The Supreme Court has handed down a stiff prison sentence to a man who was found guilty of the murder of a 68-year-old mother from the Orange Walk District. The defendant is 24-year-old Christopher Bradley, and the court has ruled that he must serve 28 years in jail before he is eligible for parole.
Viewers may remember the gruesome killing of 68-year-old Martha Gonzalez, a tamales vendor from San Felipe in Orange Walk. Back in November of 2018, her body was found in Pomona Village. Her killer stabbed her in the chest, wrapped her body in a grey tarp, and disposed of it in a pit latrine.
Gonzalez was known to make trips to Pomona Village on the 15th and ending of every month.
Christopher Bradley stood trial for her killing before Justice Antoinette Moore in the Dangriga Supreme Court. During the 3 day trial, the crown called 13 witnesses. One of them also included 2 people close to the defendant. One of those witnesses told the court that on the night before Gonzalez's body was discovered, Bradley gave her a gold chain as a gift. A relative of Gonzalez positively identified that chain as her belongings. Other circumstantial evidence linking Bradley to the murder included the victim's purse, which was found in the immediate area of her body, along with the bucket she used to sell her Tamales. Investigators also found blood in Bradley's Pomona Village house, where he lived with his mother.
After the judge reviewed all the evidence, including Bradley's defense, she found him guilty. The case was prosecuted by Crown Counsel Riis Cattouse from the DPP's office. The accused was represented by Oswald Twist.
