by Roy Davis (Freelance Writer)

BELIZE CITY, Wed. June 18, 2025

The trial of former police officer, Elmer Nah, 40, charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, began today in the court of Justice Nigel Pilgrim, in what can be described as a judge-alone trial.

Nah was read four counts of indictment. The first count was that on December 31, 2022, he murdered Jon Ramnarace at his residence, located in Belmopan. The second count was that on that same evening on December 31, 2022, he murdered David Ramnarace at the residence of his brother, Jon Ramnarace. The third count was that the death of Vivian Ramnarace, the wife of Jon Ramnarace, on January 15, 2023, was caused by wounds inflicted by Nah at the Ramnarace family’s residence in Belmopan, also on the evening of December 31, 2022. The fourth count was that on December 31, 2022, Nah attempted to murder Yemi Alberto at the residence of Jon Ramnarace.

Nah pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

Having had the indictment read to him and having had a plea taken, Nah took his seat in the dock while the special prosecutor, Terence Williams, outlined the case for the Crown. He said that on Christmas Eve, December 31, 2022, a man dressed in dark clothing entered the yard of Jon Ramnarace and Vivian Ramnarace’s residence and shot Jon and David, who were in the yard. He said that the gunman then proceeded to a vestibule inside the house and shot Vivian, who succumbed to her injury 15 days later at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Yemi Alberto, David’s girlfriend, was also shot, said Williams, but she escaped by running through the back door of the home and she survived.

A voire dire was scheduled to take place, but Williams asked Justice Pilgrim if he could call a witness, former scenes of crime technician, Barrington Montero, a resident of Belmopan, who was a neighbor of Jon Ramnarace. Justice Pilgrim agreed, and Montero took the witness stand.

He testified while on the stand that at about 7:30 p.m. on December 31, 2022, he was sitting on the verandah of his house when he saw a person dressed in dark clothing walking on an unnamed street facing the Ramnarace residence. He said he also saw two vehicles on the street, and he saw the person jump across a drain and enter the yard of Jon Ramnarace. He said he then heard what sounded like gunshots, and he told his son to call the police. He said he also went inside and got his licensed pistol and he went back on the verandah. By this time the police had arrived, said Montero, and he heard a woman crying out for help, and when he saw the woman, she had what appeared to be blood stains on her clothes.

Montero said he asked his wife to take the woman to the hospital, and he went across to Jon’s residence. He said he saw Jon lying on the ground trying to catch his breath, and he asked the police to take him to the hospital. David, he said, was lying beside Jon, motionless.

Montero said he found Jon’s daughter inside the house, and he put the child in the care of his son.

Under cross-examination by Nah’s attorney, Dr. Lynden Jones, Montero admitted that he did not see who the shooter was; he only heard what sounded like gunshots.