BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 27, 2018– The fate of Nicolas Guevara, 60, who was convicted of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment, will be known on Tuesday, October 2, when the Chief Justice, Hon. Kenneth Benjamin, gives him a fixed sentence.
Earlier today, Tuesday was set as the date for announcing the sentence after Chief Justice Benjamin heard submissions from Guevara’s attorney, Iliana Swift, and he listened to two impact assessment statements that were read to him by Crown Counsel Sheringe Rodriguez, that were provided by Alfonso Tzul, who is the father of the victim, Marcus Antonio Tzul; and Marcus Tzul’s wife, Maria Tzul.
Marcus Tzul, who was the manager of Gold Button Ranch, located in Orange Walk District, was shot and killed on the night of November 4, 1992. He and a woman, who was an employee at the ranch, were returning to the ranch from Orange Walk Town and he had exited the car to open the gate of the ranch when he was approached by three men, each of them armed with rifles with bayonets attached to them.
The woman, who was the owner of the car, testified at the trial that she heard four gunshots and she saw Tzul fall to the ground, apparently dead. She said the men put her to sit in the back seat of the car and they drove off with her in it. She said the men stopped the car after about half an hour of driving and each of them took turns to sexually assault her.
She said the men then stole her jewelry, took the keys to her car and walked away. She identified Guevara as one of the assailants.
Guevara testified and admitted that he was at the scene at the time of the incident, but he was innocent. He said he met two armed men at a bridge and they invited him to accompany them. He said they walked along a fence line and when they reached a gate, they told him to sit down.
He said a car arrived about half an hour later and stopped at the gate, and the driver, who was the deceased, got out. He said one of the armed men, who was the shorter of the two, faced Tzul and there was a scuffle, then he heard gunshots.
He corroborated the testimony of the woman, who had testified that she was sexually assaulted, but he denied participating in the sexual assault. He also said that the car was driven to the Mexican border and abandoned.
Guevara was found guilty of murder by a jury of 12 on December 16, 1993. He was given the death penalty and he spent about 7 years on death row before his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in June 2001.
He had appealed his conviction and sentence at the Belize Court of Appeal, but his appeal was dismissed. It was not until his case was put before the Privy Council that his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
He was brought before Chief Justice Benjamin today for re-sentencing. This was in accordance with a ruling given by the Caribbean Court of Justice on August 29, 2018 for Gregory August, who was convicted of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The ruling was that any person sentenced to life imprisonment should get a fixed sentence.
In her submissions, Swift said that an appropriate sentence would be 25 years. She also submitted that Guevara has been rehabilitated and that he is unlikely to pose a threat to society.
In addition to that she said that Guevara has expressed remorse and that if he is released, he wishes to return to his native country of El Salvador.