of and he is not known to police, at least not in recent years, he is not known to police."

And Gladden's family confirms that he wasn't known to have enemies; in fact, he was always the life of the party.

Bret Smith, Cousin
"Well everybody know my little cousin as "Wangsta" because that is just him. He is just someone that anyone can ask to do a favor, he drink his rum, whenever he hear music, he party's, he is the party type, always dancing, willing to help people."

"I clueless, I don't know what happen. He is not the trouble type, he no fool with Anyone, you understand."

Robert Gladden, Brother
"It really is hard we had our times when we had our differences but it will be hard because anyone who loses a loved one close to them, I mean the only brother I have, my younger brother, they just took his life and in this way, nobody deserve that kind of death."

Police say they have several persons detained, some of them are from Roaring Creek and at least one of them was at Stars club along with Gladden. Police have not retrieved a murder weapon. Gladden did not have any children.

Now, on a final note, aside from Pastor Lucas' beheading, there have been a frightening number of decapitations in and near the Belmopan area. We go way back to the October 2010 killing of Raylene Dyer. The 18 year old was beheaded and thrown in the Roaring Creek river. Then there was the 2017 Cotton Tree murder of Hilton Wade. Wade was also decapitated and his head left at the bus shed. Edilberto Madrid was not only beheaded but he was also dismembered and disemboweled in May 2015. Then a couple days later, Steve Hyde also known as "Deeds", the late Russell Hyde's cousin was decapitated and his body found in a shallow grave on a farm outside Camalote.

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