Last night, we told you about the disturbing incident of abuse and torture which was captured live on a facebook stream this weekend.
At this time, it is still unclear why Oliver Sutherland, a prominent gang figure in the Conch Shell Bay Area of Belize City, chose to Livestream himself and an associate, while they were inflicting physical abuse on a 16-year-old male minor.
As, we told you, sometime between last Friday night and Saturday morning, Sutherland and another man unlawfully detained the minor inside his house in Conch Shell Bay. It is believed that for several hours, they brutalized the minor, electrocuted him to the face and torso, and at some point, someone tried to slice off the tip of one of his fingers.
Investigators think that the man who was aiding Sutherland in these cruel acts is 21-year-old Elvin Smith, a fisherman from East Collet Canal. We are told by reliable sources that he also goes by the nickname, "Ese", and he spent his 21st birthday in police custody yesterday being escorted to and from the Magistrate's Court. Shortly after midday today, he was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Sharon Frazer on the charges of kidnapping and wounding. Due to the nature of these offenses, he couldn't be granted bail, and so, Chief Magistrate Frazer remanded him to the Belize Central Prison until May 18th, his next court date.
Because Smith and Sutherland are jointly charged with these offenses, the court decided that Smith should return to court on the same date when Sutherland will be brought back. Since Sutherland was remanded to prison yesterday on the offense of being a member of a criminal gang, it is expected that the court will arraign him on these additional charges on May 18th, when he is brought back.
Reliable information to 7News is that Sutherland's girlfriend, Axia Sanchez, was also jointly charged with the two other defendants. She was taken to court yesterday, but unconfirmed reports suggested that the police released her from custody late in the afternoon. Also, at today's arraignment of Elvin Smith, the Chief Magistrate indicated that he was charged jointly with Oliver Sutherland. Sanchez's name was not included on either charge, which strongly suggests police may have decided to discontinue their intended prosecution against her.
For Oliver Sutherland, those videos and the resulting criminal charges paint a picture that is in stark contrast to his past comments to the press. Last weekend's live broadcast of the torture clearly shows him behaving like a lawless gang figure, when just last year, he and his family called 7News to complain that police were harassing and abusing him. They asserted that he has always been cooperative with the lawmen, and that police allegedly abused that authority.
For context, here is a comparison of Sutherland's two personas:
As we noted, Sutherland remains on remand pending other charges.
