Robbery Charges Dropped After Dutch Victims Leave Country

Three Belize City men accused of violently robbing a Dutch tourist couple last December are now free of robbery charges but one of them, Kentroy McKoy, is headed back to prison as he awaits trial for an unrelated matter. In court on Tuesday evening, 25-year-old, McKoy, a car dealer of Cleghorn Street; 19-year-old, Randolph Churchill Gibson, a laborer of Antelope Street, and 24-year-old, Damion Edward Saldano, an LIU employee of Plues Street, appeared before a Senior Magistrate where their robbery case was set for trial. However, the prosecution informed the court that the victims, Netherlands nationals 62-year-old, Renilde Peters, and her husband, 71-year-old, Arie Seip, had returned to their home country and would not be available to testify. As a result, the charge of robbery was officially withdrawn against all three men for want of prosecution. While Gibson and Saldano walked free from the court, McKoy’s freedom was short-lived. He was immediately remanded back to the Belize Central Prison, where he is awaiting preliminary inquiry on a murder charge stemming from an August 2024 shooting incident. McKoy and Degron Shakeel Joseph, 25, a customer service agent of Pelican & Seagull Street, were jointly charged on August 13, 2024, for the murder of fisherman Mark Francisco, who was fatally shot on August 4. The now-dismissed robbery charge dated back to Sunday, December 7, 2023. According to police reports, around 10:50 a.m. that day, the elderly couple was ambushed near the corner of Vernon Street and Torton Lane in Belize City. As they turned into Torton Lane, two men on bicycles approached them from behind. Ms. Peters was pulled to the ground during a struggle over her belongings, which included a waist bag, Samsung phone and tablet, and approximately $4,000 in Mexican pesos and $450 in Belizean currency. She suffered injuries to her knees and hip. Mr. Seip was also pushed to the ground as he tried to intervene. Saldano and Gibson were initially arraigned in December 2023. McKoy, who had been at large at the time, was arrested and charged the following month. All three were initially remanded but later released on bail pending trial. Despite video footage surfacing today showing McKoy being escorted back to prison, an apparent mix-up by media sources showed images of Gibson and Saldano, who were both freed, further adding to public confusion over the outcome. Tonight, while two of the three accused are back on the streets, McKoy remains in state custody, this time for a far more serious allegation.