Nearly three and a half years after one of Belmopan’s most brutal mass murders shocked the local community, former police corporal Elmer Nah has been sentenced to three concurrent life terms, with a mandatory 50-year lockup before he can apply for parole. The sentence handed down Friday by Justice Nigel Pilgrim means the convicted killer will not be eligible for release until he reaches at least 90 years of age. Nah was found guilty in May of gunning down three members of the Ramnarace family — Vivian, John, and David Ramnarace — inside their private Belmopan residence on New Year’s Eve 2022. He was also convicted of the attempted murder of a fourth family member, a violent attack that was witnessed by the victim’s five-year-old niece, who was present at the home during the killings.
In an exclusive interview with News 5 following the sentencing, special prosecutor King’s Counsel Terrence Williams opened up about the emotional weight of the high-profile case, which came across his desk after more than 30 years of his legal career. “For me, although I’ve been in this work now for thirty-odd years, it was a very emotional experience yesterday to hear from her aunt how the young girl has had to cope with losing her mother and father. It is a sadness. I feel assured that she’ll have great family support going forward and will take some solace, some comfort – the family will; the family of the deceased and the injured will take some solace in the verdict,” Williams shared.
The routine sentencing hearing took an unexpected, highly irregular turn just 10 minutes after proceedings began, when Nah raised his hand to request permission to address the court. Justice Pilgrim initially noted that Nah had already been given the opportunity to make a statement during the prior day’s mitigation hearing, but the convicted man pushed back, claiming his own defense attorney, Dr. Lynden Jones, had failed to properly advise him on the purpose and benefits of participating in the mitigation process. The judge ultimately granted the rare, last-minute request.
In his unplanned statement to the court, Nah again asserted his innocence, offered generic condolences to the grieving Ramnarace family, and made the explosive claim that another disgraced former police officer was the person responsible for the 2022 killings. He closed his remarks by telling the court, “If I’m to be sentenced to 100 years, I know my conscience is clean.”
Williams, the special prosecutor, called the outburst a highly unusual development in a criminal trial. “One thing about courthouse matters is that strange things always happen. And this utterance in court is very strange. We had a very long trial where any defence could have been advanced before the court during that trial. It’s a very strange thing,” he told News 5.
As court bailiffs escorted Nah out of the courtroom following sentencing, a News 5 reporter asked him for comment on his experience with his legal representation. Nah did not mince words, calling his defense “bogus” and claiming his attorney had deliberately sabotaged his case.
Legal analysts who have followed the case note that Nah’s criticism of his defense counsel’s performance creates a clear potential ground for a future appeal of his conviction and sentence. When asked about the possibility of an appeal, Williams confirmed that any decision to challenge the verdict rests solely with Nah, saying, “The question of appeal is up to him.”