The Belisle family is dissatisfied with the progress of Nah’s triple murder case

_{Photo: (lr) Vivian and Jon Ramnarace; David Ramnarace, deceased}

by Charles Gladden

BELMOPAN, Wed. November 27, 2024

In a statement released this week, the family of 38-year-old Vivian Belisle Ramnarace said she died from wounds she sustained on New Year’s Eve 2022 when a gunman believed to be Elmer Nah approached her home in Belmopan and fired shots at her and her husband, 38-year-old Jon Ramnarace; and brother-in-law, 29-year-old David Ramnarace – have expressed frustration at the lack of information they have received about the progress of the case, which is progressing at a snail’s pace, with multiple adjournments and delays.

The Belisle family declined an interview; Nevertheless, they mentioned in their statement that they, like everyone else, are informed about the case through media reports. In the family’s statement, they dispute a claim by attorney Richard “Dickie” Bradley that enhancing video footage of the victims’ shooting was something “they don’t want to do.” “Our family is not against it,” they claim in the statement.

The shooting took place at Vivian and Jon’s apartment on Belen Street in the Maya Mopan neighborhood of Belmopan while the couple was with David and his wife, 28-year-old Yemi Alberto, who was also injured by the gunman. But unlike the other three victims, he was not killed.

Jon and David Ramnarace had been outside the house when the gunman entered the yard and shot them, killing them instantly. The gunman then went into the house and shot the two women before leaving the scene. The frightening incident was recorded on surveillance cameras.

_{Photo: Elmer Nah}

After the shooting, police identified one of them – former police officer Elmer Nah – as the suspected killer. He was originally charged with the double murder of the Ramnarace siblings, but when the shooting victim, Vivian Belisle Ramnarace, died 16 days later, his charges were upgraded to three counts of murder (of Jon, David and Vivian Ramnarace) and attempted murder, deployed deadly force and assault in connection with the shooting of Yemi Alberto, David’s girlfriend.

At every appearance in the Belmopan District Court, Nah maintained his innocence, and after almost two years, the actual case has still not been initiated because at the end of each pre-trial session, the case was postponed to a later date, only to be postponed again to be postponed to another date.

Earlier this year, the case was referred to the Supreme Court after Nah’s defense attorney made arguments that improvements to video footage of the shooting would show Nah was not the shooter seen in the video. Nah’s attorney, Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith, has secured the services of an audio forensics firm in Los Angeles, California.

Smith told reporters that he has requested the original footage of the incident, as well as his client’s cellphone and other items currently in police possession. However, during his most recent court appearance, he mentioned that the items he requested had not been provided by the Crown. These articles are now scheduled to be submitted on November 29th.

The family is appealing to the Office of the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) to comply with the court’s requests so that the case can move forward more quickly and hopefully reach a fair conclusion.

The next court date is December 16th.

(AMANDALA Editor’s Note: A copy of the Belisle family statement appears elsewhere in this issue of Amandala.)