DPP Withdraws Murder Charge Against American Bill Campbell
In February of 2006, American William Douglas Campbell was accused of killing his employee, Honduran Danilo Vialltoro in the Tres Cocos area, north of San Pedro Town.
Both men had reportedly been drinking and neighbors say, were both burdened with worries and both were found at the site with gunshot wounds. Campbell's wound was to his chest and Vialltoro's to his head. Villatoro died, but Campbell lived after being flown into Belize City for emergency surgery.
Investigators believed it was a murder followed by a suicide attempt, with Campbell pulling the trigger of a 38 revolver.
It's a secluded area and there were no witnesses, so all police had was the dead body, the suicide/murder theory and the unlicensed revolver. But the DPP says that wasn't enough and he has instructed that murder charges against Campbell be withdrawn. That was done in San Pedro Magistrate's Court today.
The case will now go to a coroner's inquest and subsequent charges, most likely not murder, could emerge from that.
And while he's off the murder charger and off remand, Campbell still faces charges for an unlicensed firearm and ammunition for the 38 revolver responsible for both his injury and Villatoro's death.