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Richard & Maria Stuart

The news spread like wildfire, attorney Richard Stuart and his wife Maria were repeatedly stabbed at his home just before midnight on Saturday after a Bar Association dinner. Their murder was horrific and shocking. Stuart, a former magistrate who moved into private practice, was well known and highly connected in the United Democratic Party. His wife was a chartered accountant, they both had four children. Details are still coming in, but his vehicle used as the getaway car, was located near Saint Matthew's village on the Western Highway this afternoon and police are questioning one person and looking for others. Stuart and his wife were attacked as they walked into the foyer of their home. Their housekeeper was on the third floor with the sleeping children. How their killers gained entry into the house is still not confirmed and News Five's Jose Sanchez looks back at the Stuarts' lives.

Jose Sanchez, Reporting

Forty three year old Attorney, Richard Stuart, and his wife Maria, also forty-three, were murdered on Saturday night at their home on Graduate Crescent in West Landivar. The couple had moved from Dolphin Drive to West Landivar only two months ago. But when the coupled arrived home, assailants were waiting for them on the second floor of the building. Neighbors allegedly heard the screams that preceded the bloodbath. Stuart and his wife were stabbed repeatedly with their own kitchen knife. Police officers arrived at eleven-fifty-six p.m. and found the Stuarts lying face up in a pool of blood. On the third floor, the housekeeper was reportedly found hiding in a closet and two of the Stuart's four children were in their rooms. The couple, seen here in a picture of happier times, had just returned home about a Bar Association dinner for former Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh. The Stuarts sat at a table with fellow attorney Dolores Balderamos Garcia. Garcia recollected their last dinner.

Dolores Balderamos

Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Attorney

"So actually at our table it was only Leo Bradley Junior and myself and Richard and Maria and we had a most cordial time and conversation. We chatted about family, we chatted about various things that their children are from nine going down to only months old. And so I was jinxing them and telling them that they have a long way to go in parenting. We chatted about various things. Richard was talking about one of his cases in family court, but he's a most pleasant gentleman. I have to tell you it hasn't even sunken in good as yet."

Black bows are placed on the doors of the Anglican Diocese of Belize's office, because Stuart was a prominent and active member of the church. In fact Bishop Phillip Wright says he was also his friend.

Bishop Phillip Wright, Anglican Diocese of Belize

Bishop Phillip Wright

"I went by to be with the family. When you receive news of that nature, you appreciate the impact that it can have on their family. As one of their pastors I felt like to be with them and pray with them, was an important thing."

Jose Sanchez

"If you can share a little bit about the people you knew."

Bishop Phillip Wright

"First of all in terms of the church, Richard was a very supportive and very dependable member often going beyond the call of duty, if you will, to serve the church. He was also our diocesan registrar which means he held a senior lay position in the church and was one of the legal consultants of the church along with the chancellor."

Jose Sanchez

"So this is someone clearly that was very much with the church and that makes it even more a bit of a tragedy."

Bishop Phillip Wright

"Oh definitely, definitely. It has impacted us tremendously. Also for the fact too that this week starting tomorrow, we go into Synod which is the highest governing body meeting of the church and Richard would have played a significant role in that meeting and his counsel his insights were always very much appreciated."

Jose Sanchez

"A valuable member of society loss."

Bishop Phillip Wright

"Very much so and if I may add, a personal friend. Because outside of our responsibilities in the church, we shared a friendship; and we took trips together. He was also our representative on one of our major regional bodies, the Standing Committee of the Province which meant that we would have an opportunity sometimes to travel together. A colleague, a friend and in some respects someone that I had grown to respect quite a bit."

No signs of forced entry were found in the building. The assailants might have climbed up the scaffolds on the side of the building which was still being expanded, or the other theory is that they may have entered with a copy of a key. Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez

Police are still looking at recent events that could shed light into the murder of the Stuarts including the possibility that a former employee may be involved.

Channel 5


Attorney And Wife Stabbed To Death Inside Home

We report on violence nightly - so that's nothing new - but when those killings cross the unspoken social boundaries - that's when all of us really pay attention�.like when businessman Jason Coombs was executed, or when attorney Rodwell Williams was targeted for execution. And now, there is another and it is one of the most extreme, invasive and disturbing acts of violence in recent recall. Well-known attorney Richard Stuart and his wife Maria were viciously stabbed to death inside their home after midnight on Saturday. The killing sent of shockwaves; they lived in a quiet residential neighborhood, a well-secured home, and Stuart was a well known, well-liked professional, an ardent UDP and former chairman of the Belize Advisory Council.

Tonight police have a major break in the case and we'll tell you about that shortly. But first to Sunday morning, just after midnight when death stalked the Stuart's in their own home�.Monica Bodden has the story:�.

Monica Bodden Reporting
The body of 43 year old Attorney Richard Stuart and his wife Maria Stuart - were carried outside their West Landivar Home on stretchers -and taken away by police officers- around 2 o'clock on Sunday morning.

Two hours earlier they had entered the same door - returning from a function - where one or more persons was waylaying them inside�.

They were stabbed to death - and were found lying face up in a pool of blood. The home was not burglarized. It happened on the second floor of their 3 story mansion on Graduate Crescent. Their four children aged 4 months to 8 years old along with the housekeeper -were also inside the house at the time. They were on the third floor.

In an interview today - the housekeeper asked to remain anonymous -fearing for her own life. She walked us through - as she described -one of the most horrific nights of her life.

Housekeeper
"Earlier before I leave Mrs. Stuart came in the room and she talk to me about going and she gave a bunch a keys, She told me that the keys that she gave me was for incase of any emergency we can exit the house. She shows me 2 keys, one was for the downstairs office door to take us out of the house and she gave me a phone because the phone in the house does not have good signal. She tells the kids that she was going."

According to the housekeeper - after the couple left - she and the 4 children got something to eat from the kitchen and then proceeded to the third floor - where they all went to sleep in one room.

Housekeeper
"I got the door shut and door safety on because I know that it was only us in the house. I went to sleep and in between that I heard the phone ringing and when I heard that, I heard Mrs. Maria said that they are ready to leave for home. I had told her that I was going to call my son and have him take a taxi to pick me up and she told me ok then, when Mr. Stuart come he will pay the taxi."

This was a little after 11 o'clock that night - about twenty minutes after the call from Mrs. Stuart - that the couple arrived home.

Housekeeper
"I heard the door and between that I heard as the door open and I hear Mrs. Maria the first person I heard scream out. when I heard Mrs. Maria scream out I jump out off the bed, between that I heard Mr. Stuart scream out and they start to bawl, the first person that scream out was Mrs. Maria, I herad them bawling, I figure that something is happening."

The housekeeper along with the Stuart's eldest son who is eight years old -both heard the entire commotion the second floor. The other 3 children were asleep. Fearing for their lives - the two locked up inside a built in closet and dialed 911�

Housekeeper
"We dial 911. I told them that something is happening in this house because my boss is downstairs and they are bawling out, I told them that something is happening and I was trying to control the little boy at the same time from trying to open the door. I told him to keep quiet and keep away from the door. They have these walk in closet and we went in the closet and at the same time I was praying that the baby would wake up or the other ones because if the baby wakes he would bawl. Mean while I was calling 911 and I was telling them to please come because something is happening in this house because my boss is bawling downstairs and the kids and I are upstairs in the room on the 3rd floor."

She said after a while - everything went silent - she was still on the phone with 911.

Housekeeper
"After they stop bawling I heard silence, while I was on the phone with 911and telling them to please make the police come because something happen in this house. The person on the phone ask me signal them, I said how; they said to switch the light switch off and on they ask me which part of the building I was and I told them the left part of the building the room is. I start to switch the light and I went back to the window and I look and see police truck turn back in front of the yard."

When the police arrived at the house - Mr. and Mrs Stuart were already dead. They had both been stabbed to death.

Housekeeper
"I ask the police where was Mr. and Mrs. Stuart? One of the police makes a sign to me like this that they were gone. i knew more or less what he mean. A police officer came up to me and told me that they were dead. I start to think about the bawling that I heard and then the kids that we were in the same house. That is the most terrible experience of my life."

So far police are investigating and the home was still considered a crime scene up to late this morning. There are a number of theories going around - since the couple's maintenance worker was accused last month of stealing one of their vehicles. He was fired from the couple's home. From what we understand a set of keys for their house went missing along with the vehicle keys. The couple bought new locks for their home but didn't get a chance to change them.

Well, that last piece of information has proven to be pivotal. Police followed up on that same termination and car theft, and believe this evening that they cracked the case.

This afternoon, police intercepted a man in a Toyota Scion at El Pedrigal bar in St. Matthews village at mile 40 on the western Highway. He was in a Toyota Scion which belongs to Richard Stuart. Now our information says that this is the same area where Richard Stuart himself found his stolen Blue Toyota Highlander one month ago - at the time the suspect was a former employee who he had fired.

That person - a man of Guatemalan descent - was driving today and is detained by Belmopan police tonight while the car is being processed. Reports say a knife was found under the car seat.

So, if this lead is definitive all appearances are that they were killed by a disgruntled former employee who had already stolen one vehicle from the family.

A security tape from one of the neighbors show two people leaving the house shortly after the stabbing. The security camera in a vehicle which appears to be that same Toyota Scion. There was only one sign of forced entry - a torn screen on window.

A post mortem concluded this evening today showed that both Richard and Maria Stuart had each been stabbed 25 times. It is a developing story and we'll have more tomorrow�

Channel 7


PROMINENT LAWYER AND HIS WIFE STABBED TO DEATH

Prominent Belize City lawyer, forty three year old Richard Stuart and his wife Maria are the latest victims of the spiraling crime wave in Belize. The couple's bodies were found at the entrance to their home in the West Landivar Area of Belize City early on Sunday morning. They had been stabbed to death. According to friends, Richard and Maria Stuart had returned home from a farewell dinner for the former Chief Justice Dr. Abdulai Conteh, when they were reportedly ambushed and mercilessly killed. It's a crime that has shocked the nation already which has seen the number of homicides go past the century in what will undoubtedly be a record year for murders. The Stuarts were the parents of four children, the eldest being nine years old, while the youngest is only six months old. Today Love News spoke with one of Stuart's colleagues Audrey Matura-Shepherd about the last time she saw her long time friend alive.

Audrey Matura Shepherd; Friend

"I personally sat at the table with him and Leo Bradley and it was really a pleasant time. We were chit chatting updating each other about ourselves because we hadn't seen each other for a while. It was the first time that I knew that he had a new born baby that was six months old and he was having a pleasant time with his wife. None of us would have expected that leaving from there he would be going to his death. The way I look at it he left before I did so he would have got home and when he got home this horrific thing happens to him that is when most of us who were left behind would have been leaving. We would never have thought that that was what would have happened to him. It is a tragedy for us as a family in the bar and for our national as well because when we have cold blooded people in this country who would kill a mother and a father together and leave four children orphaned then we have really reached a stage in this country where we are really heartless. I don't see what motive there could have been and who would want to do such a thing to Richard because Richard is not a cantankerous person. He is very jovial, very nice and is like a diplomat so we are all in shock; we can't believe what happened."

Love News also spoke with members of the grieving Stuart family who have reserved comments until after the results of a post mortem examination has been released. Also weighing in on the murder is the Masons of Steadfast Lodge Number 683 who in a statement today expressed shock and deep regret at they called the "brutal, cowardly and tragic murder of their Marshall Brother Richard Stuart and his wife, Maria" end of quote. The Masons extend their heartfelt condolences to the family of their dearly departed brother and his wife and their young children. The Masons say they condemn in the strongest possible terms not only the senseless murder of the Stuarts but also the escalating violence against innocent people in our communities and our country. Richard Stuart was a member of the Belize Bar Association and served as Vice President in 2007; was chairman of the Belize Advisory Council, the Integrity Commission; Crime Control Council and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners; among others. Stuart was the recipient of the Belize Bar Association Award for Most Outstanding Belizean Student in 2000.

LOVE FM

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Bar Association offers $50,000 reward for conviction of Stuarts' Killer

This evening the Bar Association issued a release expressing its outrage and dismay over the brutal murder of Richard Stuart and his wife, Maria. As they mourn, his colleagues remember him as a professional, cordial and courteous attorney who was active in the association and served as president from 2008 to 2009. The Bar is also offering a huge reward of fifty thousand dollars for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer or killers.

Channel 5

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J
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J
so sad to read this, and feel angry there isn't any justice in Belize as Death penalty, if Belize Gov. not push death penalty legally, there isn't longer for good people live in Belize anymore!!!

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This story is horrifying.

Belize courts have passed down death-penalty sentences. Most of these sentences have been appealed to and overturned by London's Privy Council.


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Richard Stuart's Alleged Killer Confesses

And 7news has confirmed that police have also gotten a confession from the alleged killer of Richard and Maria Stuart.

The case started to come together yesterday afternoon at 2:00 when police intercepted a Toyota Scion in front of a bar named El Pedrigal off mile 38 on the western Highway.

The man driving the car was a former employee of the Stuarts and police also found a knife under the seat. Turns out that this man had also been accused a month earlier of stealing a blue Toyota highlander from he Stuart's for whom he was formerly employed.

Well now he has given police caution statement. Unconfirmed reports to us say that he told them he entered the house from a window on the third story. He also reportedly gave police the name of his associate who was his accomplice. Police are looking for that person at this time.

A post mortem shows that both Richard and Maria Stuart were stabbed 25 times. As we reported, the murder occurred as they returned to their home from a social event. The Stuarts were viciously assaulted on the second floor of their three story mansion.

The babysitter told us that she and their eldest, an 8 year old boy listened helplessly as the bloody mayhem unfolded. She said she called 911 and was with them on the phone the entire time. A neighbor's security camera picked up two men leaving the home. They are believed to have stolen Stuart's Toyota Scion at the same time.

Channel 7


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Murder most foul on Graduate Crescent

One of Belize's well-known attorneys, Richard Stuart, 43, a former Family Court Magistrate, and his wife, Maria, were stabbed to death on Saturday night in their home at #6031 Graduate Crescent.

The couple's four children were on the third floor, and were not harmed; Richard and Maria were ambushed on the second floor.

This double homicide has rocked the professional class to its core, as friends and associates of the former magistrate appeared at Stuart's 3-storey home on Sunday, to try to make sense of the tragic double murder.

Amandala has learned that since Saturday, October 16, 2010, the police have detained the Stuarts' maid, along with a male suspect who was arrested today, Monday; police also today recovered Stuart's vehicle at Mile 40, in St. Margaret's Village.

That is a significant find for the police, as the vehicle and its driver were reported to have both disappeared since the night of the murder.

Police say that on Saturday, October 16, around 11:55 p.m., they visited the Stuarts' family home, where they found the couple, both with multiple stab wounds to their bodies, lying face up in a pool of their blood.

The children, ages 8 months to 9 years, were with the maid on the 3rd storey of the home. It is uncertain whether all the children had been sleeping, because sources have told us that during the incident, the maid and one of the children hid in a closet on the 3rd floor for safety.

Our source said that "The maid had said [to the police] that she heard only a scream, then she grabbed the boy and hid in the closet".

Both Maria and Richard Stuart were rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, but were pronounced dead on arrival.

Amandala was unable to secure a comment from family members of the victims.

We learned, however, that apparently Richard and Maria had, upon almost arriving at their home, called the maid to alert her of their arrival. The couple had been chauffeured in their private vehicle from an event that they had been attending that Saturday night.

Richard and Maria later exited the vehicle and entered the house.

"They [the Stuarts] walked into the house and were going up to the second floor; when they reached the second floor, they pushed the door [the entrance to the second floor] when they were attacked and stabbed," said our source.

The friend has since told us that they have strong reason to suspect that the break-in and murder were an inside job due to the fact that, first of all, the house is huge, and for persons to have knowledge of the layout of the inside and not be a close friend, colleague or worker, was simply "impossible".

We were told that there has not been any sign of forced entry into the home, which has added to speculation that the murderer or murderers had "inside" help.

Robbery has not been confirmed as the reason for the murders, because the only thing missing was Richard's wallet.

Richard Stuart, who was a ranking United Democratic Party member, had received his professional education starting with his Bachelor of Arts degree, which he received in 1990, from the University of Winnipeg, located in Manitoba, Canada; his Bachelor of Laws, LL.B, in 1998, from the University of Guyana, Georgetown, Guyana; and his certificate of Legal Education, in 2000, from the Norman Manley Law School, located in Kingston, Jamaica.

Richard Stuart was a member of the Belize Bar Association (Vice President from 2007 to present); the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners; the Belize Advisory Council (Chairman); Crime Control Council of Belize; the Integrity Commission of Belize; Caribbean Democrat Union; Americas' Democrat Union; and the Caribbean Youth Institute.

Richard Stuart had only recently made the news when he had filed a police report regarding the theft of his light blue 2006 Toyota Highlander, on September 13, 2010.

Apparently Stuart's vehicle, which had license plate #C-31410, was parked in front of his home on Graduate Crescent on that same day, when between 4:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., someone stole it.

The police had since recovered the Toyota Highlander, and a friend of his told us that an employee had been caught with it.

Amandala

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One detained for Stuart Murder; family says Maria was well-loved

Richard & maria Stuart

At news time tonight, a Guatemalan national is in custody for the brutal murders of Richard and Maria Stuart, who were viciously killed at around midnight on Saturday. While the Guatemalan has reportedly confessed to the murder, it is believed he did not act alone and police are looking for a second suspect. The Stuarts were surprised as they entered their house on Graduate Crescent and stabbed multiple times while their children and housekeeper were on the third floor of their residence. This afternoon, police were combing the getaway vehicle, owned by the Stuarts, that is impounded. News Five's Jose Sanchez has the update on the shocking murder of the prominent lawyer and his wife.

Jose Sanchez, Reporting

According to unofficial reports, one of several surveillance cameras in West Landivar may have captured the assailants before and after the murder. There is a report that the video shows one individual accompanying the Stuarts from their vehicle to the house when they returned from a farewell dinner for Chief Justice, Abdulai Conteh. After the incident, two individuals are seen fleeing in the couple's Toyota Scion. The police department recovered the vehicle in St. Matthew's Village on the Western Highway on Monday afternoon. It has been impounded at the Queen Street Police Station where they found a knife under the driver's seat. A Guatemalan National, Milton Darinel Maza also known as Nicholson Alexander Maza who worked for the Stuarts, is in police custody.

Orlando Fernandez, Brother of Maria Stuart (via phone)

"Some vehicle was recovered in the Beaver Dam area. But that is as much as I know."

Jose Sanchez

"I believe the police have a charge coming soon. Have you received information that the individual may have been a former employee."

Orlando Fernandez (via phone)

"That is what I heard. And if that is so then that is so sad. You go out to help people, you give them employment and this is the thanks that you receive from them."

Maza is expected to be charged on Wednesday. And while the public is very aware of the career of forty three year old Richard Stuart, his wife, Maria, also forty three, was also a person of deep religious faith. In 2008, Maria and Richard made a pilgrimage to the Vatican where they met the Pope in person. Her brother Orlando Fernandez said that she was well loved.

Orlando Fernandez

Orlando Fernandez (via phone)

"Maria was a wonderful human being. Very good sister and very adoring mother."

Jose Sanchez

"Professionally, what did she do?"

Orlando Fernandez (via phone)

"Maria was a certified practicing accountant in Belize. She was also registered in Texas as an accountant. And someone who had a lot of studies and very accomplished academically. She was also a teacher for many years in San Ignacio and Belize City."

Jose Sanchez

"I see. In regards to the welfare of the children, has the family discussed how they will take care of them at this point?"

Orlando Fernandez (via phone)

"Well that has been done. The family has rallied together and the children are being taken care of and they are safe. As the days go by, more permanent arrangements will be made. At this point the children have full family support, from the both sides-from the Stuart, from the Fernandez. And as far as we are all concerned they are safe and doing well."

On September thirteenth, Richard Stuart reported that his blue Toyota Highlander was stolen. It was also recovered in St. Matthew's Village. The Guatemalan National in custody is also suspected to have stolen that vehicle. An official mass of thanksgiving for the Stuarts will be held on Saturday morning at Saint John's Cathedral and their internment will be in San Ignacio, Maria's hometown.

Channel 5


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The Man Accused Of The Stuart Double Murder

Twenty four year old former employee of Richard and Maria Stuart, Milton Daniel Maza, was today charged for the couple's murder.

The naturalized Belizean was charged with two counts of murder when he appeared this afternoon in the Magistrate's Court. Magistrate Dorothy Flowers remanded him into custody until November 23.

He was arrested on Monday afternoon in St. Matthew's Village - which is where he also resides. At the time he was driving a Toyota Scion which belongs to Richard Stuart. He reportedly gave police a caution statement confessing to his involvement.

Today inside the Courtroom before the Magistrate entered - Maza spoke freely and told the media that he is innocent of the Stuart's murder. He gave a bizarre account saying that two men asked him to take them inside the Stuart's home and show them around. Since he was a former employee of the Stuart's, who knew the house well - he did show them around. He went on to say that the men handed him a knife which he did not use. He said he witnessed the entire killing but did not partake in it.

The savage murder occurred on Sunday morning, October 17 at the couple's residence in West Landivar. According to reports, Stuart and his wife had just returned home when they were killed by two men who stabbed them over 20 times each.

The Bar Association - of which Stuart was a member - has offered a reward of fifty thousand dollars for information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators of the crime. The steadfast Masonic lodge of which Stuart was a marshal and legal adviser has called upon persons in the public with information to come forward to the lodge or the police. And the institute of chartered accountants of which Maria Fernandez Stuart was a member sent out a release calling on its members to join the bar association and walk with the procession from the KHMH to the St. John's Cathedral on Saturday for the mass of thanksgiving�

Channel 7


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Reports: Another Arrest In Stuart Murder


And while Tropical Storm Richard may well come to dominate the nation's collective attention over the coming days, for the last few days, we'll all been talking about another Richard, Richard Stuart and his wife Maria, two professions waylaid and viciously stabbed to death inside their home.
Last night we told you about the first man who has been charged for their murder; he is Milton Maza - a resident of St Matthews Village. Well information to 7news this evening is that police arrested another man this afternoon. He is also reportedly a resident of St Matthews. According to reliable reports, he was found with personal possessions of the Stuart's including a laptop computer and jewelry.

A mass of thanksgiving for the Stuart's will be held on Saturday morning in Belize City.

Channel 7


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