Oliver Peters, 36, an electrician formerly of Arlington Drive, appeared before Magistrate Dale Cayetano this morning and was arraigned on a charge of murder. Cayetano remanded him to the Belize Central Prison until his next scheduled court date on April 23.

Peters was originally remanded to prison on attempted murder and related charges after he allegedly stabbed his uncle on December 7, 2013, sending him to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in a critical condition.

But on February 22, Peters’ uncle, Thomas Ferguson, 44, succumbed to his injuries and police upgraded Peters’ charges to murder.

In the early morning hours of December 7, 2013, a misunderstanding over a piece of family property turned violent when Ferguson answered a knock at his door and was stabbed once in the left side of his chest.

The incident has devastated the family because Ferguson, who was a father of eight children, died leaving a medical bill in the region of $29,000.

On the night before the stabbing took place, Peters reportedly said in the presence of Ferguson’s wife and children: “I will shed your blood.”