Kent Bowers

Kent Bowers (died 19 June 1985) was a Belizean murderer and is the most recent person to have been executed by Belize.

On 4 July 1984, Bowers entered a restaurant in Belize City where Francis Codd and Dora Codd were hosting a private party for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Bowers was asked to leave, and Francis Codd escorted him outside. A struggle ensued between Bowers and Codd and Bowers stabbed Codd several times. Codd died within minutes of the incident.

Bowers was arrested and charged with murder. He was convicted on 23 October 1984 and given the mandatory sentence of death by hanging. Bowers appealed his conviction to the Court of Appeal of Belize, but his arguments were rejected. Bowers's petition for clemency was rejected by Manuel Esquivel, the Prime Minister of Belize.

Bowers was hung on 19 June 1985. No one has been executed by Belize after Bowers, but capital punishment is still a legal punishment under Belizean law.

References

*Amnesty International (1989). "When the State Kills: The Death Penalty v. Human Rights" (New York: Amnesty International, ISBN 0862101646) p. 108

External links

* [http://www.belizelaw.org/judgements/march_2003/13_of_1984.html "Bowers v. The Queen"] , Court of Appeal of Belize, 1984, belizelaw.org, accessed 2008-08-14