And Niccanor's murder was the second in the last 36 hours. 28-year-old Coast Guard Elston Morter was fatally stabbed on Independence Day in Hattieville. Reports are that a friend of his recruited him to confront another man in the village, but they were both injured in the process. And while this is what's coming out of the preliminary investigation, his family says he was not someone who went looking for trouble. His life revolved around his sons, and now those twin boys will grow up without their father. Today, Courtney Menzies spoke with his family:
A Coast Guard and father of twin boys spent the morning on Independence Day with his family. But that peace was shattered when he was fatally stabbed later in the evening.
28-year-old Elston Morter was with a friend, Marcel Gill, when they got into an argument with another man, Leon Perez. The argument was over a minor traffic incident between Gill and Perez, but when Gill went to Perez's home with Morter, it turned into a major tragedy. Perez wielded a knife that he embedded in Mortor's back. Gill was also stabbed in the process.
Morter passed away at the hospital around 4:15pm - but up to today, his family is still in disbelief. His mother-in-law told us when she and her daughter, whom Morter had been dating for 12 years, got the news.
Voice of: Mother-In-Law
"She call my son-in-law sister and she told my daughter, I don't know how to tell you this, Ton Ton is dead and then my daughter she break down and she said, no! no! and then I break down too, it's hard to explain the feeling."
"I would never believe something like this would hit us, the 21st of September, that is the time he always jollying, going about, and party. I still can't believe, I still can't believe, I still can't accept that he's really gone."
"When I look at his kids, it pains my heart because they look like they're dad. They were all for their dad."
And his sister feels the same. Their family is trying to cope, but they feel the hole that Morter's death caused in their lives.
Darlene Morter, Sister of Deceased
"Losing my little brother by stabbing, he is not that kind of person, not at all."
"Really a big loss for me, my family, his kids, I'm lost for words, I can't even express how I feel."
"The person who took my brother's life, I just want him to know, I put everything in God's hand, and we forgive him because we are all human beings."
"We were very close and we were two babies of the bunch, yes I have other siblings but they're not here in Belize, they're in Cayo and elsewhere and majority is in the United States so I'm like the only one left, they took that away from me, they took that away from my nephews, they took that away from my entire family."
And both his mother-in-law and his sister agreed that Morter's personality was kind and jovial, and his incredible love for his 6-year-old twins was unmatched.
Darlene Morter, Sister of Deceased
"He was a kind, loving person. Always willing to do stuff for people, he will go the extra mile, he loves his kids unconditionally, no doubt about that. And he made it clear he wanted his kids to have the best life, everything he couldn't have, he wanted them to have. He's not a problem-some person and he always tries to resolves issues so if you have an issue with him, he will try to resolve it."
"My last words to my brother was, as I always do, where are you going because he's a person he has a lot of friends and we can't always tell at time where he is but I ask him to tell us at least one place you're going so If anything should happen, we would know exactly who to look for or who to say such and such to. And he said well I'm going to see my kids, I have to see my boys."
Voice of: Mother-In-Law
"He was the best dad that anyone could ask for those kids, I pray for the person who did this that he could find it in his heart and realize what he did to us, he take away a good man, he take away a father, two children fatherless but I make a promise, I will stick by my daughter side and I will support her with those boys."
And 11am on September 21st when he left their Hattieville home was the last time the boys would ever see their father.
