He was right at the top of the list of Belize’s most wanted, and tonight 35 year old Julio Martinez is in custody, or more accurately under police guard at the Northern Regional Hospital, after a village mob put a beating down on him. Martinez was wanted for the murder of 67 year old Manuel Salazar who was killed at a ranch in the Chan Pine Ridge area in the afternoon of March 8th of this year. Police found Salazar in the nude with a shirt that had been used to strangle him wrapped around his neck.
According to our sources, 25 year old Martinez who had been on the run for six months, was seen in Chan Pine Ridge yesterday and villagers set after him and then gave him a heaping serving of vigilante justice. And while he was wanted for killing the 67 year old, police say he was known in the community for committing petty crimes.
