By Breaking Belize News Staff: Two Belize City sisters accused of burning down their former mother-in-law’s home in Crooked Tree Village more than four years ago were acquitted of arson on Monday after a nine-member jury returned a unanimous not guilty verdict.
Janiene Augustine, 27, and her younger sister Janiece Augustine, 23, broke down in tears as the verdict was delivered before Justice Nigel Pilgrim in the High Court. The jury, comprising six women and three men, deliberated for approximately two hours before reaching its decision.
The sisters were accused of intentionally setting fire to a woman’s home on July 16, 2022, destroying a wooden structure valued at $30,000 and household contents worth an additional $2,000.
Prosecutors alleged that Janiene, who had been living at the property with her then common-law husband and their children, was motivated by a dispute that resulted in the common-law husband putting her out of the house two days before the fire.
The prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence, including testimony that the sisters had entered the property shortly before the blaze. However, no witness testified to seeing either woman start the fire.
In his summation, Justice Pilgrim highlighted the absence of scientific evidence establishing that the fire had been deliberately set. He reminded jurors that the burden rested entirely on the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Both sisters denied setting the house ablaze, maintaining that they had visited the property only to collect Janiene’s belongings.
The women were initially charged in April 2024, nearly two years after the fire, following directives from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Janiene was represented by attorney David McKoy, while Janiece was represented by attorneys Leeroy Banner and Lesly Mendez.
Monday’s unanimous verdict brings the lengthy criminal proceedings against the sisters to an end, with both women cleared of the arson charge.
The post Augustine sisters acquitted of burning down mother-in-law’s $32,000 home in Crooked Tree appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.