Three dead – two victims shot and a third stabbed
A brutal triple killing in Ladyville early Sunday morning has left a community shocked, and the family of the victims in disbelief and great grief.
Police report that Robert Earl Francis Vellos, Sr., 72, his wife Karen Vellos, 48, and Karen’s daughter Teena Beth Skeen, 32, were found murdered in their Marage Road home, and the killings occurred at about 3:30 Sunday morning.
Karen Vellos, nee Skeen, had been stabbed in the center of the chest and in the left side of the neck; her husband, Robert, also known as “Happy,” had been shot behind the head; and Karen’s daughter by a previous relationship, Teena Beth Skeen, had been shot in the right side of the head (the temple) and in the right arm, near the biceps.
They were taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where they were all declared dead on arrival.
Police earlier said that they had detained a relative, Karen Vellos’s son, who they found covered with blood, and holding a machete, inside the house, and they say that he is the prime suspect.
A credible report to us earlier tonight is that the young man who has been detained has confessed to the crimes, and police have recovered a gun and a knife from the attic of the premises, believed to have been the murder weapons.
Tonight Raphael Martinez, Police Press Officer, Ministry of National Security, issued a press release, saying that “26-year-old Jared Avery Ranguy, of #5 Marage Road, has been charged with three counts of murder for the murders of Karen Skeen (Vellos), Robert Earl Vellos, Sr., and Teena Beth Skeen, all of #5 Marage Road, Ladyville.”
Police’s initial investigations revealed that around 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning, neighbors heard gunshots coming from the Vellos home, followed by a loud argument, then two more gunshots.
The alarmed neighbors quickly called police, who, in a report dated today, Monday, said: “On Sunday, November 25, 2012, about 3:50 a.m., Ladyville police visited a house at #5 Marage Road in Ladyville, Belize District, where they met a male person kneeling in front of a room screaming and holding a machete. In front of him were two persons lying motionless –Karen Skeen and Robert Earl Vellos, Sr., an American of same address. In another room, police found Teena Beth Skeen.”
An earlier report to Amandala was that on Saturday night, the family had gone to the Princess Casino and had won the jackpot. They had returned home and were celebrating when a family member came in and demanded money.
Robert refused to give him money, and there was an argument which led to an altercation, which was parted by Karen, who, reports to us are, didn’t have good relations with the relative – believed to be Ranguy.
It is believed that Ranguy returned to the house around three that morning and attacked the family.
A relative of the family could not verify the report that Robert and Karen had won money at the casino, however, but said that the aggressive behavior of Ranguy was “normal”.
Karen Skeen Vellos was a retired BEL employee and was deeply involved with the activities of the Cancer Society, and her husband was a retired Belizean-American. Teena was an airline employee.
Almost all Robert Vellos’ other relatives, including a daughter, are in the United States, except for a nephew and a son in Belize.
Karen Skeen is survived by five brothers – Roger, Rene, Michael, Kenny and Chadwick; five sisters — Marilyn, Rosie, Barbara, Diana and Lydia; a son, who is presently the prime suspect in her murder, Jared Avery Ranguy, and many other relatives and friends. Another sister, Judith, is deceased.