Moreira walks free; but will he be able to rejoin the BDF?

Thirty-one-year-old Albert Moreira is today a free man. That’s because Supreme Court Justice Ricardo O’Neil Sandcroft yesterday ruled that the accused murderer had no case to answer to. In October 2018, Moreira was charged with the murder of his ex-common-law wife 36-year-old Felicia James. Her body was found off the Coastal Road near La Democracia Village, two weeks after she went missing. During the one-week trial, two main witnesses became hostile and would not identify Moreira in court. This left the prosecution with merely circumstantial evidence. Moreira’s attorney, Oscar Selgado entered a no-case submission which the Justice upheld. Today, the media asked BDF Commander, Brigadier General Azariel Loria if Moreira will be given an opportunity to rejoin the force. 

Brig. Gen. Azariel Loria, Commander, Belize Defence Force: “Now that we’ve found out that he has been acquitted there is no way shape or form that we could go against the orders of the court. He has been acquitted so he comes back to us. We are going to write to the Security Services Commission to lift his suspension. He was suspended for the past four years if I’m not mistaken. Yes we are going to be watching him. Because a soldier his contract is renewed every three years so more than likely we will be giving him some type of a probationary time to see if he is doing okay mentally because he has been in Hattieville for something now that has been proven that he did not commit but we will be watching him.”