VALLEY OF PEACE, Cayo District–Donatilo Canales, 56, a farmer of the Valley of Peace Village, died after he was shot multiple times in his head and body by an unknown gunman in his yard at about 1:00 Saturday morning.
Reports to Amandala are that Canales was sleeping in his house along with his wife and family when the dogs began barking. He got out of his bed and went outside to see what was happening, and shortly after, his wife heard about four gunshots, after which there was silence.
Police responded to the shooting and rushed him to the Western Regional Hospital in Belmopan, where he was declared dead on arrival.
According to police, they went to the Valley of Peace about 4:00 Saturday morning, after receiving a report of the shooting, and they found, in the back yard of Canales’ residence, about forty feet from the house, the body of a Hispanic man, lying face up, in a pool of blood.
The victim had been shot in the chest area, throat, face, head and left hand.
The murdered man was identified as Donatilo Canales, 54, a naturalized Belizean laborer of Valley of Peace Village, Cayo District.
Police say that their investigation revealed that sometime around 12:30 Saturday morning, Canales heard his dogs barking behind his yard. Canales tried to ignore the barking, but after about a half hour, he went to check.
Shortly after, the sound of four gunshots was heard coming from behind Canales’ yard.
His wife, who was in the house, noticed that a long time had passed and Canales had not re-entered the house, so she went to their neighbor’s house and told them what she heard, and that she believed that her husband was injured.
She told police that the dogs had been barking for about 30 minutes, and when Canales no longer could ignore them, he got his flashlight, and went out to see what was happening, but failed to come back into the house after the gunshots erupted.
An immediate search was carried out by neighbors, and Canales’ body was found.
This was not the first time Canales was shot. In November 2012, his legs were fractured when he was shot by a policeman.
His family and police are at a loss as to why he was killed, and so far, no suspects have been detained.
His body has been deposited at the morgue, where it awaits an autopsy to certify the cause of his death.