There were six murders in the Belize District this weekend. It's a staggering death toll - and even more so when you consider that all that killing happened in less than 48 hours between Friday night and Sunday afternoon.
Three of those murders happened in one household, the Vellos home in Ladyville - when almost an entire family: Mother, Father and Daughter were wiped out in one hellish killing spree.
And what make this most shocking murder even more incomprehensible is that - at this hour - the person charged for the murder is their son and brother - 26 year old Jared Avery Ranguy - known as Jared Skeen.
Police just reported that he has been charged with three counts of murder.
7news has been on the story from before dawn on Sunday where we've been piecing together the details of this, the worst multiple murder of 2012:..
Daniel Ortiz reporting
The small neighborhood known as "Japan" in Ladyville is very disturbed by the killing of a well-known family inside the bedrooms of their home in the silence of Sunday's midmorning hours.
The community members from all across the village were awake and out on the streets from as early as 4 a.m., while police processed the scene of the very brutal murders of 51 year-old Karen Skeen Vellos, her husband,
72 year old Robert Earl Vellos Sr, and her daughter 32 year-old Teena Beth Skeen.
The family and friends gathered and looked on in visible pain, waiting as the police do their work.
And after 3 hours of crime scene processing, when the police vehicles finally drove away with the 3 bodies, the family and friends broke down in tears. They couldn't come to terms with the sudden and violent end of people they had known as neighbors and friends.
But, the circumstances around the murders are very peculiar. Polcie responded at 3:30 am:
Raphael Martinez - Police Press Officer
"Police visited a house at #5 Marage Road in Ladyville, Belize District where they met a make person kneeling in front of a room screaming and holding a machete."
"In front of him were two person lying motionless; 41 year old Abbidale Karen Skeen with apparent multiple stab wounds and 72 year old Robert Earl Vellos Sr., an American national of the same address with an apparent gunshot wound behind his head. In another room police found 32 year old Teena Beth Skeen with apparent multiple gunshot wounds."
"Initial investigations revealed that approximately 3:30 in the morning of the same date a loud noise which sounded like a gunshot was heard from inside the house reportedly. This was followed by a loud argument which subsequently was followed by two more apparent gunshots."
"On the scene police recovered three expended 9mm shells and a slug."
And while that is all police could say this morning, a lot has changed since then; today, Ladyville police were back at the family home, searching for evidence, and their search led to the discovery of a knife and a gun in the attic, which investigators believe to be the murder weapons.
Those are a Taurus Brand Pistol and a knife with a 7 inch blade in the attic of the house; they were covered in blood.
Karen Skeen's son - he is the only person who was found alive at the scene; police found him half-naked, full of blood and with a machete in his hand.
He is now being treated as the prime suspect - in what may be an unimaginable case of killing his entire family: his mother, sister and stepfather.
Reliable reports say that he told police he even tried to kill himself, but the gun jammed - and indeed the Taurus pistol was found in a jammed state.
But it's the kind of crime where the more you find out, the worse it is, and the community is left to how their friends and neighbors met such an un-describable end.
Karen Skeen Vellos was a prominent member of the Belize Cancer Society; in fact, on their website, she is listed as one of the founding members of the organization. Meanwhile, Robert Vellos, who is now retired, was well-known patron of the Princess Casino.
Again, at 6:30 pm police announced that 26 year old Jared Avery Skeen, has been charged for killing his mother, Abbidale Karen Skeen, his sister Teena Beth Skeen and his stepfather, Robert Earl Vellos.
He was known to often have heated arguments with his stepfather.
Because Robert Vellos, who is an American National, has relatives who will fly in to observe his funeral, it is expected that the services will not take place until the weekend.
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