Freelance “Journalist” Joseph Budna Arrested for Alleged Role in 2021 Murder

Tonight, self-professed freelance journalist Joseph Budna is making headlines again, this time for being arrested for his alleged role in a 2021 murder in Belmopan.. Police officially arrested and charged Budna today, with abetment to murder with the fatal stabbing of 50-year-old Guatemalan national Armando Coy Cacao. Police recovered Cacao’s body on Saturday, July 23, 2021, on Guyana Street in the San Martin area of Belmopan with stab wounds. Cacao had been last seen on his bicycle in the Maya Mopan area of Belmopan while heavily intoxicated. Budna is no stranger to criminal cases and has made the news numerous times over the years on varying charges. As recently as two weeks ago, Budna made headlines after he got into a confrontation with security personnel at the Corozal Community Hospital. He was also recently accused of sexual misconduct involving a minor. Budna in February was also charged in the Orange Walk Magistrate’s Court for defamation and cyberbullying. In August 2023, he was injured in a shooting that claimed the life of a minor, who police say was in his bed at the time. Budna had been convicted of kidnapping and other charges in Guatemala and was sentenced to thirty years. In May 2019 he managed to escape from a hospital in San Benito, Guatemala, and made his way back to Belize.