A Canadian Armed Forces veteran has been charged with murder in connection with a mass shooting in Belize that left two dead and eight injured.
JR Smith, who served with the Royal Canadian Regiment in Afghanistan as part of Operation Medusa in 2006, is accused of driving the getaway vehicle after the July 31 shooting at a nightclub.
Belize police allege that three local men who were with Smith argued over a woman at the club. They left, but reportedly returned later with guns and opened fire.
Smith and the three other men were arrested and shown in handcuffs.
Smith’s partner Denise Hepburn told CTV News he was not involved in the shooting and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hepburn also alleged that Smith was repeatedly beaten by police after his arrest, resulting in the black eye seen in his arrest photo.
“He defended this country. He is a decorated soldier,” she said. “He’s a good person…he would never do something like that.”
Smith, originally from Newfoundland, moved to Ontario after leaving the CAF. He studied woodworking and later opened a cabinetmaking business. It was featured by CTV News five years ago as part of a Remembrance Day feature on veteran entrepreneurship.
Global Affairs Canada says it is “aware of a Canadian who has been detained in Belize” and stands ready to provide consular assistance. Smith is still being held in a Belize jail and is due back in court in November.
With files from Mike Arsalides of CTV Barrie