With the extremes of the criminal acts reported nightly on the news, it's hard to be taken aback by an act of lawlessness, no matter how outrageous it is. But after you see out next story, it'll be hard not to be stunned and saddened by the barbarity of this latest home invasion. A 74-year-old man and his crippled wife were the victims of a grisly attack in their home this morning. We were on the scene shortly after and spoke to the victims who gave us their terrifying account of what happened.
Alfonso Noble Reporting, [alfnoble@yahoo.com]
74-year-old Richard Bachelor was at home at around 10:30 this morning when he heard someone at the door. When he got to the door, he met two Hispanic men, one was about 25 years old and the other about 50.
Richard Bachelor, Robbery Victim
"I saw it was a Spanish man at the door. He asked for a drink of water and I gave him the water. Couple minutes later he brought back the bottle and I told him good day. He started to push me inside the house. I was at the doorway and he started to push me in. He really got serious and he pushed me down on the floor and then I was in the kitchen kneeling down with his two hands down my windpipe. Every time I screamed out he punched me but I did manage to punch him a few times in his face when he stopped punching me. That however only made it worse for me. There were two knives, one on the kitchen table and a big black knife on the dining table, and I thought he was going to use that on me but he didn't use any knife on me. I thought he was going to kill me because he held me there for half an hour. Then eventually they probably got the money and the they opened the back door and went through the back. I didn't think I would see the light of day again."
While Bachelor was outside in the kitchen fighting for his life, his wife an arthritic who is paralyzed was the next target of the younger assailant. She says it was not long before one of the men whom she describes as having a Salvadoran accent made his way into her bedroom
Wife,
"It was two of them and then one came to my bedroom and held my hands and he told me not to move, not to scream, not to shout, not to do nothing at all because if I did any of those things, he told he will kill me. So I just kept sitting with my hands in each of arms. And while I was sitting on the bed, he was searching all the draws in the bedroom and he told me that all he wanted was money and if I could give him a big amount of money, that is important for me because if I do he will not kill me and he will not even kill my husband. That is what he told me. And while that was taking place, my husband was screaming out on verandah."
Richard Bachelor,
"They left me tied up on the kitchen floor with a string, what we call a cord, on my hand. I managed to crawl out and come out here. When I came out here I pulled my hand and pulled off the cord and I shouted out for about forty five minutes before the neighbor came."
Wife,
"I began to think what could I do so I came close to the window of my bedroom and I began to shout out to the neighbor and asking them for help. I was shouting that they are killing us. So that is how we brought it to the attention of the neighbor and they came immediately across here."
When neighbors came, they found Bachelor tied up with severe bruises to the face. His phone had been disconnected and a small amount of money and keys were stolen.
Richard Bachelor,
"They steal $180 out of my wallet and another wallet had ten English pounds, which is about BZ$35. So they went with two sets of keys for the house's front door, two sets of keys for the bedroom doors, one set of key for the post office box in Belize City."
Now more than worrying about his keys and the paltry sum of money that was taken, Bachelor who has been living in sand hill for the past 16 years is now thinking twice about his stay here.
Richard Bachelor,
"I'm here now for sixteen years and this is the fourth time now they've come in this house. This time I've got to say I let them in because if I didn't open the door, they wouldn't have come in. I was trying to do him a favor by giving him water. If I didn't fight for my life and keep on asking God to have mercy on me, I would be dead. But I punched him a few times in his face when he came to punch me. For half an hour I fight for my life. I didn't know Belize would come to this. I came here from England you know because I heard about this peace loving place but hmmm."
That was the bitter sentiment Bachelor left his house with this morning as he was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries.
Police are looking at the possibility that the men may have been acquaintances of the bachelor's housekeeper. So far, no one has been detained.
