On Friday night we told you about the plot to burn down Channel 7's studio on Albert Street. Well tonight, we'll introduce you to the man who was given the $3,000 contract to do the deed. Brian Neal, better known as Easy B, tonight tells us his story: how he was contracted, what he was to do, and why he didn't do it. Here it is.
Jules VasquezReporting,
Today Brian Neal stood with me in front of the building he was given the contract to burn a week ago. He didn't burn it and today, wishing to mask his identity, he told us that even though he's no saint, neither is he an arsonist.
Brian Neal, Contracted to Burn Down Channel 7
"Its not my type of job and not my place right now to burn down anywhere. I am not a criminal like that. I had gotten charged back in the day but I am not a criminal like that now to burn down somebody's place."
Today, after two weeks of lying low, Neal came out to detail the contract he was given.
Brian Neal,
"The guy I know from Crooked Tree came to my house and tell me he has a job for me and he has some money for me. I asked him what kind of money and he told he had $3,000 for me to burn down WAVE Radio. From there me and him drove around to WAVE Radio and he showed me WAVE Radio. He told me that is the building he wanted me to burn down. A couple days after that I called him and he told me he had another job for me. He told me he wanted me to burn down Channel 7 because it's easier because it's wood. I asked him what kind of money will he pay for that and he told me $3,000 so I told I would see what I could do."
Jules Vasquez,
A lot of people say you are running a game and this is not real in terms of, for example G. Michael Reid was on the radio implying it wasn't a substantial claim and that nobody wouldn't give you only $20 straight up and then give you $3,000 after the job was done. How do you respond to that?
Brian Neal,
"Well G. Michael Reid, I don't know where he got his idea from but I know for myself that the individual did come to my house, where my family is, and offer me $3,000 to burn down the place; so I don't know where G. Michael Reid got that from. He gave me the $20 and promised me $3,000. He gave me a number to call him and told me to call him any hour of the night and he will bring the money to me."
Jules Vasquez,
Now when you went to the police station you called him.
Brian Neal,
"When I went to the police station with Juliet from WAVE Radio, I went there to make a statement to the police. I made a statement to the police and everything and by the way asked Juliet to call the number I received from him and get Ben on the phone and she gave me the phone. I talked to Ben and asked him when he would come into Belize City so we could talk. I made the police officer, who took my statement from me, listen to the phone call himself too so I don't know how Mr. G. Michael Reid is saying this is a fake thing or something; this is the real deal."
Jules Vasquez,
This person named Ben, he says he knows nothing about you and he is willing to face you and tell you he knows nothing about you and he has never had an encounter with you. How do you respond to that?
Brian Neal,
"Well if he is willing to face me, I am willing to face him too because then my family was right there when he came to my house. I was at home getting ready to have my lunch when he came, it was before 12. If he told the policeman he doesn't know me he is telling a lie to the police because he knows me well. Me and him know each other for about 15 years from since he came to the States, he had disappeared and just reappeared back, I didn't know where he was."
And even as he calls out his contractor as a liar, Brian Neal says he is unafraid.
Jules Vasquez,
If he is a serious individual, which it appears he is, if he wants to burn down two prominent buildings, aren't you afraid for your safety, that he might want to deal with you because you exposed him?
Brian Neal,
"I am not afraid of him. I am not afraid of him none at all. I am not afraid of him because I am not lying and I am not making up any story so I am not afraid of him. I will be looking out for him anytime he pulls up."
The man accused by Brian Neal of hiring him to burn down Channel 7, was released from police custody yesterday without being charged. He had been detained for 48 hours. Members of Neal's family did go to police to corroborate that he had come to their home in the Port Loyola area to pick up Brian Neal. This directly conflicts with the statement given by the supposed contractors, who claims he doesn't know and never met Brian Neal.
