Guilty! That was the verdict late last night and the word on everybody's tongue this morning.
After two hours of deliberation a jury of 7 men and 5 women, declared Pipersburgh and Robateau guilty on four counts of murder for killing KBH security guards Fidel Mai and Kevin Alvarez and David Flores and Cherry Tucker in the University Heights area and found them also guilty of the attempted murder of Carl Ventura.
Keith Swift has been in the courtroom from trial for the past 6 weeks and was there last night for what turned out to be a dramatic conclusion.
Keith Swift Reporting,
The deliberations were quick. The verdict? Unanimous and damning: GUILTY on four counts of murder and one attempted murder. Minutes later around 8:30 last night to a crowd of onlookers with heavy police escort Patrick Robateau and Leslie Pipersburgh emerged from courtroom 2 as convicted murderers - convicted quadruple murderers.
Robateau walked down the Supreme Court steps as a now convicted murderer with a detached, almost emotionless face of confidence.
But Pipersburgh seemed to have had a harder time dealing with the verdict. He was visibly upset in the courtroom and as he walked down the steps he grimaced for our cameras just mumbling under his breath.
But no one could have expected what happened next. Watch carefully as Pipersburgh passes our cameras, he bolts form his police escort and lunges forward - attacking Channel 5 Cameraman Rick Romero. Rick ran for cover up the steps and police quickly subdued Pipersburgh.
Following that with emotions calmed and sirens blazing, Pipersburgh and Robateau were rushed back to the Hattieville prison. Minutes later the distressed families of the now convicted murderers left the courtroom for home. Last to leave was Justice Troadio John Gonzalez who presided over the case for 5 weeks - and in one week will ultimately decide whether these two now convicted quadruple murderers will live or hang.
In total, the prosecution called 22 witnesses including eyewitnesses, police experts, and Belize's ambassador to Mexico Salvador Figueroa who testified on the stand that Robateau confessed to him. The defense called no witnesses and both Robateau and Pipersburgh only stood to give short statements from the dock.
Pipersburgh and Robateau will be sentenced next Wednesday. Prosecutor Marjorie Moyston told 7NEWS this evening they will request the death penalty. And since the death penalty is no longer the automatic sentence for murder, Pipersburgh and Robateau will appear in court next Wednesday when they make pleas for mercy to the court. And factoring into that will be their criminal history and more importantly past criminal history. And our 7NEWS research shows that Leslie Pipersburgh was charged with murder before. He was charged for the July 15th 1996 murder of Nigel "mouse" Bonilla on Reggae Street. Bonilla was shot in his home and through his door with a 9-millimeter handgun. But Pipersburgh beat the rap when it went to trial in 1997 because of the unreliability of the prosecution's witnesses who then presiding judge George Meerabux deemed unsatisfactory. Pipersburgh was represented at that trial by Simeon Sampson.