<div id="attachment_112626" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width:310px;"><a rel="nofollow" class="highslide" target="_blank" href="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder0005.jpg"><imgclass="size-medium wp-image-112626" title="Frank Castro" src="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder0005-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Frank Castro</p></div>
<p><strong>Frank Castro…it’s the name that sparked terror in the nineteen nineties and early two thousand. The notorious street figure was a known ring leader in serious felonies, including the murder and kidnapping of taxi driver Peter Novelo in the late nineteen nineties, as well as a string of robberies and other offenses. He spent over two decades in prison from where he escaped several times. Well, today he who sparked fear is no more. He was killed in the southern community of Indian Ville in Punta Gorda. News Five spoke with Punta Gorda police about the execution of thirty-eight-year-old Castro.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Andrea Polanco, Reporting</strong></p>
<p>Well-known criminal figure, Frank Castro, was gunned down on Wednesday night in Punta Gorda.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<div id="attachment_112629" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width:160px;"><a rel="nofollow" class="highslide" target="_blank" href="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder00022.jpg"><imgclass="size-thumbnail wp-image-112629" title="Simeon Alvarez" src="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder00022-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Simeon Alvarez</p></div>
<p><strong>Via Phone: Supt. Simeon Alvarez, OC – Punta Gorda Police</strong><strong></strong></p>
<p><em>“Sometime around seven forty p.m of yesterday, April twenty second 2015, the police received a phone call of a shooting incident in the area of Indian Ville, that would be on Corozal Street on the corner of Cayo, that someone had just received gunshot and as a result of that the police responded and he was taken to the Punta Gorda Hospital and he was pronounced eight minutes upon his arrival there. He was pronounced dead on arrival. Observation on the body revealed that he was shot, I would say to the upper part of the left side of the body in the arm. He was shot in that area and he succumb to the injuries he received.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Police say they are following several leads, but the motive is still unclear at this time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><a rel="nofollow" class="highslide" target="_blank" href="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder00012.jpg"><imgclass="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-112627" title="Frank Castro" src="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder00012-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150"/></a>Via Phone: Supt. Simeon Alvarez</strong><strong></strong></p>
<p><em>“At this time the police are conducting their investigation and we have brought several suspects and interviewed and we have released some of them but our investigation continues. The motive, at this time, is unclear and we are still work to find out what had happened.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Andrea Polanco</strong></p>
<p>“Have you had the opportunity to speak with his family and do they know if he was being threatened or if he was involved in any problems with one or perhaps more persons down there in Punta Gorda?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><a rel="nofollow" class="highslide" target="_blank" href="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder00031.jpg"><imgclass="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-112630" title="Frank Castro" src="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder00031-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150"/></a>Via Phone: Supt. Simeon Alvarez</strong><strong></strong></p>
<p><em>“I spoke with some of the family members last night at the hospital and they are unable to say whether he had any personal grievance or misunderstanding with any other person. So we are relying now on the public to assist to for this first murder in Punta Gorda, Toledo District.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>But with a rap sheet like Castro’s, speculations are that perhaps his past caught up with him. He has a lived a life of crime for many years and spent most of his life incarcerated. The laundry list of his deeds includes robbery, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder. He made headlines several times when he escaped prison- his count was over eight times, including back in 1997 with several other inmates and then again in 2000 with three other prisoners. But for almost two years since he left prison, he settled in Punta Gorda.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Via Phone: Supt. Simeon Alvarez</strong><strong></strong></p>
<p><em>“Mr. Castro is no stranger to the police. He was recently released from the prison after spending a twenty one year’s sentence and he was released sometime in early 2013.”</em></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<div id="attachment_112628" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width:160px;"><a rel="nofollow" class="highslide" target="_blank" href="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder1.jpg"><imgclass="size-thumbnail wp-image-112628" title="Frank Castro" src="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder1-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Frank Castro</p></div>
<p>In 2001, as a part of the prison’s rehabilitation efforts, Castro was one of the inmates who met one of his victims.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Frank Castro, Inmate [File: February 12, 2001]</strong><br /><em>“I have lot of victims in society and I feel for them the same way because it’s something wrong I did to try and harm them. Right now I’m here doing fifteen years for an attempted robbery, when I attempted to rob a lady, Ms. Darlene Murphy. If she is seeing or listening, I just want to tell her sorry for what I did to her and I hope she forgives me.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Reporting for News Five, I am Andrea Polanco.</p>
View the full article
<p><strong>Frank Castro…it’s the name that sparked terror in the nineteen nineties and early two thousand. The notorious street figure was a known ring leader in serious felonies, including the murder and kidnapping of taxi driver Peter Novelo in the late nineteen nineties, as well as a string of robberies and other offenses. He spent over two decades in prison from where he escaped several times. Well, today he who sparked fear is no more. He was killed in the southern community of Indian Ville in Punta Gorda. News Five spoke with Punta Gorda police about the execution of thirty-eight-year-old Castro.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Andrea Polanco, Reporting</strong></p>
<p>Well-known criminal figure, Frank Castro, was gunned down on Wednesday night in Punta Gorda.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<div id="attachment_112629" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width:160px;"><a rel="nofollow" class="highslide" target="_blank" href="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder00022.jpg"><imgclass="size-thumbnail wp-image-112629" title="Simeon Alvarez" src="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder00022-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Simeon Alvarez</p></div>
<p><strong>Via Phone: Supt. Simeon Alvarez, OC – Punta Gorda Police</strong><strong></strong></p>
<p><em>“Sometime around seven forty p.m of yesterday, April twenty second 2015, the police received a phone call of a shooting incident in the area of Indian Ville, that would be on Corozal Street on the corner of Cayo, that someone had just received gunshot and as a result of that the police responded and he was taken to the Punta Gorda Hospital and he was pronounced eight minutes upon his arrival there. He was pronounced dead on arrival. Observation on the body revealed that he was shot, I would say to the upper part of the left side of the body in the arm. He was shot in that area and he succumb to the injuries he received.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Police say they are following several leads, but the motive is still unclear at this time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><a rel="nofollow" class="highslide" target="_blank" href="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder00012.jpg"><imgclass="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-112627" title="Frank Castro" src="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder00012-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150"/></a>Via Phone: Supt. Simeon Alvarez</strong><strong></strong></p>
<p><em>“At this time the police are conducting their investigation and we have brought several suspects and interviewed and we have released some of them but our investigation continues. The motive, at this time, is unclear and we are still work to find out what had happened.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Andrea Polanco</strong></p>
<p>“Have you had the opportunity to speak with his family and do they know if he was being threatened or if he was involved in any problems with one or perhaps more persons down there in Punta Gorda?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><a rel="nofollow" class="highslide" target="_blank" href="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder00031.jpg"><imgclass="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-112630" title="Frank Castro" src="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder00031-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150"/></a>Via Phone: Supt. Simeon Alvarez</strong><strong></strong></p>
<p><em>“I spoke with some of the family members last night at the hospital and they are unable to say whether he had any personal grievance or misunderstanding with any other person. So we are relying now on the public to assist to for this first murder in Punta Gorda, Toledo District.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>But with a rap sheet like Castro’s, speculations are that perhaps his past caught up with him. He has a lived a life of crime for many years and spent most of his life incarcerated. The laundry list of his deeds includes robbery, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder. He made headlines several times when he escaped prison- his count was over eight times, including back in 1997 with several other inmates and then again in 2000 with three other prisoners. But for almost two years since he left prison, he settled in Punta Gorda.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Via Phone: Supt. Simeon Alvarez</strong><strong></strong></p>
<p><em>“Mr. Castro is no stranger to the police. He was recently released from the prison after spending a twenty one year’s sentence and he was released sometime in early 2013.”</em></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<div id="attachment_112628" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width:160px;"><a rel="nofollow" class="highslide" target="_blank" href="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder1.jpg"><imgclass="size-thumbnail wp-image-112628" title="Frank Castro" src="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Murder1-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Frank Castro</p></div>
<p>In 2001, as a part of the prison’s rehabilitation efforts, Castro was one of the inmates who met one of his victims.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Frank Castro, Inmate [File: February 12, 2001]</strong><br /><em>“I have lot of victims in society and I feel for them the same way because it’s something wrong I did to try and harm them. Right now I’m here doing fifteen years for an attempted robbery, when I attempted to rob a lady, Ms. Darlene Murphy. If she is seeing or listening, I just want to tell her sorry for what I did to her and I hope she forgives me.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Reporting for News Five, I am Andrea Polanco.</p>
View the full article