Wilmer Escobar, convicted of raping and hacking Crescencia and Josephine Oh to death in 2018, seeks to have life sentence and conviction overturned

Posted: Wednesday, October 22, 2025. 7:42 pm CST.

By Breaking Belize News Staff: The man convicted of the brutal double murder of sisters Crescencia and Josephine Oh—who were both raped and viciously hacked to death in Punta Gorda in January 2018—appeared before the Court of Appeal late Tuesday evening seeking to overturn his conviction and two life sentences.

Wilmer Escobar, now 30 but 23 at the time of the murders, was sentenced to two life terms without the possibility of parole until after serving 35 years. He now argues that his conviction should be quashed because his caution statement was obtained under duress.

The appeal was heard by Court President, Hon. Madam Minnet Hafiz-Bertram, Hon. Madam Marguerite Woodstock-Riley, KC, and Hon. Justice Peter Foster, KC. Representing Escobar was attorney Emerita Anderson, while Crown Counsel Javier Chan appeared for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Attorney Anderson submitted that the trial judge erred in law when she admitted Escobar’s caution statement as evidence. She argued that the statement was not given voluntarily, claiming Escobar was beaten by police, not cautioned when first detained, and not provided food or water until shortly before giving the alleged confession.

Anderson further contended that when police officers encountered Escobar traveling from Punta Gorda to Mango Creek, they noticed fresh scratches on his body, detained him, but failed to issue the proper caution required by law. She maintained that this omission, along with the conditions of his detention, rendered the statement inadmissible.

In response, Crown Counsel Chan argued that there was no evidence of coercion or inducement, and that Escobar’s statement was freely and voluntarily given in the presence of a Justice of the Peace. He noted that when asked by the JP if he had been beaten or forced to speak, Escobar denied any mistreatment. Chan also told the court that Escobar appeared eager to confess, reportedly saying, “All I want is to get rid of these things out ah meh head.”

Chan reminded the court that police officers are not legally required to provide legal counsel to detainees and maintained that the caution statement was lawfully obtained.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the appellate judges reserved their decision for a later date.

In November 2021, Escobar was tried before Justice Antoinette Moore in the Belmopan Supreme Court and found guilty on May 12, 2022, of the murders of sisters Crescencia and Josephine Oh.

Both women were raped and savagely chopped to death. Medical reports revealed that Crescencia sustained multiple chop wounds to the head, causing severe skull and brain trauma, while Josephine was chopped four times to the head, five times to the back of the head, and three times to the upper body.

Police testified that Escobar was found with scratches on his body and later confessed to raping one of the sisters, though medical evidence confirmed that both women were assaulted.

Escobar remains on remand at the Belize Central Prison as he awaits the Court of Appeal’s ruling.

 

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The post Wilmer Escobar, convicted of raping and hacking Crescencia and Josephine Oh to death in 2018, seeks to have life sentence and conviction overturned appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.

Posted: Wednesday, October 22, 2025. 7:42 pm CST. By Breaking Belize News Staff: The man convicted of the brutal double murder of sisters Crescencia and Josephine
The post Wilmer Escobar, convicted of raping and hacking Crescencia and Josephine Oh to death in 2018, seeks to have life sentence and conviction overturned appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.