Joining alleged husband and policeman killer Josefa Choc tonight in the remand section at the Hattieville Prison is a policeman who is in the very rare position of being charged for murder, a murder committed in the line of duty.
On June 9, 2003, Ruben 'Pony' Alarcon was shot to death in the Caye Caulker Police Station. At the time there was a great hue and cry raised by island residents and the dead man's family: they claimed that he was executed in the station, shot in the head and back by Constable Sheldon Arzu as he was huddled over in a prone position in the station. But even with that claim, the 28-year-old Constable was charged for manslaughter and granted bail of $3,000.
That was on June 19th of 2003, and today things changed drastically for the Constable. He appeared in Supreme Court this afternoon where, at the instruction of the DPP, he had his charge upgraded to murder. Shortly thereafter he was escorted from the Supreme Court to a prison transport, which took him to Hattieville. Arzu is the only officer in our records to be charged for murder committed while one duty. This upgraded charge comes almost two years after the 'Pony' Alarcon killing.
