_{(l-r) Matyas Bo, pleaded guilty and John Bo, deceased}

by Charles Gladden

DANGRIGA, Stann Creek District, Wed. July 9, 2025

On Monday, July 7, Matyas Bo, 26, of Bella Vista Village, Toledo District, pleaded guilty to manslaughter at the High Court in Dangriga Town for the death of his brother, 35-year-old John Bo, in 2024.

Matyas was initially charged with murder; however, while he admitted that he stabbed John, he said that he was drunk at the time and did not remember harming his brother—resulting in a reduction of the charge to manslaughter—to which he pleaded guilty before Justice Antoinette Moore.

The Bo brothers had been drinking and socializing with three other men at John’s home in the village in late September of 2024, when the two siblings got into an argument over a bottle of rum that they were sharing.

The argument escalated, and led to John reportedly hitting Matyas’ head with a cinder block. Matyas then allegedly stabbed John with a screwdriver in the chest, after which he got rid of the weapon and fled the scene, but he was caught by police several blocks away from the scene at his parents’ home in the village.

Matyas Bo was remanded to the Belize Central Prison and will reappear in court on August 5 for sentencing.