He was already convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the June 28, 2004 murder of Cayo resident, 22-year-old Rodney August, but today, 26-year-old Cayo resident, Dionicio “Life” Salazar Jr. walked out of court a free man. His attorney, Hubert Elrington made a no case submission on his behalf and the judge, Justice Herbert Lord ruled that based on Elrington’s submission, his client did not have a case to answer.
Last week Friday, Elrington submitted that his client did not have a case to answer since the main witness, Janelle Longsworth, who was the deceased’s girlfriend did not make a good identification of his client in her 2004 statement to police. In her statement, she could not say whether or not Dionicio Salazar and life were the same person as she only referred to him as life to police.
On June 28, 2004, Rodney August, then 22, was in the company of his girlfriend. Janelle Longsworth, when he was attacked by a man she knew only as “Life” who had a machete in his hand. August received a large cut wound to his back and died while undergoing treatment.
On November 21, 2006, Donicio Salazar Jr. aka Life went on trial for the murder of August and on December 8, 2006, a jury of 12 convicted him of murder. On December 20, Salazar Jr. was sentenced to life for the August murder and he appealed in 2008 won and was ordered a retrial. And that retrial is what got him off.
