Photo: Brian Castillo, sentenced

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Dec. 4, 2023

On Friday, December 1, Brian Castillo, 30, of Benque Viejo Del Carmen Town, Cayo District, who escaped from police custody on Thursday afternoon, November 16, was arraigned in the San Ignacio Magistrate Court, where he was charged with escape from lawful custody, to which he pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to five years in prison.

However, after time on remand was deducted, the remaining sentence was reduced to 16 months.

After appearing in the Magistrate Court in Belmopan, Castillo and his fellow escapee – William Carabantes, 30, from the San Martin area of Belmopan – were being transported back to the Belize Central Prison in Hattieville when they both escaped from the prison van while in Cotton Tree Village by picking their handcuffs.

Within 48 hours of being on the run, Castillo was found in the Valley of Peace community near the Agripino Cawich Bridge. He had been charged with double murder for the death of his common-law wife, Jennifer Archila, 33, and her 12-year-old daughter, Natzia Catzim, in their home in San Ignacio Town, in November 2021.

Castillo has not yet been tried in connection with those charges.

The other escapee, Carbantes, was charged for raping a teenage girl in 2018, and has yet to be found by authorities.