A high-stakes murder prosecution involving two Belize City residents has collapsed before jury selection could even begin, derailed by the unexplained disappearance of the case’s critical surviving witness, court officials confirmed on September 16, 2026.
Twenty-eight-year-old Ulide Allen and 27-year-old Marquis Conorquie had arrived at the Supreme Court expecting to face a jury for the June 2024 fatal shooting of 32-year-old Stanley Jerome Moore and the simultaneous attempted murder of Joshua Gillett, the only other person present during the attack. Instead, prosecutors from the Crown entered a formal nolle prosequi, an official legal order to discontinue all proceedings, after weeks of failed efforts to locate Gillett — the sole surviving eyewitness and central piece of the prosecution’s evidence.
Presiding High Court Justice Nigel Pilgrim emphasized in court that the discontinuation of the case does not equate to a formal acquittal of the two accused. Prosecutors retain full legal authority to refile murder and attempted murder charges against Allen and Conorquie at a later date if Gillett is located and sufficient evidence is secured to move forward with a trial.
Following the court’s ruling, Allen was immediately released from custody, as he had already met bail conditions set during an earlier adjournment. Conorquie, however, was returned to Belize Central Prison, where he is currently serving a 17-month sentence for a separate armed robbery conviction and is awaiting the outcome of an appeal on that charge.
The 2024 shooting that sparked the murder case unfolded on the evening of June 23 along Mahogany Street Extension. According to initial police reports, Gillett was driving a BMW with Moore riding in the front passenger seat when two unidentified men on a motorcycle pulled alongside their vehicle near the intersection of Amandala Drive. Investigators allege the passenger on the motorcycle opened fire on the car before the pair fled the scene on two wheels. Moore suffered fatal gunshot wounds and died before emergency responders could reach him, while Gillett survived his injuries after receiving urgent care at Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.
The case first hit a procedural delay in July 2026, when the prosecution was unable to proceed to trial, leading the court to grant bail eligibility to both accused. Only Allen was able to meet the $16,000 bail requirement, however, leaving Conorquie in custody due to his active sentence for the unrelated robbery conviction.