COROZAL TOWN, Thurs. Jan. 24, 2019–  George Bednarik, 21, a laborer of Ranchito, Corozal District, who is on remand for the shooting death of Emmanuel Sosa, 38, also of Ranchito, was brought to the Corozal Magistrate’s Court today where the evidence against him was disclosed by the prosecution.

He was ordered to return to court on February 28, when a preliminary inquiry will be conducted to see if the case against him can be traversed to the Supreme Court for trial.  He was then returned to prison, where he is remanded.

Police said that at about 1:30 Sunday morning, April 15, of last year, a female bartender at Pasadina Bar, located in Ranchito, Corozal District, was attempting to close the main entrance to the bar when a man wearing a mask appeared with a sawed-off shotgun.

Emmanuel Evan Sosa, 38, intervened on the woman’s behalf, and an argument ensued between him and the masked man, and during this altercation the man shot him dead and then fled.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Joseph Myvette, who is the Head of the National Crimes Investigation Branch (NCIB), said that the evidence police investigators gathered led to the arrest of Bednarik. He was arraigned on a single charge of murder at the Corozal Magistrate’s Court and remanded.

Initially, bail cannot be offered for the offense of murder, except in circumstances where an accused has been in prison for an excessively long period of time, which would be considered a violation of his/her constitutional rights to a speedy trial within a reasonable time.