7 weeks ago, it made headlines in the local press when 28 inmates escaped from the Belize Central Prison, the biggest prison break in the country's history.
As we told you last night, the Prison has fired 1 prison officer, and 3 or 4 others were placed on suspension. That's because the management has determined that their negligence to their guard duties and protocols enabled the prison break to occur.
Speaking to us today, The Prison CEO would not give specifics about what exact actions or inaction the disciplined guards were guilty of, he gave us an overview of some of their investigation's findings. Here are those comments:
Virgilio Murrillo - CEO, Belize Central Prison
"We did our investigation, interviewing all the parties involved, or who had information, one way or the other. And, at the end of the day, when we looked at all the information, and we analyzed everything, we found a few of the staff culpable. And, without going into the merits on what basis we found them culpable, our investigation pretty much revealed that to some extent, or varying degree, they were involved, or they contributed to the incident taking place. So, what we did, we terminated those who had to be terminated, and we suspended who had to be suspended. And in some cases, some got stern warning letters because, obviously, the degree of involvement or culpability - if you want to put it that way - wasn't that grave, as opposed to the ones who we had to terminate. But, I believe that the disciplinary action taken was appropriate, depending on the level of omission of a duty that was involved in this entire thing."
"Whenever something like this happens, it's either because they shortcut the procedures - because we have procedures. Prisons are all about procedures. Everything you do, it's like clockwork. You have to do it in accordance with standards, policies, and procedures. So, it's either they shortcut the procedures, or maybe they completely, either deliberately or through ignorance, failed to carry out the procedures altogether."
"A serious situation happened. It was a hostage-taking turned escape. It certainly left a black eye for the prison, and they had an opportunity to say something in their defense."
"When 28 people leave the prison compound, under any circumstance at all, whether it is through hostage-taking, or just dug a tunnel, or literally walked out the gate because of guards [who are not alert] or what have you, the thing is society is put at risk because desperate people do desperate things, and there is no guarantee that even if the guy is good in prison, all along, right up until his escape, that he will continue to be a good person, now that he has escaped from prison."
We also asked the CEO to discuss the final 3 prisoners who are still on the run for almost 2 months now. He shared his opinion that these prisoners: Michael Faux, Jaroud Lamb, and Erwin Lanza, and said they could not have evaded law enforcement if they were not being aided by members of the public.
Virgilio Murrillo - CEO, Belize Central Prison
"We have 3 more on the lam right now. They are Michael Faux, Jarod Lamb Arthurs, and Erwin Lanza. So, those are the 3 outstanding, and I am hopeful that we should get them back sometime soon. Like I said, encourage the public. I encourage the communities, wherever they see them, to do the right thing. Don't harbor them. Don't provide for them, and hand them over to the authorities."
"I personally believe that they must be getting support from somewhere. They've been out, what, almost 2 months now, and they could not survive if somebody or some people are supporting them. So, obviously, they're being supported, either out of fear, or maybe people know them, and they're providing for them. Food is needed. Water is needed. Those are the basic necessities, and obviously, they have those."
Michael Faux and Jaroud "Steel Bob" Lamb are convicted murders. Erwin Lanza was serving two years in jail after he and a relative were found in possession of a marijuana plant and an illegal firearm.
