A murder trial has been placed on hold as the case file, which was kept in the Supreme Court’s document section for the past two years, has been reported missing.
It was thus not possible at this point to proceed with the trial of Wesley Emmanuel and Jesse Ochoa for the brutal torture and murder of Emigdio Gomez on Monday, July 14, 2008, on a feeder road behind the Banana Bank area of Cayo District.
Gomez’s co-worker, Cornelio Schmitt of Shipyard, Orange Walk District, had reported to police that he and Gomez were in a bulldozer heading to their home after a hard day’s work around 5:00 p.m., when suddenly a vehicle drove in front of them and one of the occupants signaled to them that something may be wrong with the bulldozer’s wheel.
After the bulldozer came to a stop, three men exited the vehicle and by gunpoint forced Schmitt and Gomez into their private car. The kidnappers drove the victims to a house, where inside, they robbed Schmitt of $300, shot him in the neck and abdomen and beat him.
Gomez, who was outside, was chased and shot in the left side of his chest and later hanged off a feeder road.
Schmitt was able to seek help from neighbouring villagers.
Ochoa and Emmanuel’s murder trial had been set to start on Tuesday, October 19, 2010, in the Supreme Court room of Justice Adolph Lucas, but due to the missing file, the start of the trial was adjourned until Wednesday, October 20, 2010, and again until November 2, 2010. However a message was aired tonight Thursday, on Channel 7, advising jurors of Justice Adolph Lucas’ court to return to court on Monday, October 25, 2010, instead.
Ochoa’s attorney, Dean Lindo, spoke to Amandala about the missing file and reiterated his distaste at the matter.
“It’s scandalous. How could a file that has been locked up for two years go missing? I am of the view that the judge [Justice Lucas] will do everything in his power to ensure the trial continues, whether or not the file is found,” Lindo said.