by Roy Davis (freelance reporter)
BELIZE CITY, Wed. June 21, 2023
The Belize Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeals of three men who were convicted of the murder of an elderly taxi driver and were given extensive prison sentences.
They are Matthew Gentle, Sherlock Myvett and Transito Ricardo “Ricky” Tzul. The Court has affirmed their convictions and sentences.
The trio were convicted of the murder of James Neal Young, 82, a taxi driver who was stabbed multiple times on July 28, 2009. The cause of death was exsanguination, which means that Young bled to death.
According to the evidence presented during the trial of the men, Tzul met Matthew Gentle, Myvett and another man, Leon Gentle, in Roaring Creek Village and he invited them to accompany him on a robbery after showing them an air chrome pistol, an ice pick with an 8-inch blade and a 6-inch-long wooden handle. Myvett went with Tzul, and about 5 minutes later, Matthew Gentle and Leon Gentle walked toward a new gas station, located at the corner of the Western Highway and Valley of Peace Village road, and they stopped by the bus stop near the gas station. Tzul and Myvett then appeared in a Geo Prism taxi car, gold and brown, driven by Tzul. Matthew Gentle and Leon Gentle got in the car, and they drove to a hill, located just before Pook’s Hill Resort. Tzul parked the car at the bottom of the hill and he opened the trunk after they alighted from the car.
The victim, James Young. was inside the trunk, and Tzul dragged him out of the trunk after he refused to come out. Tzul then put Young to kneel in front of them. After Young told them he only had $150 and they were welcome to take the money, they took him into some bushes nearby and they removed the license plates on his car.
Young told Tzul that he had known Tzul since he was a child, and he punched Tzul in the face. Tzul then stabbed Young under his left armpit near to his chest with the ice pick. After stabbing Young on the left side of his neck, Tzul then leaned over the elderly man and stabbed him multiple times on the left side of his chest. Matthew Gentle then stabbed Young several more times until he stopped moving. Tzul then covered the elderly man’s body with some cohune leaves and they all got into the car and drove away.
All this information was presented in Court by Leon Gentle, who had turned a Crown witness and had given a statement to the police. Leon Gentle was deemed a hostile witness after he refused to testify at the trial, but the statement he gave to the police was admitted as evidence.
Matthew Gentle, in an interview he gave to the police, implicated himself in the murder. But in a statement he gave to the police, he denied that he had anything to do with the murder.
All three convicts gave statements from the dock in which they denied having anything to do with the murder.
The appellants, all three of them, had appealed on the ground that the learned trial judge erred in admitting the statement of Leon into evidence without first determining whether the evidence was reliable. They also appealed on the ground that the learned trial judge erred in failing to withdraw the case from the jury at the close of the Crown’s case and that resulted in a miscarriage of justice.
There was also a voire dire at the start of the trial to determine the admissibility of statements given to the police by the appellants.
Matthew Gentle was sentenced to life imprisonment with eligibility for parole after 30 years with effect from August 6, 2009. Myvett was sentenced to life imprisonment with eligibility for parole after 25 years with effect from August 6, 2009. Tzul was sentenced to life imprisonment with eligibility for parole after 30 years with effect from August 6, 2009.
The Respondent was represented by Senior Crown Counsel Sheiniza Smith.
Matthew Gentle was represented by attorney Mrs. Peta-Gay Bradley. Myvett was represented by attorney Leeroy Banner. Tzul was represented by attorney Anthony Sylvestre.
The appeals were heard on March 13, 2023.