Roaring Creek man beheaded after leaving nightclub; 3rd beheading in the area since that of Pastor Llewelyn Lucas in July, 2016

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Oct. 28, 2019– Belmopan police have not been able to determine a motive for a gruesome murder that occurred over the weekend and was uncovered after the discovery by police of a headless body between Miles 45 and 46 on a road off the George Price Highway.

At today’s police press briefing, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Joseph Myvett, who is in charge of national crime, briefed the media on what police have been able to piece together so far.

Myvett said that on Sunday morning shortly after 8:00 a.m., acting on information received, Belmopan and Roaring Creek police visited an area between Mile 45 and 46, just outside Belmopan, in an off-road  known as Mount Pleasant Road, where, about 300 yards off the main dirt road, they discovered a pool of blood.

Myvett said that the area was searched and the body of a dark-complexioned man was found. The body, on which there were black short pants and brown boots, was headless. The head was not found in the immediate area.

Myvett said that the scene was processed and the body was taken to the Western Regional Hospital, where, on the basis of the distinguishing marks and tattoos on it, it was identified as the corpse of Michael Gladden, 31, a resident of Roaring Creek.

According to Myvett, Gladden was last seen at a night club in Belmopan.

Myvett added that further searches were conducted in the area, which led to the discovery of Gladden’s head, which was covered with his shirt and was wrapped in a plastic bag.

Myvett said that so far, police have detained several persons in connection with this investigation.

When Myvett was asked if police have been able to determine a motive for Gladden’s murder, he replied that the lead that police have is that a female might have been at the center of a conflict that led to his death, but they are still following that lead up to this time.

Myvett told the media that police know, based on the evidence they have so far gathered, that Gladden was at a nightclub in Belmopan on Saturday night, and left shortly after midnight.

Police did not say if Gladden was in the company of someone or a group, or if he was alone at the nightclub. Neither did police disclose the name of the club where Gladden was last seen.

Myvett also said that Gladden is not known to police.

Myvett was asked if a murder weapon was discovered, and he replied in the negative.

Myvett was also asked if police knew whether Gladden was killed before his head was severed.

It was the pool of blood on the highway that drew police’s attention to the area, Myvett answered, but they don’t know whether he was killed before his head was severed.

Myvett was also asked whether there were indications, based on the layout of the scene where the body was discovered, that the body was decapitated on the roadside.

“That is our belief,” he replied.

Based on what one of Gladden’s friends told the media today, Monday, he was not a troublemaker and was a private person..

Gladden’s mother, who lives in New York City, would often provide for him financially, another source told Amandala. Gladden’s mother, Phyllis Armstrong, was scheduled to make a trip home for her cousin’s funeral. Now she will have to bury her son.

This is the third beheading murder in that general area since the July 2016 beheading of Pastor Llewellyn Lucas. In November 2017, Hilton Wade, a Cotton Tree resident, was murdered and his head severed.

Myvett told the media that several persons are in custody, but no one has yet been charged for Gladden’s murder and dismemberment.