BELIZE CITY, Wed. Dec. 2, 2020– The Belize Central Prison’s internal investigation into an October 12, 2020 prison break, and a hostage situation that preceded it, has been completed. In response to its findings, the prison’s management has dismissed one prison guard and placed two others on suspension.

In his comments on the investigation and the subsequent actions which were taken, Virgilio Murillo, CEO of the prison, said, “We’ve taken the necessary action that the law allows us to take, and yeah, and as we go along, we’re improving our security measures. And we’re enforcing what we call our standard operating procedures.

“Because one of the things I will tell you with known certainty is that whenever escapes happen, it is always human error. It was strictly the staff not adhering to standard operating procedures and these are things that contribute to escapes…in one case, an officer was terminated, and then we had a few suspensions in between. So that is where we are with that, because we certainly are not going to let it slide.”

On October 12, 28 of 93 inmates detained at the administrative segregation block at the Belize Central Prison escaped custody after two guards were taken hostage and one was relieved of his high-powered rifle.

To date, all but three of those escapees have been recaptured. The three prisoners who remain at large are Michael Faux, Jaroud “Steel Bob” Lamb, and Erwin Lanza.  Two of these three are convicted murderers.

Faux was convicted for the 2005 murder of Sydney Bradley on West Canal Street. Lamb was convicted for a murder that resulted from a 2013 robbery of Belmopan’s La Choza Bar.
Lanza was serving two years in jail after he and a relative were found in possession of marijuana plants and an illegal firearm.