Photo: Manuel de Jesus Sandoval Chavez, charged with murder

by Charles Gladden

BELMOPAN, Tues. Sept. 26, 2023

A Guatemalan national residing in Belmopan has been charged with murder in connection with the death of Elmer Canto, 42, of Belmopan, which took place on Sunday afternoon, September 24, at a barbecue gathering in the San Martin area.

According to reports, sometime after 1:00 p.m., that afternoon, Canto was at a casual barbeque function with a group of friends on St. Matthew Street, which faces a creek in the same area, when he and a woman began to argue over a piece of meat that was on the grill.

During the argument, Manuel de Jesus Sandoval Chavez, 56, of St. Paul Street, who was passing by, noticed what was happening and decided to intervene. However, that turned out badly, as he and Canto themselves began to argue, which resulted in Canto hurling a rock in Chavez’s direction, after which Chavez retaliated by pulling out an 8-inch blade and fatally injuring Canto once in the right side of his chest.

When police arrived at the scene, they found Canto lying motionless in a facedown position in the creek. Hours after the incident, cops were able to detain Chavez for the crime. They were also able to obtain the suspected murder weapon, which had traces of blood on its blade.

On Tuesday, September 26, the Belize Police Department announced that they had charged Chavez with the crime of murder.