Photo: Nimrod Tillett, victim
by Kristen Ku
BELIZE CITY, Fri. July 28, 2023
Nimrod Tillett, who has been accused three times of murder, but who appeared to evade justice each time, is now fighting for his life at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) after a gunman fired a reported 18 bullets at him.
The incident reportedly took place on the outskirts of Corozal, to which Tillett, who was an Orange Walk resident, had recently moved. When police responded to reports of gunshots after 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 27, they found Tillett with gunshot injuries at the scene. He was promptly taken to the Corozal PolyClinic, then the Northern Regional Hospital before being transferred to the KHMH, where he remains in critical condition.
During a press conference last week, Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams explained that Tillett had just arrived at his girlfriend’s house on a motorcycle when an assailant shot him multiple times and then fled the scene. The motive behind the attack is yet unknown, but investigators are trying to determine whether the incident is tied to one of the brutal killings that he has been accused of committing.
At the scene of the shooting, police recovered several 7.62 mm expended shells — up to 18 of them, according to some reports — thus raising concerns about the increasing availability of ammunition and assault rifles in the Corozal District.
“These guns are easily accessible in the North due to the Corozal border and the fact that the cartels operate within the Chetumal area and have some influence with some people in the Corozal District. We had found one of those weapons about 3 weeks ago. We also found a grenade within the Corozal District about 2 weeks ago,” Commissioner Williams noted.
In 2009, Tillett was accused of the murder of his former neighbor and alleged lover, Enrique Castillo, 44, but evaded conviction due to a rejected caution statement in court.
Years later, in 2020, he faced another murder charge for the alleged killing of a farm caretaker in Yo Creek Village, Abner Novelo, 30, who was brutally chopped to death, but was again set free due to insufficient evidence.
Most recently, in 2022, Tillett faced yet another murder accusation for the death of a librarian, Bernard Timmons, who was killed during an Independence Day celebration in Orange Walk. However, he was once more released due to a lack of conclusive evidence.
Police have not yet identified any suspects in the shooting of Tillett.