Rafael Mencias, 21, aka “Bull”, a horse trainer and jockey originally of Orange Walk Town, who was wanted in connection with a brutal murder on Monday night in the small village of Carolina, has been apprehended after briefly eluding the law, and charged with murder.
He appeared in Magistrate’s Court in Corozal Town today, Thursday, as Magistrate Leslie Hamilton was not in office yesterday when Mencias was supposed to have been arraigned. He was remanded until his next appearance, on October 27.
An additional charge of arson may be in the works for Mencias, pending an investigation by the Fire Service in Corozal.
“Bull” was caught at the bus station in Corozal Town around 9:30 Tuesday night, just shy of 24 hours after a fatal meeting with Phillip Moses Hall, 41, of Carolina, about 3 miles out of Corozal Town on the Northern Highway.
Mencias is accused of stabbing Hall to death at his, Mencias’ residence in the village, and then allegedly setting the room on fire.
According to police, they visited a two-storey 9- by 13-foot concrete building in the village, the top section of which was incomplete, just before 10:00 Monday night and observed the lower flat in flames. Fire Service personnel put out the fire and an inspection of the building led to the discovery of Hall’s motionless body, an examination of which showed about 15 stab wounds in the neck, chest and abdomen; the body was severely burnt below the waist.
Initial reports were that Hall’s genitals had been hacked off, but according to Police Department press officer Sgt. Fitzroy Yearwood, the genitals were found to have been severely burnt, as well as the right leg, but not cut off. This was confirmed in the post-mortem examination conducted on Hall on Wednesday, in Belize City, which certified the cause of death as exhumation from internal and external bleeding due to multiple stab wounds.
A Corozal Fire Service official told us today that they were called by their police counterparts at 10:00 Monday night about the fire, and responded with three trucks, arriving at 10:05 p.m. It was at this point they were told of the body inside the building, not yet identified.
The fire was put out at 10:18 p.m. Hall’s body was found face up near the only exit of the building, the front door, and apparently nude.
Subsequent investigation of the premises by the Fire Service personnel uncovered an empty gallon bottle inside the residence and some cloth which appeared to have been soaked in a substance suspected to be gasoline. They also found an aluminum pole outside the residence, with some cloth tied on the end, also appearing to have been soaked in the same substance as the cloth found inside. It is suspected that this may have been used to set the fire, by means of being pushed through one of the two board louver windows.
Damage was caused to half the bed and mattress, a standing fan, and some clothes inside the premises.
Officially, the Corozal Fire Service says it suspects that the fire was “deliberately set,” but refuses to speculate on possible arson charges for Mencias.
Police say Hall and Mencias were socializing in Rafael’s room on Monday night, where it appears they got into a misunderstanding resulting in the attack and subsequent fire.
But it is what is behind that attack that has shocked Hall’s family and residents of the close-knit community of Carolina.
Amandala understands from family and friends that Hall, formerly a bartender but unemployed at the time of his death, Mencias and a group of their friends were socializing on Sunday night at the stable where Mencias worked when Hall made comments to the effect that he “liked seeing” Mencias, whereupon the younger man responded that he wasn’t “like that.” At the time, the group thought that Hall was merely making a joke.
A niece of Hall admitted to us on Wednesday that he had exhibited homosexual tendencies, and possibly a sexual advance on Mencias by Hall on Monday night may have turned out to be a fatal mistake. She insisted, however, that to her knowledge, her uncle never approached anyone in a sexual manner.
A caretaker at the stable where Mencias worked told our colleagues at CTV-3 News that “Bull” allegedly went to him at the stable on Monday night and confessed to Hall’s murder, asking for assistance in disposing of the body. When he, the caretaker, went inside to talk to his boss, he reports, “Bull” disappeared and was not seen again until his capture at the bus station on Tuesday. It is thought that he stabbed Hall during the altercation, went to the stable, and later returned to set the building on fire.
Family members of Hall told Amandala on Tuesday afternoon in the village that they had no idea why “Bull” would kill Hall, and say that Hall was never a troublemaker, even while drinking liquor, as he was known to do frequently. He is survived by a sister, brothers, and other relatives.
On Wednesday, Hall’s niece told us via telephone from Carolina that the family wants justice for Hall’s death. “That is all we can hope for…He did not deserve to die the way he did even for what he was,” she said, referring to his homosexual lifestyle, adding that she hoped Mencias got a long stint in jail as punishment if he is convicted.