Email

Print

Courtney Menzies was on the scene this afternoon and has this story.

This is the area where the body of 66-year-old Owen Tucker was found this afternoon. He was reportedly shot at a home in Biscayne, and his body bundled in a carpet, before being placed in the trunk of this vehicle and tossed off a feeder road in Lemonal Village.

But even before his body was found, police had charged one man, 40-year-old Jerome Crawford, with his murder.

This morning, the Commissioner of Police explained that it was during their interviews that they received information that pointed them in the direction of Crawford.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"That information we obtained led to the search of the home of one Mr Crawford who resides in Belize City. At the home found one 12 gauge shotgun which we believed is the weapon of choice used to murder Mr Tucker. Mr Crawford was taken into custody and he was interviewed by the police. He did not cooperate with investigators but what our investigation is showing so far is that Mr Crawford had an issue with Mr Tucker over money, Mr. Crawford is a former employee of Mr Tucker and they had some issues over money. Mr. Crawford went to the farm where Mr Tucker was and he shot Mr Tucker with the shotgun and wrapped his body in a rug and took it to dispose of it."

"Our case is more than circumstantial at this time, at least in the case of him shooting the man and wrapping up the body in a rug."

"We have also located and impounded the vehicle that was used to move the body from where it was shot to another location. We did a process that vehicle and we used the luminal test and that revealed blood in the trunk of that vehicle, we have obtained those samples and it will be sent for DNA so if the D.N.A. comes back and proves that Mr Tucker's body was in that vehicle then that will make the case even stronger."

And while the ComPol says they have strong evidence against Crawford, those in the search party were shocked when he was arrested since he was helping them look for the body.

While this may initially seem like an indication of innocence, Williams says it's not surprising.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"The easiest thing for an accused killer is to go back to the scene and pretend that he knows nothing, believing that he will be able to deceive people by what he was engaged in terms of in this case the search but again like I said we do have good evidence to indicate that he had killed Mr Tucker."

Jules Vasquez:
"But obviously, and I'm just underscoring it, he's not cooperating."

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Mhmm, that's his right."

But even without his cooperation - and even before the body was found - police are confident they have enough evidence to prove that Crawford is the killer.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Yes, while it is going to be a difficult case we have been in consultation with the DPP herself on this matter and she has been providing guidance to the police in terms of how to proceed. It is simply that the police for the prosecution would have to prove at trial that Mr Tucker is dead. His death was caused by unlawful harm and that harm was caused by Mr Crawford, we believe that based on the evidence we have, we can prove those things to a court at a subsequent trial."

Tucker was a Belizean-American who had recently purchased the Crocland Property to open the Washing Tree Rainforest Eco-Park and Resort, which was set for January 2023.