On November 19th, San Pedro Town experienced the first murder in over a year after island businessman Elvis Polanco, 43, was gunned down in an attempted robbery. Since then, the police have continued investigating, but no one has been held liable for Polanco’s murder. On Monday, November 28th, Commissioner of Police (ComPol) Chester Williams said a major crime team was dispatched to San Pedro to investigate the unfortunate incident further.
ComPol Williams is optimistic about the investigation. “We believe that it is solvable, and we will do our best to solve it,” he said. Williams added they are waiting for tests from the national forensic service on a firearm found in the home of one of the murder suspects.
Following the shooting death of Polanco, police moved quickly and detained two security guards, who worked at Polanco’s establishment, Jade Bar. One of them, identified as Winfield Paul Mortis, is a police officer on interdiction, and the other is an ex-police officer. Mortis was charged with the Possession of an Unlicensed firearm and remanded. The other suspect was reportedly released with no charges.
ComPol Williams added that they have also submitted clothing taken from one of the suspects to the forensic laboratory for DNA testing. “If it can be proven that the blood found on his clothing belongs to either the wife or the deceased, then again that will help us to be able to build a circumstantial case,” said Williams. The police will continue this investigation until they get to the bottom of the case. ComPol Wiliams says they are trying to build public trust and confidence in the work police do.
He reminded the public that the police are doing their best to solve this crime and ask anyone with valuable information to contact them. In San Pedro, they can visit the station on Pescador Drive or call 206-202 or contact Crime Stoppers Belize.
