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An American Murdered Abroad - Belize City Belize

JASON JOHN COOMBS SR. (MURDERED 11TH NOVEMBER 2009)

Crime News 12 November 2009 BELIZE/MURDER On Wednesday 11th day of November, 2009 police arrived at approximately 5:05 pm where there was a Shooting Incident at Precon Limited located at the corner of Ceasar Ridge Road and Central American Boulevard, Belize City, where the lifeless body of one JASON COOMBS, 38 years, businessman, of Ladyville Village, was seen lying face down in the compound with multiple gunshot wounds. Initial investigation revealed that a dark gold in color car (bearing License Plate No. BZ–C-26584) entered the compound. The driver spoke to the victim for a short period and thereafter fired at him causing his death. The car then sped away towards Central American Boulevard. The body was transported to the KHMH where he was pronounced dead on arrival; it now awaits a Postmortem Examination. Police have detained a number of suspects for questioning.

Jamil Betancourt detained in relation to Jason Coombs’ murder

With public outcry against crime at an all time high, police made a number of arrests over the weekend in unresolved murder cases. Businessman Jason Coombs was murdered back in the evening of November eleventh, 2009 while at his construction site in the area of the Port Authority compound. According to sources Jamil Betancourt is believed to be linked to the getaway car. Six months after the cold blooded murder, Orange Walk police raided a house in San Lorenzo Housing Site where Jamil Betancourt had been hiding for the past few months. News Five’s Jose Sanchez was in the north today and found out that Betancourt has been transported to Belize City where he is being held for questioning.

Murder for Hire Friday, November 13, 2009, 6:45 THE BELIZE TIMES(The Truth Will Set You Free) Popular Businessman’s Brutal Murder Shocks the Nation

As we go to press tonight, Belizeans across the country are in shock after the brutal murder of a well known 38 year old businessman, Jason Coombs. At around 5:00pm yesterday, in broad daylight, a tinted vehicle entered the compound of Pre-Con at the corner of Ceasar Ridge Road and Central American Boulevard. According to eyewitnesses, whoever was in that vehicle drove right up to the owner of the company, exchanged a few words with him, and then shot him dead. The vehicle then left the compound in no great hurry, according to reports. They left 38 year old businessman Jason Coombs sprawled lifeless on the ground. This was as cold-blooded a hit as our country has experienced in recent times. The Police have ruled out robbery, and are investigating the murder as a contract killing.

Crime and violence have been on everybody’s mind and in everybody’s conversations in recent months. Never before has Belize been hit with such an unrelenting barrage of murders, assaults, robberies, home invasions and vicious crime. The latest murder of the popular businessman has taken the conversation to another level. Today the online social club Facebook was lit up with comments of sadness, frustration, anger, anguish and condolences from Belizeans both at home and abroad who had heard the news. There were calls for the return of the death penalty, calls on the Police Department and the Government to do something before Belize is taken over completely by criminals. There were vows from friends of Coombs to find out who had killed him, there were words of comfort to the family he left behind. Behind it all, there was a sense of frustration at the violence which has left Belizeans afraid to come out of their homes.

Jason Coombs' Murder Looks Like Professional Hit posted (November 12, 2009) CHANNEL 7 NEWS BELIZE

The Southside of Belize City has the highest murder rate in the country – it is at least one and a half times higher than the national average. And while, sadly, killings have become a regular feature of life on the mean streets south of the Belize river, in most cases the motive is gang rivalry, turf wars, one of those famous old beefs, or a case of mistaken identity. But when business owner Jason Coombs was executed in the middle of his company’s compound – in the Southside yesterday – the crime took on an entirely different profile because it didn’t fit neatly into any of those categories. He was known to be a self-made businessman and a particularly hard working one. So why was he the target of a deliberate and well-planned hit? More than a hit, senior police personnel we spoke to suspect it was a contract killing.

It has profoundly shocked and disturbed the business community whose members are shaking their heads and openly worrying about what can happen – even to those who walk the straight and narrow. Keith Swift has been looking for answers today, and he put the pieces together and found a picture that demonstrates a high level of criminal orchestration.

BROKEN ENGLISH (Creole)

Keith Swift Reporting, The killers drove into the compound of Pre-Con Limited around 5 pm yesterday in a tinted gold coloured Toyota Corolla.

Manuel Cruz, Employee “I saw when the car came in, a tinted car, but I wasn’t paying it no mind because I thought they were going into the office to see somebody or the secretary for something.”

But instead of the office, the car drove up to where Jason Coombs was standing in the middle of the compound. Coombs bent over to speak to the driver, reports are that the driver asked about the price of a load of concrete and Coombs peered in to tell him and a short while after that…

Manuel Cruz, “I heard the gunshot but I didn’t expect that my boss got shot. I didn’t expect it. But when I turned around back so, then I see the car driving out and then when I looked I saw him on the ground.”

Coombs had been shot in the temple and the back. He died on the spot. Witnesses tell us that after the shooting – instead of racing off, the car slowly circled the compound and then drove off. Police say the murder seems to have been a carefully planned and executed hit on the well known businessman.

Clemente Palacio, Police Press Officer “The driver entered the compound, it seems like he knows who he was talking to and when the shots were fired, that was the end of the story.”

Keith Swift, “Do you believe the driver is the one who fired the shots or was it a passenger?”

Clemente Palacio, “Well again this case is in its investigative stage so it wouldn’t be proper for me to speculate but we believe that the shots came from that vehicle and we won’t go into the amount of persons in the car and all of that because there is no kind of certainty.”

As for the motive, police don’t believe it was robbery since nothing was stolen.

Clemente Palacio, “We note that it can’t be a robbery because the circumstances do not bear that out and in a case of this magnitude it is difficult to ascertain. It is an ongoing investigation and police are following as much leads.”

And those leads led police to Malcolm Street last night which is where they found the tinted gold Toyota Corolla that was used in the murder. Police found three 9 milimeter expended shells inside.

It is a murder that has shocked the 38 year old businessman’s friends and customers and rocked his employees like Mario Gonzalez. He wasn’t on the compound at the time of the murder but he’s worked for Jason Coombs for 9 years. He says Jason was like family to him.

Mario Gonzalez, Employee of Deceased “It is difficult for me being with Jason for 9 years. He has been very nice to me, everyday we talk. I do my duties I am supposed to do, he is satisfied with what I do and we’ve never had no quarrel so I am really shocked with what happened to him.”

Keith Swift, “Did you know him to have had problems with anyone?”

Mario Gonzalez, “Of course, like I said in the past 9 years I have never seen him involved with no one. No one had any quarrels with him.”

But someone did and police say their top priority is finding the killer.

Clemente Palacio, “The Department is very concerned and again we appeal to the general public for assistance, for any information leading to the perpetrator of this crime or perpetrators if there are more. When a murder of this type takes place the community is always rattled and of course we’ve always maintained that the police cannot do it alone, we need that type of public support in dealing with matters like these. But yes the Police Department is very concerned and yes they are conducting a very intensive investigation.”

A few notes, Malcolm Street where the car was found is about half a mile from the Pre-Con compound where the crime occurred.

Police believe the car is stolen but they can’t say who it is for because – according to investigators - the VIN number does not match the car – which again seems to point to the sophistication of the plot. So police are asking anyone who might recognize the car to call the CIB office or the crime stoppers hotline at 0-800-922-TIPS.

6 people remain detained this evening, and police are confident that they will have arrests. But, as we said earlier, the belief of senior police personnel is that it was a contract killing, and so apart from finding those who did it, they will have to find those behind the killing.

Funeral services for Coombs – who was a US citizen and naturalized Belizean will be held in his family’s home of South Florida sometime next week. A memorial service will be held on Saturday in Ladyville.

May 18, 2010 Jamil Betancourt freed; what happens to Coombs murder case?

Another case that seems to be falling apart relates to the Jason Coombs murder. One person who police wanted was Jamil Betancourt who was captured by Orange Walk police on Saturday. American businessman Jason Coombs was assassinated at his construction business last November when a car drove inside the compound and someone inside the vehicle shot and killed him. It is alleged that Betancourt had knowledge or was associated with the getaway car. He has been under the radar ever since the incident occurred and over the weekend a major operation took place in order to apprehend Betancourt. On Saturday, he was found in the San Lorenzo Housing Site area of Orange Walk town in the last house on a dead-end street. He was quietly transported to Belize City where he was held for questioning. Interestingly enough, his capture was not included on any of the police daily reports since Saturday. But Betancourt was released to the streets earlier today and is a free man. The investigation it seems is no closer to apprehending Coombs’ killer or killers.