A Corozal man who tried to rape a woman, failed, then bludgeoned and left her for dead in a garbage dump has been sentenced for his crime.
Thirty-four year old Mario Velasquez who was convicted of the Attempted Murder of a 21 year old woman on July 18 was sentenced to 10 years today by Justice Denis Hanomansingh in the Northern District session of the Supreme Court.
Velasquez was not represented by an attorney. Crown Counsel Trenia Young represented the prosecution.
The incident occurred on February 24, 2010 between miles 90 and 91 on the Northern Highway.
The woman - then just 19 years old - was an employee of a casino at the Corozal Free Zone.
She testified that she was in San Joaquin waiting for the bus to take her to work when Velasquez - who was known to her form her neighborhood - drove up in a Nissan taxi car and offered her a ride.
She said she accepted but Velasquez turned down a side road in Corozal and attacked and beat her. She said she managed to open the door of the car when she regained consciousness and she jumped out of the vehicle and ran.
Velasquez then pursued her and caught up to her, threw her in some bushes near a garbage dump and began to bludgeon her, presumably with a stick. She said the beating stopped when she pretended to be dead and then Velasquez left the area. That's when she got help and was able to tell police who it was because he was familiar to her.
Velasquez testified and denied that he had beaten the woman. He said that the strand of hair that was found in his car was from her brushing her hair. He claimed that her blood type was found on his clothes was from a farmer that he had picked up.
A jury of 5 men and 4 women did not believe him and after 3 hours of deliberations they returned a unanimous verdict of guilty.
