On the morning of the 10th September 2003, 21-year-old Aaron Mariano was gunned down by a Belize Defense Force Private in front of the Queen Street Police Station. That shot from the BDF's M-16 rifle was fired allegedly on instruction from a Police Special Constable. Well, tonight Private Giovanni Guiterrez and Special Constable Dennis Palacio are both facing the possibility of life in prison for the fatal shooting. After deliberating for about 3 hours a jury of 3 women and 6 men unanimously convicted Private Gutierrez of manslaughter. And, with a 7 to 2 majority, the jury also voted to convict Constable Palacio of abetment to manslaughter.
It's a dramatic end to one of the most high profile police related deaths of 2003, a year that had been riddled with civilians killed by police. 7NEWS was at the Supreme Court for the verdict and we spoke to Aaron's father, the outspoken social activist Mathias Mariano who declared that justice has been served.
Mathias Mariano, Aaron's Father
"I've said from the onset that Aaron was shot from behind so I don't see no reason why one should be shot from behind when he could have been apprehended otherwise. I feel confident that today justice has been served."
Keith Swift,
Do you think that now you'll be able to move on?
Mathias Mariano,
"I haven't had stopped anyway, in the sense that I've always moved on with my life and accepting the fact that Aaron is dead and I can't bring back Aaron. I've moved on with my life and to some degree, it's a closure with the case but you'll always remember Aaron. He'll always be a part of my life."
Michael Peyrefitte, Dennis Palacio's Attorney
"The verdict is the verdict. The judge gave the jury its direction and the jury deliberated as they are required to do by law and in their opinion, 7 to 2, they said that Dennis Palacio encouraged Private Guiterrez to shoot Aaron Mariano unlawfully so when you sit and wait for a verdict you have to accept the verdict. Now it's totally left to Dennis Palacio if he wants to appeal the decision but that's not something we're thinking about right now. Its just for right now he's guilty of abetment to manslaughter."
Keith Swift,
Were these guys just doing their job?
Michael Peyrefitte,
"I genuinely believe that Private Guiterrez, because I was representing Dennis Palacio, but you cannot help but also be involved in the case in its entirety so when I first took the case I genuinely believed that they did not act unlawfully, that's why I chose to represent them, because I genuinely believed they were innocent but the jury said that they were guilty so we have to accept that."
Both men will be sentenced on May 27th and, as we noted, could face up to life in prison.
As you may recall, Pinks' Alley resident Aaron Mariano was shot on the morning of the tenth when, after a night of reveling, he was detained at the Queen Street Police Station, and then ran off. The officer in charge of the station allowed him to go, but that's when the Constable allegedly gave the BDF soldier the instruction to shoot him about 150 feet from the police station.
