A jury of nine men and three women deliberated from 12:13 p.m. to 4:20 p.m. yesterday, Monday, December 21, in the Orange Walk Supreme Court, before they returned a verdict of guilty in the murder trial of Kenrick Williams, who was accused of the March 23, 2004 murder of Elia Gonzalez, 16, a student of Corozal Community College who lived in Libertad Village, Corozal.
The trial began on December 7 and was presided over by Supreme Court Justice Herbert Lord. The Crown’s case was presented by Crown Counsel Trienia Young. Kenrick Williams was defended by Legal Aid attorney Philip Palacio.
On March 23, 2004, the victim, Elia Gonzalez, did not return home from school at her usual time between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., and immediately, her father suspected that something had gone wrong.
Family and friends initiated a search for the missing girl and found her body in a cane field between Concepcion and Libertad villages. When her body was discovered, she still had on her school uniform, and her knapsack with her schoolbooks was still on her back.
But her hands were tied with her shoelace, and there was a piece of cloth stuck in her mouth.
Elia’s cause of death, according to the pathology report, was listed as manual strangulation, and there was also evidence that she had been raped, the police had reported.
Early in the investigation, Williams had become a suspect. According to police, he had several scratches on his face, back, and hands, suggesting that his victim had fought with him vigorously.
Although there was no eyewitness to the crime, Williams was picked up by police due to circumstantial evidence. It is this same circumstantial evidence that the prosecutor relied upon to bring about his conviction for murder.
Criminologists have a theory that says whenever a murder is committed, something is either taken from the scene or something is left on the scene by the perpetrator.
In this case, Williams was arrested after he was positively identified as the person who sold a gold ring that the victim wore. The ring was sold to a resident of Concepcion village for five dollars.
Justice Lord has set sentencing for January 11, 2010.
But now it remains to be seen what will become of this guilty verdict when the case inevitably goes to the Belize Court of Appeal, as all murder convictions are mandated by law to be examined by that higher court.
A legal source pointed out to Amandala that in a murder trial, a jury cannot vote 11 to 1 for a murder conviction. In a murder trial, the jury’s verdict must be unanimous, meaning all twelve jurors must vote to convict or acquit. This is explained in the Jury Act, Chapter 128 Section 21 subsection (1) of the Laws of Belize.