In July of 2008, on her 35th birthday Punta Gorda Resident Soila Ramclam Xiu was killed by her boyfriend, 42 year old Venezuelan businessman Jorge Pinzon. There’s no doubt that he killed her, the only question is whether he killed her by accident or on purpose. Police said the evidence established that it was murder; that she was shot at point blank range – Pinzon said it was an accident, that he shot her while cleaning the gun.
Well the second murder trial against Pinzon started two weeks ago in Dangriga. We say second because the first one was derailed at the very end of the hearing when, in a bizarre turn – the jury foreman sent the DPP a note expressing his admiration for her. The case automatically had to be declared a mistrial.
In this case DPP Cheryl Lynn Vidal presented a range of evidence including a picture showing the imprint of the gun barrel on Xiu’s chest. Pinzon told the court that he was simply clearing his weapon when the gun went off – and so she was shot at a distance. This directly refuted the DPP’s evidence.
Justice John Gonzalez instructed the jury on both murder and manslaughter, but they weren’t convinced of either. After deliberation, the jury declared Pinzon not guilty of both murder and manslaughter. With that, the Venezuelan was free to go. The family of the victim was seen crying in the courtroom after the verdict was handed down.
