Tonight, alleged murderer Bert Vasquez is spending his second night on remand at the Hattieville prison. He's been there before, remanded three times previously for aggravated assault.
One of those times was 13 months ago in May of 2011, when he was accused of Aggravated Assault, Abduction, Attempted rape and Unlawful imprisonment of a 16 year old female.
Tonight, that female who is now 17 shares with us her account of what happened that night.
We will not show her face or that of her mother, who sat with her during the interview. The story does contain graphic narrative elements so it is not suitable for children.
But, in view of all that's happened this week - we feel it is a story that must be told.
Here's what the victim told Monica Bodden yesterday morning:..
Voice Of: Minor - Victim
"I went by the bus stop, and I was going to catch the bus to come home to Ladyville. I noticed a grey, tinted Kia, which stopped in front of me. A tall man came out from the car, and stood up beside me. He was wearing a black T-shirt and blue long jeans. He stood up beside me, and I started to come closer and closer to me. The next thing I knew he put a gun against me and told me if I screamed, he would shoot me. He ordered me to get into the car. I was scared, but I got into the car with him. He stopped at a gas station first, put in gas by Vernon Street. He told me to put my hands between my legs, and I must put my head between legs also. He drove all the way up to Vista Del Mar, where he started hitting me with the gun and with his hand. he broke my nose, and my tooth. My face was a mess. Afterwards, he told me that if I won't give him sex, then he would take it. He said he loved me."
Monica Bodden
"He said that he loved you, but you had no idea who this man was."
Voice Of: Minor - Victim
"No, I had no idea who this man was. It was the first time in my life that I saw this guy. The whole ride up, when he was driving from Belize to Ladyville, he was talking to me like a normal person. He was asking me questions like what my color was, what I did for fun. It's like he knew me for a long time, but it's the first time I saw this guy. Afterwards, when he told me that I had to give it to him, that's when we started to struggle because I scratched him in his face. He was hitting me, and I was scratching and kicking him off of me. That's when he took the gun, put it to my head, and he clicked it several time. But, the gun didn't go off. The feel I got was that I was going to die. So afterwards, he told me to come over to the passenger's seat, where he was sitting. He told me that I had to do oral sex. He forced me to do it; I had to. Afterwards, he started touching me, massaging my breast and my - yeah. He started to take off my pants, but that's when we started struggling again. I was trying to talk to him, but every time I tried to reason with him, he hit me. He hit me in the face to the point where I felt that one more hit, and I would die. At one point, he told to get out of his car, turn my back to the car, and when he said, 'Run', that I should. He gave me back my shoes, my blouse, and he gave me back my stuff, but he took my phone. He didn't leave me with it. He told to get out of his car, turn my back to the car, and when he said, 'Run', that I should. He asked me if he was making himself clear. I told him, 'yes'. I got out. He told me not to look at the car, and not to look where the car was going. When he said run, I just ran. I ran; I didn't have any shirt or shoes on. My face was bleeding. I ran and ran. I did not know where I was. Someone picked me up; a woman took me to the police station."
Voice of Minor's Mother
"The case between my daughter, I have not heard anything about it. They say that it's going to be on September 17, and that it's an Indictable case. So far, no one has come to me yet and told me when the final day that this trial is set to start in the Supreme Court. Bert loaded the gun right in front of her face, 9 full rounds of ammunition, which he had in the 38 revolver. Police singled out Bert because first of all, she had to go and see his pictures at the police station. Upon looking at the pictures, she came across his face. She took him out and said that he was the one who did all those things. We got different pictures see if that really was the person, which she identified as Bert Vasquez. We also did an ID parade at the Queen Street Police Station, where Bert was being identified as the person who had raped my daughter at the Vista Del Mar. Police found earrings and her hair, which he pulled out. All of these things were found in his vehicle. Also, my daughter identified everything that was in the vehicle that he had. He knives, hand sanitizers, screw driver, all sorts of sharp objects in an ice box within the vehicle. Bert was detained. At the last court case he went to, he was detained, but for half an hour. As we left the court room, I saw Bert Vasquez walking behind us. When we were in the court room, he was detained and handcuffed. As we left the court room, Bert was walking behind us."
Voice of: Minor
"Seriously, it changed my life a lot because I don't look at people the same way I used to. I have a hard time trusting people. I wouldn't even get into a car with my dad. I know him, and wouldn't do that. I am scared, but not only of him, but of every guy I see."
Earlier this year, Vasquez was committed to stand trial at the Supreme Court for Forcible Abduction for that case. The victim also signed a binding document, agreeing to testify at the trial.
So that case, plus another similar one which occurred in January of 2011 - makes it 15 females that he is accused of either assaulting, aggravated assaulting, forcibly abducting or killing.
We'll have more on the case later on as we recap all that happened in Cayo in the past week.
