A man is dead in Belmopan and police say that he was killed in self defense but what makes it worse is that he was shot after a dispute with his boss, and the man who pulled is the trigger is one of the Novelo's brothers, 25 year old Emile.
Police say it's straightforward self defense, but Alfonso Noble found out that there is a good deal of intrigue to this story.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
Sometime around 8 on Saturday night 55 year old Guatemalan National Manuel de Jesus Godinez was at his post here on the property of 45 year old Karim Adley when he received a call from Adley telling him that he wished to speak to him. Godinez's daughter Corina says the two men were to have a conversation but she doesn’t know about what.
Corina Adley, Victim’s Daughter
“My father’s common-law wife told me that the night that daddy was murdered she was there around 8 and he got a phone call and it was Kareem saying that he wanted to speak to him man to man; that was his phrase and that is how they wanted to meet.”
These bullet holes on this table and chair and these blood stains tell of how badly that conversation turned out. Adley was shot with a pump action shotgun that Godinez used for his job while in turn Godinez was shot and killed at his worksite by Emile Novelo who accompanied Adley to the meeting. While family members look for answers they can point only to a previous misunderstanding that Godinez had with his employer.
Corina Adley,
“They had a little misunderstanding because of the fact that this other young man, well this other worker a mechanic who also got shot on his legs by the same Kareem, took back news. So they had a misunderstanding about not presenting yourself early to work and being out late at night and not reporting to work. But that was a lie because lot of people were out there and saw that daddy present himself always to work and he would never leave his work site once he arrived. And then Kareem is somebody who loved his bullets so that’s why my dad had explained to us that this week, right here today would have been his last working day and he never had the chance to resign from there because this would have been his last week because of what he said. He said he was tired of Kareem treating him like a kid and he is no longer a little child.”
“We don’t know exactly everything came about to happen because we were never informed of any problems or difficulties my father was having with his boss so it is somewhat of a shock to us because we weren’t aware of any situation.”
That is why Godinez's daughter believes something must have gone very wrong for her father to have opened fire. She even speculates provocation.
Corina Adley,
“Like I said I am not sure what happened but from what we saw out there it is something that they had to provoke him because it wasn’t my father that shoot first. And it is not because he is my father but I know that if my father had the first shot I know that Kareem wouldn’t be a living man today because of the fact that look - where did he get shot? On his back and if my father really had the chance to shoot then why would he want to injure someone when you know you have to pay the penalties and that is what I say. If my father had the first shot, definitely like I said, Kareem would have been a dead man but he was already injured already.”
This however varies from the police's version. They say that Godinez was the aggressor.
Sinquest Martinez, Police Investigator
“They had a shooting between himself and another person. Mr. Godinez had a 12 gauge pump action shotgun and the other person had 380 pistol and as a consequence they had a exchange of fire and that is when the deceased, who we later learned his name to be Manuel de Jesus Godinez of Cotton Tree Village. Initial investigations show that he fired first at the proprietor of the place while he was walking back to a vehicle that was parked in the same compound and in respect of that another was fired at him which is when the third person got out of the vehicle and you had an exchange.”
After that exchange Charles Galvez was first to arrive to render assistance after his friend Adley called him on his phone. Once on the site he found Adley injured to the back and Godinez dead a few hundred feet away.
Charles Galvez, Witness
“When I came I saw Mr. Novelo’s vehicle parked pointing towards the person who got shot and I saw Mr. Kareem leaning over by one of the machine and then I saw a lot of blood bleeding from his back and I never really saw where he got shot if it was his hips or buttocks but I saw the blood and I asked him what happened and he said he just got shot. So I told him its time for me try take to the hospital and I asked what about the other person and then I went over there to check while he was being put in the vehicle and I saw the man like he was dead. So when we see the man dead then we didn’t touch him. I didn’t see Mr. Novelo act no kind of way like he was mad or upset or drunk or anything; I saw him very normal, Mr. Kareem too. Who I was very sorry for were the ladies because his wife and the little boy Kareem Jr. because I know he got frightened and everybody was frightened.”
Now besides shaken family members for both men the police have to piece together the circumstances that led to this shooting death and Sinquest says the DPP will determine whether Novelo will be charged.
Sinquest Martinez,
“What I am doing at this present moment is going through the investigation; a thorough and a proper investigation. The file will be sent to the DPP and I will have to follow his directive when the file comes back.
Godinez will be buried tomorrow while his boss is out of the country receiving medical treatment.