Angel Alvarez walks free from 2020 Rosa Chinchilla murder case; Co-accused Santos Zepeda remains on trial
By Breaking Belize News Staff: A Honduran national who was jointly charged for the 2020 murder of Belize City resident Rosa Chinchilla is no longer facing trial for her murder, after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions entered a nolle prosequi against him in the High Court. Angel Adolfo Garcia Alvarez appeared before […] The post Angel Alvarez walks free from 2020 Rosa Chinchilla murder case; Co-accused Santos Zepeda remains on trial appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
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By Breaking Belize News Staff: A Honduran national who was jointly charged for the 2020 murder of Belize City resident Rosa Chinchilla is no longer facing trial for her murder, after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions entered a nolle prosequi against him in the High Court.
Angel Adolfo Garcia Alvarez appeared before Justice Nigel Pilgrim on Monday, where the murder charge against him was discontinued. His co-accused, 25-year-old Santos Eduardo Lopez Zepeda, believed to be a Guatemalan national, remains on trial.
The men had been jointly charged for the murder of 59-year-old Rosa Chinchilla, who was found dead inside her home at #34 Lindo’s Alley in Belize City on Monday, August 17, 2020. Chinchilla was found with a cut wound to the neck.
The Crown did not state a reason in court for discontinuing the case against Alvarez. However, the decision came days after Justice Pilgrim ruled that a caution statement allegedly given to police by Alvarez was inadmissible in the trial.
Sources say that caution statement was believed to be the main piece of evidence linking Alvarez to the murder. Without it, the remaining evidence was reportedly not sufficient for the Crown to proceed against him.
While Alvarez is now free of the murder charge, he was not released outright. Immediately after the case against him was discontinued, he was escorted into the custody of the Belize Immigration Department.
Sources indicate that Alvarez is expected to face an immigration charge for being deemed a prohibited immigrant. Immigration officials are reportedly seeking his removal from Belize under Section 5(1) of the Immigration Act, rather than pursuing a fine.
Alvarez is expected to be handed over to the Belmopan Immigration office, which handles expulsions.
Meanwhile, the murder trial against Zepeda continued Monday afternoon before Justice Pilgrim in the High Court.
The post Angel Alvarez walks free from 2020 Rosa Chinchilla murder case; Co-accused Santos Zepeda remains on trial appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
