Photo: Joel Andrews, deceased
by Charles Gladden
HATTIEVILLE, Belize District, Wed. Oct. 25, 2023
The bodies of a pig farmer and his worker were found in a pond near his farm, located in the “faamah area” in Hattieville, Belize District, on Tuesday. It is believed that the two men—Joel Andrews, 66, the farm owner, who would often be seen selling vegetables at the Michael Finnegan Market, and Martin Sho, Andrews’ workman, originally from Punta Gorda Town—had been killed sometime on Monday night, October 23.
Initial reports are indicating that both bodies were found sometime after 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning inside a wheelbarrow which had been placed in a pond a distance away from the property, which is in a remote location approximately two miles off a road in the vicinity of Mile 17 of the Philip Goldson Highway. Sho had reportedly been chopped multiple times, while there were apparent gunshot wounds on the body of Andrews, who was known to many as “New York”.
One of Andrews’ neighbors told local reporters that Andrews, who had been living on the property for an estimated 15 years, would regularly park his vehicle in their yard and would retrieve it the following morning. Their suspicions grew when he contacted them asking about his workman around 9:00 p.m. and went to the farm to locate his workman on Monday night. That neighbor also mentioned that she had been told that sometime during the night, screams for help had been heard coming from that same area.
Another neighbor believes that Andrews was possibly robbed (likely of his firearm) and then murdered at the farm.
Police also believe that the motive for the apparent double murder was robbery, since Andrews’ home had been ransacked.
Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Kareem Musa told local reporters that the Belize Police Department is searching for two suspects who they believe played a role in the double murder.
“I have just been briefed by the Commissioner of Police of the double murder, another tragic loss of life in Hattieville. From the information that the police have so far, they are looking for two suspects in particular; they have the names. I do not want to disclose the names at this time, of course, until the police [can] garner statements so that they can make arrests,” he said.
“… It’s very difficult to be able to predict things like that. The police cannot be everywhere all at once, and that is why we rely heavily on the community in neighborhood watch groups to respond whenever you notice suspicious individuals in your neighborhood, to call the police so that the police can come and take preventative action so that we do not have that kind of loss of life,” he added.
“We just enjoyed the month and a half lull of not having violent crime, and yes, that is a good thing; but that does not mean that the police [are] in any way letting up [their] guard, and staying on the beat and staying on the ground. It is just unfortunate that we are having these incidents,” Musa said.