This morning convicted prisoner, Wayne Martinez, 26, who two weeks ago was found guilty of the murder of Reno Castillo, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
In October 2005, Wayne and his older brother, Norris Martinez, 29, were jointly charged with Castillo’s murder. On the night of October 10, 2005, at about 12:30, Castillo was beaten and stabbed. It was the stab wound that reportedly killed him.
Fortunately for Norris Martinez, on May 24 a jury of twelve persons – eleven women and one man – who had deliberated for three hours, concluded that he was not guilty of murder and the alternative charge of manslaughter. The fate of Wayne Martinez was not the same.
He was convicted of the murder and was sentenced to life in prison, but he could be eligible for parole in the future.
Sentence was pronounced after two character witnesses took the stand and spoke well of him.
The first witness was Pastor Arthur John Hoy, Sr., the owner of Sneaker World, who is now a pastor at Yeshua Christian Center on Gibnut Street in Belize City.
Pastor Hoy said that he has known Martinez from he was a child. He and his brothers were their neighbours.
The Martinez brothers frequented their house after his sons became good friends with them. They would eat at his house, and they were very trustworthy. Wayne, in particular, he said, would watch their house for them when they went out of the city. They never knew Wayne as a troublemaker, said the Pastor, and he would listen when they gave him advice.
Pastor Hoy said that when he heard of the tragedy Martinez was involved in, he was saddened and hurt.
In conclusion he said, “God’s Holy Word said to administer true justice,” but the same sentence also said, “to show mercy,” and he begged the judge to have mercy on Martinez.
His second character witness was Berta Tillman, a Senior Counsel Officer at the Canadian Council. She said that she knew Wayne from he was two years old. Her family was living in Canada, and after they moved to Belize her children became close with Wayne Martinez and his family.
She felt that the closeness the two families shared was good for the children, and thought that with her children’s interaction with Wayne and his brothers, they would get to know about a culture other than their own.
She said she knows Wayne as a trustworthy and an honest young man. She believes that he was never a bad influence in her children’s life.
With that, Judge Adolph Lucas said that he was moved by the character witnesses for the convict. “Two persons spoke well of you; I was moved about it. I believe they spoke with conviction,” said the judge.
The judge further said that it seemed that Martinez was well brought up, but nevertheless, death had occurred and Reno Castillo is no longer here today.
But the judge told them that what was a credit to him was the fact that the crime was not a gruesome one like, for example, the case of a man in the Caribbean islands who had thrown kerosene on a priest and a nun and then lit them on fire.
What was also good was the fact that the office of DPP was not seeking the death penalty, and with that, Judge Lucas sentenced Wayne Martinez to life in prison.
Both before and after the sentencing, inside and outside of the courtroom were very emotional for the family of the convicted prisoner.
Outside the court, as the convicted murderer was being escorted to the Hattieville Prison, his girlfriend lifted his young son, a toddler, and he hugged and kissed them goodbye.