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Double murder in Pineapple Hill

HeadlineDouble murder in Pineapple Hill

TEAKETTLE, Cayo District, Mon. May 18, 2015–The Pineapple Hill area, of Teakettle in the Cayo District, was the scene of an appalling double homicide – the victims of which were two American nationals who were apparently targeted by robbers last Friday evening.

Police said that on Friday, May 15, at about 6:10 p.m., they were called out to the residence of American teacher, Laura Jo Lambert, 59, in the Pineapple Hill area of Teakettle, where they saw the body of American national, Julian Christopher Jones, 46, also of Teakettle, with chop wounds to the head, inside a house that is under construction on the property.

Further checks in another room of the house led to the discovery of the body of American retiree, Paul David Signorino, 61, of Valley of Peace Road, Cayo District. He had two gunshot wounds in the left side of the head.

Lambert told police that at about 5:30 p.m. on Friday, she arrived home and did not see her ex-husband, so she called out for him, but received no response.

Upon making checks inside the said house, which is located at the back of her property, she found both men dead.

Amandala visited the crime scene, yesterday, Sunday, and we managed to speak with a neighbor, Ruel Cruz, who told us what he knew of the shocking incident and described his relationship with the occupants of the property.

He said, “I got home Friday before 7:00 p.m. and shortly after, I got a call from Ms. Laura informing me that her ex-husband and his friend had been brutally murdered. At the same time, I saw the police going back there.”

“Mr. Jones was nice guy. I didn’t interact with him much, but the times that I spoke with him, he was a cool guy, very casual, friendly and very direct, but that’s all I knew because he was always back and forth between the US and Belmopan, so he didn’t really stay here,” he said.

“Ms. Laura lived by herself for some time and during that time, I would go and check with her to make sure she’s fine and occasionally keep an eye on her home when she is not there”, he related.

Cruz told us that he has no idea how the incident happened, but suggested that it may have been premeditated and there had to have been more than one perpetrator because of the tall, brawny body structure of Jones, whom he described as being extremely vigilant.

“It appears that they [the victims] were set up in some sense, and I don’t know the details, but I know that it had to be more than one person because Mr. Jones is a really tall guy, strong and always alert, [so] it had to be someone that he trusted…the property extends all the way to the highway and he had some locals who used to work with him [recently], so I don’t know if they had something to do with it”, Cruz explained.

The neighbor also mentioned that the last time he spoke with Jones was about a week ago in Belmopan, but he recently had a casual conversation with Lambert prior to the incident, in which there was no indication that something was amiss, he said.

Our reports are that Signorino was unfortunately caught in the bloodbath basically because he had gone to visit Jones at the time of the incident.

Police said that Lambert’s one-bedroom house – which is situated in the front of the property – as well as two vehicles that were parked in her yard had been ransacked.

They also reported that Jones’ licensed 9mm Beretta pistol and .22 rifle are missing.

Officer Commanding Belmopan Police, Superintendent Howell Gillett, told us today that the manner in which the crime was committed suggests that it may have been a robbery and that investigators are presently working on the case, but no arrests have yet been made.

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