Hilderbrandt Robateau, 67, remanded on charge of attempted murder, released on bail
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 27, 2018– On Friday, August 24, after he heard submissions from attorney Oscar Selgado and there was no objection from Crown Counsel Janelle Tillett, Justice Herbert Lord offered Ernesto Vasquez, 22, charged with the murder of Herbert Bodden, 30, a bail of $40,000, which he met.
Selgado submitted that Vasquez has been on remand since 2015, and although he was indicted on April 3, 2016, no trial date or case management date has been set. He said that the delay was unreasonable and that it was a violation of Vasquez’s constitutional right to a trial within a reasonable time.
Bodden, an auto mechanic, was shot and killed in broad daylight on February 26, 2016, while he was under a vehicle parked on Cedar Street, repairing it.
According to an eyewitness, Bodden was sitting on the side of Cedar Street when the gunman pointed a gun in his face and pulled the trigger.
However, the gun misfired. The eyewitness said he was able to run and seek cover in a yard nearby, and while he was in the yard, he heard several gunshots. He said that when he looked, he saw the gunman with the gun in his hand and he recognized him as someone whom he had seen before.
He said that when he looked, he saw Bodden lying on the ground with gunshot wounds in his upper body.
Vasquez was granted bail on the condition that he remains in his house every day from 8:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. He was also offered bail on the condition that he reports to the police station every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until the case has been concluded.
He is also not to interfere with any of the prosecution witnesses, and he is to appear in the Supreme Court on each and every adjourned date.
Another person who received bail was Hilderbrandt Robateau, 67, an auto mechanic of Central Farm, who is charged with the attempted murder of his wife, Rosa Gamez, 48. Robateau was released on a bail of $10,000 that was offered to him on Friday, August 24, by Justice Herbert Lord.
Justice Lord granted the bail after he heard submissions from Robateau’s attorney, Hurl Hamilton. Hamilton said that Robateau has a medical condition that could gravely affect him if he is kept in prison. He said that Robateau has an enlarged heart and he suffers from hypertension.
Robateau was arraigned in the San Ignacio Magistrate’s Court on August 20 and was remanded until October 22. He was also charged with dangerous harm and use of deadly means of harm. Before he was granted bail, Robateau had to assure the court that he won’t be living in the same house where his wife resides. He said that he would live with his sister at her house.
The incident occurred on August 16. Police reported that they went to Robateau’s house in response to a shooting report and when they arrived there, they saw Gamez lying on the kitchen floor with a gunshot wound in her left leg.
Gamez told police that she and Robateau got into an argument which led to an altercation, and Robateau got his 16-gauge shotgun and shot her.
One of the conditions of Robateau’s bail is that he is not to go within 100 yards of his wife. He is also to surrender all of his travel documents to the court. The Crown was represented by Crown Counsel Janelle Tillett.