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Last night, we told you about Walter Jerome Rosales Garcia. He is the Guatemalan fugitive who was living in the Stann Creek District under an assumed identity.

As we reported, Belize police located him 2 days ago in the San Juan Village. That’s where he was living and pretending to be a Belizean national. We are informed that when he was initially detained by Belize police, he handed over a full list of national identity documents, including a birth certificate and social security card, for an assumed Belizean identity. His birth certificate was detected to be a fraudulent document, which opened the door for all of the other national identity documents to be produced.

The cops also conducted fingerprint tests to ensure that he was a fugitive, and those results matched the records of a wanted killer in Guatemala. The Belize police already turned Garcia over to their Guatemalan counterparts yesterday. Guatemalan press reports say that he is wanted for the 2015 murder of Guatemalan Dimas Raudel Trullo Barrera, which happened in Melchor De Mencos.

Back here in Belize, his attorney, Norman Rodriguez, is raising concerns about the way he was captured and handed over to the Guatemalan authorities. This morning, we got a chance to speak with Rodriguez, and here’s what he had to say about the man he knows as Edgar Cortez:

Norman Rodriguez - Attorney for Defendant

"On Friday afternoon into Saturday, I was called by somebody I know asking me if I could represent someone in Independence. When I finally spoke to the common-law wife, she told me that her common-law husband was detained in Independence. I did not get to see the young man until Monday, due to the stringent measures being taken in relation to the curfew and the State of Emergency. I spoke to my client, by the name of Edgar Cortez, a Belizean, and he instructed me that he had passed to the police a Belizean passport, a Belizean voter’s ID, a Belizean Social Security, a Belizean driver’s license, and a Belizean birth paper. So, for me, I know I was dealing with a Belizean. He also instructed me that they were making an attempt to send him over to Guatemala, to extradite him. I ran the process through my mind, what was happening. I spoke to the officers of the Belmopan police station, and nobody could give me any other information other than the fact that he was detained by Interpol."

"I had assurance from the police that my client would be taken before a magistrate if he was going to be extradited, that would be the process. Anyway, the wife called me because she was very worried because she said that they wanted to take him over. Informal information is that he has been passed over to the Guatemalan authorities. I can’t prove that. I can’t say anything about that as yet. But, I had him a sign, and I filed an application for Habeas Corpus, which I filed the day before yesterday, which would have been the Tuesday morning. I could reach him through the police in Belmopan."

Reporter

"What about your client? If he is already in the hands of the Guatemalan authorities, wouldn’t your efforts be futile?"

Norman Rodriguez

"It cannot be futile. If there is a breach of the law, and as I said until I see what they have responded [with], I won’t have a chance to review the proper laws. But, if there is a breach of his constitutional rights or any other rights, if there is a breach of the laws which involves his handing-over, then the family will have recourse."

Reporter

"Sir, we understand that police information is that your client’s documents - all of them - are fraudulent. They are all produced from a fraudulent birth certificate."

Norman Rodriguez

"My first reaction would be if I ever come to that information, why decided that they’re fraudulent? Is that person the authority to conclude or decide that they are fraudulent. And, does that person then have the authority to act in the way they may have acted, if that is the case?"

Guatemalan press reports say that there has been a pending arrest warrant for Walter Garcia from a court in San Benito, Peten since March 19th, 2015.