Mason kidnapping trial delayed, jury sent home

Black Immigrant Daily News

BELIZE CITY, Mon. July 4, 2022 Five men convicted for one of the most heinous murders in modern Belizean history are set to stand trial for yet another high-profile crime, this time, the 2016 kidnapping of Lloyd and Rose Friessen. Danny Mason was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2020 after being convicted along with Ernest Castillo, Ashton Vanegas, Keiron Fernandez, and Terrence Fernandez of the murder and beheading of Pastor Llewelyn Lucas. Today, the group returned

Magistrate’s Court for a jury selection (voir dire) and the possible commencement of the trial, but this was put off after the presiding judge, Justice Francis Cumberbatch, dismissed the jury on the grounds that they may have been prejudiced.

Following the afternoon session, Norman Rodriguez, attorney for Ashton Vanegas, explained to reporters, “One of the concerns raised by a senior counsel is that since every defendant can object to five of those people, just a normal objection if you don’t want them on the panel, and since there are five defendants, he was saying that you should have at least 25 representing the 5 defendant objections and 9, but that did not happen, and there was 24.”

He said there was an adjournment until this afternoon, and during that time the counsel for the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was to make submissions to the court, but the judge considered another issue at that time— the impartiality of the jury.

“When we came back, the judge looked at another issued raised, and that is that the jury had become privy to a part of the process, and the judge in his own discretion and wisdom decided to discharge the jury,” Rodriguez said.

He said that the next jury will not be selected until around September of this year, so the official commencement of the trial would be delayed until then. In the meantime, however, the parties have agreed to engage on other matters related to the case in a case management session to be held later this month.

“I believe it is September when a new jury’s life will come into play, and then we will be able to proceed with the trial, but in the meantime, the judge along with counsels in chambers decided that we could address some other issues, through case management, and so we

are set for the 20th and the 21st to return to court for those matters to be addressed,” Rodriguez said.

Norman Rodriguez, attorney for Ashton Vanegas

The case stems from the claims of Mennonite Lloyd Friessen, who has said that Mason conned him out of $300,000 in a fraudulent corn shipment deal the victim fronted the cash for. The shipment, which was to come from Argentina, never reached the country, and the former major producer from out of Spanish Lookout started to press Mason to return the money. This was when Mason allegedly lured him and his wife to his Intelco Hill residence under the

pretext of having a business meeting but then kidnapped them with the help of his reportedly armed workmen and took them to his ranch.

It is on that same ranch that Pastor Lucas is believed to have been beheaded weeks later. Friessen said that they were both threatened by Mason, and that he was told he would have to pay $2,500 weekly instead of getting his money back, and that if he said anything to the police, Mason would find out, since he had connections inside the department. Friessen told police that he paid the money for a few weeks before fleeing the country.

If convicted for the kidnapping, Mason and his accomplices could potentially be sentenced to even more time on top of the life sentences they have received. Each of the men has to wait 30 years or more before they will be eligible for parole.

That previous case is going to be called up for appeal shortly, attorney Norman Rodriguez said today during his interview.

“That is going through. There have been certain little issues as in every process and more so in the legal process, but those have been ironed out and we are getting near to the appeal being heard. No date as yet.” Rodriguez said.

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