Court of Appeal upholds convictions in Oscar Rosado Sr. murder; son calls ruling ‘massive victory’

By Breaking Belize News Staff: The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeals of Brandon Hughes and Jose Daniel Gomez, upholding their convictions and sentences for the 2018 murder of prominent Belize City businessman Oscar Rosado Sr.

The decision was delivered electronically on August 13, almost ten months after the appeal was heard in October 2025. The appellate panel comprised Justices Michelle Arana, Minnet Hafiz-Bertram Woodstock-Riley and Peter Foster.

Hughes and Gomez were convicted in December 2022 for Rosado’s murder during a robbery at his hardware business on Cemetery Road on April 23, 2018. Rosado was shot in the head during the incident. Justice Suzanne Lamb found that Hughes was the gunman, while Gomez was criminally liable as his accomplice under the principle of joint enterprise.

One of the principal arguments raised on appeal was that Justice Lamb had failed to provide written reasons for the convictions. Attorneys for the men argued that the omission amounted to a substantial miscarriage of justice and made the convictions unsafe. Hughes’ attorney, Orson Elrington, also challenged his sentence as excessive, while attorney David McKoy challenged Gomez’s murder conviction based on joint enterprise.

The Court of Appeal acknowledged the importance of judges providing reasons for their decisions but, after reviewing the trial transcript and evidence, concluded that the prosecution’s case was sufficiently strong to sustain the convictions and found no basis to interfere with the trial judge’s decision.

Hughes was sentenced to life imprisonment and must serve 30 years before becoming eligible for parole, with credit given for the time he spent on remand. Gomez was sentenced to 12 years and becomes eligible for parole after serving eight years, also subject to credit for time spent on remand.

Following the ruling, Rosado’s son, businessman Oscar Rosado Jr., described the outcome as a major victory for his family and expressed renewed confidence in Belize’s justice system.

Rosado Jr. said that while no court decision could bring his father back, Hughes and Gomez remain alive and their families are still able to visit them in prison — something his own family can never again do with his father. He recalled being at the scene after his father was shot and coming face-to-face with the gunman, saying the image remains with him to this day.

He said his father was never given a choice about whether he would live or die that day, and that the prison sentences being served by the convicted men cannot compare with the permanent loss endured by the Rosado family.

With the appeal dismissed, the convictions and sentences against both Hughes and Gomez remain in force.

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