Williams Danny Mason, guilty of 2 counts of kidnapping of Mennonite couple
BELIZE CITY, Mon. May 12, 2025
After an almost 3-hour summation by Justice Nigel Pilgrim of the evidence presented in the trial of William “Danny” Mason and Ryan Rhaburn, who were jointly charged with kidnapping Mennonite couple, Lloyd and Rosie Friessen on May 31, 2016, with Mason additionally facing charges for blackmailing Friessen, a 9-member jury of 5 men and 4 women today stepped into the deliberating room to decide on the fate of Mason and Rhaburn, and within less than 2 hours they emerged with a verdict.
All 9 jurors found Rhaburn not guilty on both counts of kidnapping of Lloyd and Rosie Friessen; but in the case of Mason, eight of nine jurors found him guilty on both counts of kidnapping. However, Mason was found not guilty by all 9 jurors of blackmailing Lloyd Friessen.
Justice Nigel Pilgrim, who presided over the trial, has deferred the submission of a mitigation plea for Mason until June 20, 2025.
The trial of Mason and Rhaburn began before Justice Nigel Pilgrim on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, before a 9-member jury, 5 men and 4 women.
Justice Pilgrim had made it clear that there was to be no publishing of the accused men’s history or antecedent; that anything spoken in the absence of the jury could not have been reported on by any media outlet until after the jury had delivered a verdict; and that none of the jurors were to be videoed or their pictures taken and be seen on the television or in the news during the trial.
The DPP, Cheryl Lynn Vidal, had called 5 witnesses to the stand, including Lloyd and Rosie Friessen, the two kidnapping victims, and Kieron Fernandez, along with two police witnesses.
The verdict is an indication that the jurors believed Rhaburn’s testimony, which was given under oath, as well as the testimonies of the Friessens as it related to being kidnapped, and the testimony of Mason’s co-accused, Kieron Fernandez.
As a result, tonight Ryan Rhaburn, a resident of Belmopan, is a free man.
One of Rhaburn’s attorneys, Senior Counsel Simeon Sampson, told reporters after the verdict, “The summation of the judge was excellent, and the jury abided under the law of the evidence. The evidence was so poor, the jury had to acquit my client.”
Attorney for Mason, Peter Taylor said they, “felt the verdict was rather confusing, because the blackmail should have been part and parcel for the alleged kidnapping …”
Taylor added that their defense was that the blackmail and kidnapping allegations against his client, Mason, were fabricated.
He said that they will be reviewing the directives given by the judge before indicating whether Mason will be appealing the conviction for the two counts of kidnapping.
History of the case
Exactly 8 years, 11 months and 22 days ago, a Mennonite couple of Belmopan was kidnapped and blackmailed by a man with many aliases who now goes by the name, William “Danny” Mason.
Mason is presently serving a life sentence for the beheading of Pastor Llewellyn Lucas, who, according to the testimony of Lloyd Friessen, was a business associate of Mason.
The kidnapping trauma of the couple began at the Intelco Hill Top home of Mason in May of 2016 in Belmopan, where Lloyd Friessen and his wife, Rosie Friessen, had gone to collect $300,000.00 that they claim Mason promised to return to them following a failed business transaction.
According to Friessen, Mason had promised him to get him grains for his farming business, but had not delivered the grain, despite receiving a large sum of money from Friessen.
It was when the Friessens went to Mason’s home to receive the refund he had promised them that they were held hostage and taken from Mason’s home by men, who, according to Friessen, were acting on the instructions of Mason, who had allegedly ordered that they be held until they paid him money that he alleged they owed him.
According to the couple’s testimonies, they were tied up and gagged, and a bag was placed over their heads. They were then taken against their will to Mason’s Outback Ranch property located in Mahogany Heights. There, according to Friessen, they were kept in separate rooms until he agreed to pay Mason’s men money in return for protection of him and his wife from harm, and also for protection from Pastor Llewellyn Lucas.
Lloyd Friessen testified that he never felt threatened by Pastor Lucas, and that it was Mason who ordered that they (the Friessens) be detained.
It was not until Lloyd Friessen agreed to pay $2,500 weekly for protection that he and his wife were released, allegedly under the instructions of Mason, whereupon he and his wife were given back their personal belongings, after which Mason spoke to them, then led them out of the ranch.
Ryan Rhaburn, found not guilty of 2 counts of kidnapping
Ryan Rhaburn’s shocking defense during the trial!
Two days earlier, on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, Mason’s co-accused, 48-year-old Belmopan resident, Ryan Rhaburn, had shocked the court when he gave evidence implicating Mason during his testimony under oath.
However, while Mason didn’t say anything in his defense, another witness for the Crown, Kieron Fernandez, testified that Rhaburn was a part of the kidnapping.
The Friessens were certain in their testimonies that Mason was the one who ordered the kidnapping, and that he had done so, according to what he had told them, to teach them a lesson.
The testimonies of Lloyd and Rosie Friessen
A week earlier, on April 29 and 20, 2025, Lloyd and Rosie Friessen, his wife, had also testified in the trial against Mason and Rhaburn.
Lloyd was able to point out Mason as the defendant with whom he had been doing business prior to his kidnapping on his property.
Lloyd Friessen testified that he had given Mason $300,000 in two installments of $150,000.00, which Mason was to have used to import grains from Argentina for Friessen’s farming operation. However, no grains were apparently ordered or shipped to the agreed destination, which was Guatemala, for him, testified Lloyd Friessen.
Lloyd Friessen said he then went to pay Mason a visit at his Belmopan home.
But instead of getting back his money, Lloyd Friessen and his wife were held at gunpoint, gagged, tied up, and a bag placed over their heads to hide their faces. They were then kidnapped and held captive, then ordered to pay Mason $2,500 in cash weekly for their protection before they were released.
In their testimony, Lloyd Friessen and his wife described being held on Mason’s ranch by armed men who were in the presence of Mason, who, the couple testified, gave the men orders to “rough them up” while they were being held at gun point.
Their testimony was bolstered by the testimony of another Crown witness, Kieron Fernandez, one of 4 other men who have been convicted along with Mason for the murder of Pastor Llewellyn Lucas.
According to Lloyd Friessen, on one of his visits to Mason’s home, he met Pastor Lucas, whom Mason had introduced to him as his business partner.
Kieron Fernandez, kidnapping charges dismissed
Kieron Fernandez’s testimony
Keiron Fernandez’s testimony was that he, his brother and a few others got a call from Mason, who told them that a Mennonite couple was coming to his home, that the couple owed him money, and if they did not pay, they were to be detained.
Fernandez’s testimony, as noted by Judge Pilgrim, corroborated in many ways the testimony of the Friessens, as it brought to light that the Friessens were kidnapped from Mason’s Belmopan home then taken to the ranch.
Kieron Fernandez said he was armed with Mason’s 9 mm pistol, while Rhaburn took out his own 9 mm pistol, and Terrence, who is Kieron’s brother, was armed with a large knife.
The testimony of Kieron Fernandez was one that the judge was sure to caution the jurors about, with regard to the law, because Fernandez is convicted of murder with Mason, and he was also charged initially along with a few other men, including his brother Terrence Fernandez and Mason, in connection with the kidnapping. (Note: Keiron and Terrence and Mason are serving life sentences for the murder of Pastor Llewelyn Lucas.)
But, in exchange for his testimony in the kidnapping trial, Kieron Fernandez, under the law, was able to enter into an agreement with the Crown, which was represented in the trial by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Cheryl-Lynn Vidal.
Keiron, according to the DPP, is getting 6 years deducted from his term before parole eligibility in return for his testimony against Mason and Rhaburn.
The judge was sure to remind the jurors that in regard to the testimony of Fernandez, they had to judge his truthfulness and his character, particularly since he (Fernandez) had been convicted of murder and, because he had participated in the crime, he (Fernandez) could have reasons to tell lies and also implicate others.
Rhaburn’s defense during the trial:
While Rhaburn testified to being present on the day of the kidnapping, he claimed he was there by force and under duress by armed men. He told the court that he worked for Mason for seven months prior to May 31, 2016, as his Outback Ranch manager. He testified that on the day in question, he was not aware of any kidnapping happening on the ranch, until he stumbled upon the F150 pick-up truck owned by Mason.
Rhaburn said he had started the day at around 5:00 a.m., as he had to care for the pigs; then he went to make sure that the 5 workers whom he had been overseeing were at their posts doing their assigned tasks of the day.
But while walking on the property near the pig pen, Rhaburn said he saw Mason’s F-150 pick-up truck. He said he saw it was open, and that’s when he went to inquire why; and that’s when he was stopped by armed men who told him to stay where he was, that he was to remain calm and not move.
Rhaburn said that was when he noticed that two persons whose heads were covered were inside the back of the pickup, and that they were tied up and sitting on the tailgate of the pickup.
Their head covering was later removed, said Rhaburn, and that’s when he realized that the couple were Lloyd and Rosie Friessen, whom he had met before at the ranch when they visited Mason.
In cross examination, the DPP, Cheryl Lynn-Vidal, asked Rhaburn why didn’t he do anything after he saw the situation; and that’s when Rhaburn said he was ordered to be calm and stay where he was, and that he was surrounded by men who were armed with a 9 mm pistol, a pump action shotgun and a large knife, and so he did as he was ordered to do.
Rhaburn told the court in his testimony that Mason was at the back of the pickup, and he was speaking with the Friessen couple; but since he was about 15 feet away from them, he could not discern what Mason was telling the couple.
Danny Mason team of attorneys right back coming up the steps is Peter Taylor and the two others who were there to assist him
The defense attorney’s no-case submission was rejected by the judge!
After the Crown had closed its case, Mason’s defense attorney, Peter Taylor, and Rbaburn’s attorney, Senior Counsel Sampson, both had made no-case submissions to the court, suggesting that their clients did not have to answer to the charges.
But on Wednesday of this week, Justice Pilgrim ruled against the submissions, and called the two accused men to answer to the charges.
Despite Mason remaining silent, his attorney, Peter Taylor, on behalf of Mason, told the court that it was their submission that all versions of events given by the Friessens and Rhaburn and Fernandez were all fabricated against his client, Mason.
Ryan Rhaburn with his two attorneys middle is Ian Gray and next to him is Senior Council Simeon Samspon
Sampson, on behalf of Rhaburn, said that Rhaburn was held under duress too, as he was told to do nothing when he stumbled upon the kidnapping of the Friessen couple, and so he could not be considered a part of it, as he was held at gunpoint too and placed in fear of his life
This was the second trial for the men for kidnapping and blackmailing. In June of 2024, a jury of 9 had been empaneled before Justice Francis Cumberbatch in the Belmopan Supreme Court, where the men’s trial had ended in July of 2024 in a mistrial, and a retrial was ordered.