Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul L
I went to Chime http://riodulcechisme.com to follow up on your suggestion to read the account on the murders. Not sure I actually found the right one, but the lead for today was this article:
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As you can read, that robbery was at a private residence, and the boaters were not targeted till they unexpectedly showed up returning to there boat. This happened very close to where I'm slipped at La Joya Del Rio. Rumors are it was perhaps an inside job. Here's the article about the girl, and its my understanding that all have been released from jail. And once again, I would not hesitate to have friends or
family come here for a visit.
Scoop
Grumpy ol' editor
Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 2652
Location: On board m/v
Steel Magnolia, Rio Dulce

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 5:12 pm Post subject:
msf2 wrote:
Quote: One more update would be welcome (when information is available)
Has it been determined that this unhappy incident was an accident?
Why are two people being held?
Concerns about
guns and drugs not substantiated?
Anything more on the young woman and why she was there?
etc, etc
You're right, Michael. It's time for an update. Most of those arrested have been released and from what I've heard, the stories match up pretty well.
And I think most of those involved will agree that it's a situation where drugs, alcohol and limited application of intelligence or even basic common sense contributed to the "accidental" death of a 28 year old Guatemalan woman.
This is just my
condensation of what I've heard that makes reasonable sense. I'm not going to touch on any of the bizarre flights of imagination that have resulted from it. The official report of the Ministerio Publico has been requested by the
Rio Dulce Chisme-Vindicator as well as the
medical examiner's autopsy report -- but I'm not holding my breath as to whether or not I'll ever get to see them.
First, let me say that I can't verify any of the information below. I can't attribute it to a police report or to a
single individual. It's a partially complete jigsaw puzzle based on what I' ve been told directly from the persons involved.
And I'm standing by to be corrected by anyone who has better information.
Essentially, the woman was
not shot or strangled or intentionally murdered.
Here goes. Earlier in the evening of July 15, a woman was reported involved in a domestic altercation with her husband who slapped her around in the city park and demanded
money from her. She apparently had been drinking or drugging, wasn't responsive to his demands and he left her sprawled semi-conscious in the street.
She apparently managed to reach another
hotel where
women employees helped clean her face and propped her up against the wall in front of the
hotel.
A passing golf cart driven by Matthew Whittaker with passenger Roman Hamilt saw the woman and helped her into the golf cart. They took her to Hotel Vista Rio which has a steep incline leading to the hotel. While the golf cart headed up the incline, the woman tumbled out, adding to her injuries.
Whittaker and Hamilt apparently helped her up again and carried her to the hotel's dormitory which is under construction . It gets rather fuzzy here but it appears that they (or at least Matthew) attempted to engage her in sex but she regained consciousness, panicked -- not knowing where she was -- went to the second floor of the hotel and crawled over a concrete railing and stumbled out on the corrugated tin roof over the restaurant.
From there, she tumbled over a tall concrete wall into the neighbor's yard, landing on her
head and back.
At this point, Mike Payne, manager of Vista Rio, was alerted to the commotion and came out with his flashlight, cussing at Whittaker and Hamilt for being *&^@# idiots, saw the woman on the ground on the other side of the wall, called the police and went around the building to try to locate the woman.
Hamilt then left the scene and Matthew went to the third floor penthouse to fall asleep on the floor.
The police arrived and assisted Payne in the search which apparently continued for quite a while until her body surfaced at daylight the next morning and was found in the river. Without an autopsy report, it is not known if she died from injuries incurred in the fall or from drowning.
The local police and national police were joined by officers of the Ministerio Publico who secured the entire hotel, arrested the majority of the guests in the hotel, the manager and the guardian -- all bundled together under the charge of homicide.
Along with Matthew and Roman, hotel guests Jim Whittaker (no relation to Matthew or hotel owner Jerry Whittaker), Joe Brown, Mike Payne, Jessica Zuleima Cuxun Caal and guardian Vicente Martinez Vasquez were arrested, transported to jail in Puerto Barrios and, after four days of incarceration, were released.
Their incarceration was essentially a result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Matthew Whittaker and Roman Hamilt still remain in custody under charges of Violence against Woman.
I'm going to editorialize here a bit. If Matthew and Roman had not attempted to take advantage of an essentially defenseless woman, this wouldn't have happened. Point blank -- their actions that night are directly connected to her death.
I'm not sure what charges they might have incurred for a similar situation in the U.S.,
Canada or
Europe but would imagine that it would certainly carry a felony conviction.
My opinion: they directly contributed to the death of a 28 year old mother of three and should be held accountable for their actions. (Sorry, Jerry and Janet). Matthew and Roman were
not acting as Good Samaritans in helping a defenseless woman -- they were acting as sexual predators in the worse sense.
They have her death on their hands.