Forensic specialist Hugh Sanchez performed a post mortem examination on the body of Julia Minard this afternoon. The 20-year-old resident of Brooklyn Heights in New York was killed in Indian Creek Village on Sunday. Today, the post mortem confirmed that she died of manual strangulation.
7NEWS is reliably informed that at this point, based on the physical examination, doctors cannot confirm if she was also raped. Fluid samples have been sent to the lab for testing to make a determination on this. Her mother and her uncle are in Belize to oversee the post mortem and to make arrangements to fly her body out. They have hired local professionals to take care of all legal and medical matters. Ellis Arnold is their local attorney and Dr. Arturo Gamero was retained to sit in on the post mortem examination.
As has been reported, Minard was backpacking through Belize with a group of friends and arrived at the Western Border last week Thursday. She separated from the group on Sunday when she arrived in Indian Creek Village in the Toledo District. She was seen socializing with some men from that village on Sunday night. When she was leaving, one of the men strangled her to death. Villagers heard the commotion and when they responded they found the young lady dead, dressed only in her underwear, as her attacker ran off.
Police say that attacker is 19-year-old Agripio Ical. Ical has been arrested and charged for murder. He is on remand at the Hattieville Prison.
