Joseph Vaccaro committed to stand trial for Gaston Barrow murder after challenging witness evidence

By Breaking Belize News Staff: Belize City taxi operator Joseph Gabourel Vaccaro has been committed to stand trial in the High Court for the 2025 murder of Gaston Barrow, despite telling the Chief Magistrate that three prosecution witnesses did not identify him as the shooter.

Vaccaro, 31, appeared unrepresented in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court on Monday for the conclusion of his preliminary inquiry, nearly a year after he was remanded on the murder charge.

During the hearing, the prosecution submitted more than 70 statements and other documentary evidence, including photographs, DVDs, chain-of-custody forms, warrants and a wanted poster.

Vaccaro challenged portions of the prosecution’s evidence, telling the court that three witnesses whose statements were included in the disclosure did not name him as the person who fired the fatal shots. He questioned why he was being prosecuted for murder if those witnesses had not identified him as the shooter.

The Chief Magistrate explained that the Magistrate’s Court was not conducting the murder trial and that Vaccaro would have the opportunity to challenge the prosecution’s evidence when the matter is heard before the High Court.

The matter ended in a paper committal, and Vaccaro was ordered to stand trial during the High Court session beginning October 7, 2026.

Vaccaro was originally arraigned on October 6, 2025 and remanded to the Belize Central Prison. In July, he received 154 pages of disclosure along with five CDs and photographs forming part of the prosecution’s case.

The charge stems from the September 28, 2025 shooting at the Old Belize compound along the George Price Highway.

Police said Barrow was travelling in the front passenger seat of a vehicle driven by Hance Card, with two women in the rear, when a gunman allegedly approached from the vicinity of a taxi and opened fire.

Barrow was fatally wounded, while Card was also shot but survived. Police later said Card declined to provide investigators with a statement.

Investigators reviewed surveillance footage from the Old Belize compound, which police said eventually led them to Vaccaro. Public reporting at the time said police believed the attack was gang-related and possibly connected to retaliatory violence.

Vaccaro remains on remand awaiting his High Court trial.

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