Magistrate Richard Swift's body was found on Saturday afternoon inside the Glover's Reef Atoll. That's located at the extreme southeastern tip of Belize's territory. And while one has been found, 6 more are still missing - and the mystery of their disappearance has hardly been illuminated.
But tonight, police cannot say definitively if he was killed in an accident or if he was the victim of a homicide. Police forensic officer Dr. Mario Estradabran today told the press that there are signs of trauma: including fractured ribs and injuries to the liver as would be caused by a blunt instrument. Still he told the press, the trauma could be from the side of a boat. Here are his comments.
Dr. Mario Estradabran, Police Forensic Officer
"It is my opinion that the direct cause of death was internal hemorrhage. Internal hemorrhage due to liver injuries as a direct consequence of chest and abdominal trauma, blunt instrument type. Going to the chest, he had two fractures
which were located on the fifth and the sixth arteries. Those two fractures, they were irregular which are characterized by a flat trauma or blunt force injury. I saw a contusion, contusion meaning trauma, meaning different coloration changes, of the diaphragm muscle and also multiple lacerations or ruptures of the liver organ. Those multiple lacerations of this liver were characterized also by a blunt force instrument or flat instrument.
This type of death is a violent death. We have to say in this particular case that the death is a violent death but that does not mean that a murder took place. It could be anything except a weapon that is being discharged by a firearm or a weapon that has point and edges. So any other type of instrument beside that, we call it blunt instruments."
Jules Vasquez,
Sir might that instrument be something inert, something that does not move?
Dr. Mario Estradabran,
"Exactly."
Jules Vasquez,
An instrument maybe the side of a boat, a car? You would refer that to that as a blunt instrument?
Dr. Mario Estradabran,
"That is correct. In my opinion he died immediately after he received those injuries but I cannot say if he died while he was in the water or if he died when he was still on the boat. He was in the water immediately after his disappearance, immediately after his disappearance. We are very sure that he was in the water immediately after he died.
As I said before, blunt trauma, blunt force trauma could be homicide or could be an accidental death."
And when he left the press conference at the Police Department, Dr. Mario Estradabran headed to the Avis Car Rental headquarters in Ladyville. Since last Monday, the Avis office has become the command center for civilian search efforts. At Avis, Dr. Estradabran faced the families of the missing 6 and the wife and teenage daughter of Magistrate Richard Swift. His wife Debbie Swift told Keith Swift that she held on to hope right up until when she got the phone call that her husband's body had been found.
Deborah Swift, Wife of Richard Swift,
"To be honest I wasn't preparing for the worst. I always had hope and with lot of prayers that were going on, I still had hope that he would
have been found alive. So I wasn't prepared for the worst although deep down I know given the so many days he had been missing, that the possibility was less. But I must say thanks to God because he did answer my prayer because at least I am not wondering where he is. I know exactly where he is right now.
And he was a pleasant person and he did no one wrong so I can rest assure that he is with God and God will watch over him and life will be not the same for us but eventually we will get over it. Not fully but at least, it eases our heart knowing where he is and I can go to sleep at night and I know my husband is resting and he is in a safe place."
Keith Swift,
The doctor says he doesn't know he died. Does that make it harder to get closure because you don't know how your husband died?
Deborah Swift,
"To me I feel like something went wrong and nobody cannot say that nothing went wrong that night but all I can pray and hope is that the others are found."
