Last night, we told you about the stiff sentences in Prison that Justice Herbert Lord handed down to the three men who pleaded guilty to the July 2014 killing of 71-year-old Ramon Cervantes Sr.
Ramon Senior was kidnapped from his farm, tortured, and beaten to death, and his body was buried in a shallow grave a few miles down the Honey Camp Lagoon Road.
Viewers often hear the grieving family members of victims demanding justice for the murder of their loved ones. The Cervantes family has received just that, but are they satisfied?
Our news team traveled to Orange Walk today to speak with the son of the well-known resident, and Daniel Ortiz has that story:
After almost eight long years of waiting, the family of Ramon Cervantes Sr. received the good news yesterday that the three men police charged in connection with the murder of their patriarch are facing the consequences of that heinous crime.
Noe Gamaliel Gonzalez Avila pleaded guilty to the charge of murder and WAS sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole until he has served a total of 26 years.
Avila's co-accused, Angel Cardenas and Mateo Pott have pleaded to the lesser charge of manslaughter. For their conceded role in Don Ramon's killing, they are serving the rest of a 21-year prison term.
Ramon Cervantez Jr., Ramon Senior's son, who is now a PUP parliamentarian and a Minister of Government, says the family has gotten some closure.
Ramon "Monchi" Cervantes Jr. - Son of the Deceased
"We just remain calm about everything. We did our best to remain calm, and we were just hoping that the guys would stick to their plea because I think within the time that they said that they would plead guilty and until they were sentenced, I believe they still had the time to change their plea. So, we were just hoping that they would stick to their plea and get this over with, this part of it. I believe we got the best legal justice that could be afforded by the legal system within its parameters, which, I guess, restricts the judiciary or that governs over the judiciary system. So, it provides some degree of comfort which we have to live with. The guys confessed to it. There is still one out there that is on the run."
So, it's not fully completed yet. But for this part, you know - as you said, we know, it's we have to live with it. I guess is the best justice that we could get under the system.
"Monchi," who is acting as a spokesperson for his family members who are still grieving Ramon Senior's death, says he is dissatisfied with the efforts of the Belize police to locate Manuel Castillo. Viewers will remember that back in 2014, he absconded - most likely to Mexico - and a few months after the discovery of Ramon Senior's body, he famously made a call to the widow of the patriarch. That phone call sparked another saga, which colored the killing of this beloved Orange Walk resident with political undertones.
Reporter
"With respect to the other suspect who remains on the lam, do you believe that local and international authorities are moving fast enough to try to locate and apprehend him?"
Ramon "Monchi" Cervantes Jr.
"Regarding the local authorities, I don't even know if they're moving. You know, we've been pressing on this, with the - they always tell us it's at Interpol. It's at Interpol. I mean, the other day, I think saw a red flag on a former minister, who was a minister just a few years ago being put on the - what - the red flag or something like that on Interpol. And this guy, Castillo, hasn't even come up on that. So I don't know what they're doing. And I know I'm asking once again, the police department, especially Interpol, to move up on it. You know, I'm we must be able to do something with it through the authorities, through the proper authorities. I think it is incumbent upon them, upon the police department. I ask the Commissioner to step up on the Interpol department, or whoever's in charge of Interpol, and to move on this case, we must get this guy in and get the full, complete story."
Daniel Ortiz
"Has your family been able to come up with the reason why your dad was killed?"
Ramon "Monchi" Cervantes Jr.
"We still don't have the full story, and that's why I said in the initial, you know, the sentencing of this guy, these guys are the completion of a part of it. You know, we don't know anything for sure and anything that's definite. The only thing we know is what has happened, you know, my dad, what happened to him and what has happened in the court case. That's really all we know."
