He was accused of robbing and attempting to kill businessman Phillip Galatty in a roadside ambush on April 27th of 2004, and this afternoon, nearly two years later Anniver Palacio walked down the steps of the Supreme Court a free man. Palacio was let loose after a jury voted 7 to 2 in favor of acquitting him of two counts each of attempted murder, dangerous harm, and robbery.
On the morning of April 27th 2004, Gallaty and his assistant Gilliam Smith were heading to the Corozal Free Zone on the Northern Highway when his GMC Yukon was ambushed at a speed bump just outside Ladyville. A total of four men were originally charged for the ambush but the case against Frank Eligio, Kenrick Reneau, and Francis Petillo never made it to trial. The prosecution's key piece of evidence was a confession Palacio allegedly gave to investigators. He convinced the jury that he was pressured to make that confession.
Today an acquitted Palacio had a message for the justice system.
Anniver Palacio,
"I would just want to send a message to the prosecution to let the police stop and try to set them up to arrest man based on a false statement."
Keith Swift,
So what's next for Anniver?
Anniver Palacio,
"I need to relocate out of the city because I am being targeted by the justice system."
Back to this case, the charges against Francis Petillo were dropped after he agreed to testify against Palacio. And while that was the plan, the opposite happened, because during the trial Petillo recanted and tesitified for Palacio. Cheryl Lynn Branker-Taitt was the prosecutor while Hubert Elrington defended Palacio.
And while Palacio told us in the interview that he wants to leave the city, he still has some unfinished business in the courts. In December of 2005 Palacio was one of three men charged for a violent armed invasion of the home of the Lebanese Honorary Consul Sarkis Abou-Nehra.
