A house guest turned murderer, that's what happened in a household in Concepcion Village, Corozal when a pair of cousins were brutally assaulted by a man they were giving shelter to.
He's a man that 34-year-old Juan Arturo Mendez had trusted enough to offer a place to stay but he'd somehow worn out his welcome. And around 12:30 on Sunday when he was asked to leave, he pulled a machete on his hosts and inflicted fatal wounds on Mendez and chopped his cousin to her face.
Today the cops told us that she remains in critical condition. He's a rundown fo the whole incident from the police communications officer:
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood - Police Communications Officer
"Sometime around 1:00 p.m. yesterday, Sunday, police responded to a chopping incident. The initial call to police was that a female was seen with chop wounds, apparently dead. When police gained access to the house, there was a female with chop wounds to her face, unconscious. She was transported to the Corozal Community Hospital. Her name is Wendy Mendez. And lying on the floor, not too far from Wend, was Juan Arturo Mendez, her cousin. An argument occurred earlier that day between a friend of Juan Arturo, who he gave lodging at their residence. It is reported that he asked that person to leave because he had overstayed his welcome, and that person refused. An argument ensued between them, and that male person took that machete and caused his fatal injuries, and left Wendy in a critical state. This person has been detained by police, and I'm certain that charges will be levied against him soon."
Reporter
"Do you have any updates on Wendy's condition?"
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood
"Well, I know that she's still hospitalized and still listed as critical by doctors."
Daniel Ortiz
"Has she been able to provide any sort of details to the police, or was she already physically incapable due to her injuries?"
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood
"Daniel, the investigators haven't indicated whether or not she has given them anything as yet, but as I said, only three of them were in that home at the time. But, based on interviews conducted with the person detained, investigators have gathered what I shared with you so far."
Reporter
"You said that they are cousins. Does she live there too, or was she visiting?"
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood
"That I cannot say. I know that the assailant was invited to stay there by Juan Arturo Mendez."
Daniel Ortiz
"Any indication of that escalation of just a disagreement that 'you need to leave' to the point where two people get injured and one is killed?"
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood
"Well, Daniel, I am not at liberty because this is a murder case, to go into any details. I can just stick to the basic facts, and then I'll have to leave that for the courtroom."
And that court case could go nowhere without the testimony of the eyewitness who didn't want her identity revealed when she spoke to CTV3 today.
Here's what she told them about the assailant's strange behaviour in the immediate aftermath of this violent event.
Voice of: Eyewitness
"So I turned around and asked what was happening here? that's when we saw the dark-skinned man and I told my husband that something is happening there. My husband saw the chopping we heard the noise of a machete we saw the black man running out of the house like he was looking for someone after that we saw him come back into the house. We saw that he came out of the house with a machete full of blood. He escaped and then people came around the house to see what was happening but the man that did the chopping was in the crowd pretending like he didn't know what was going on. He even asked somebody what was happening here? like he was innocent. That's when they realized he was the killer."
As you heard, the suspect has been detained pending charges.
