Elmer Nah
by Roy Davis (Freelance Writer)
BELIZE CITY, Wed. June 25, 2025
Six witnesses have testified so far in a voire dire (a trial within a trial) for former police corporal Elmer Nah, 40, charged with three counts of murder, in a judge-alone trial before Justice Nigel Pilgrim.
The voire dire is being held so that the court can determine the admissibility of a statement given by one of Nah’s murder victims, Vivian Belisle Ramnarace, 38—video footage of her, police inspector Carillo and a Justice of the Peace, which was recorded while she was in a hospital bed at the Intensive Care Unit of Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital; and an array of photographs that was shown to her, in which she allegedly pointed to number 10 as her assailant who shot her multiple times and eventually caused her death.
At the voire dire, which began last week, the first witness was police corporal Jose Uh, who used a body camera to videotape the interview by Carillo, who was an inspector of police at the time, and who in the presence of Justice of the Peace, Catherine McKenzie, showed Vivian Belisle Ramnarace the array of photographs.
Nah’s attorney, Dr. Lyndon Jones, said that the audio of the video was not clear, and he stated that when Vivian Belisle Ramnarace pointed to number 10 on the array of photographs, she said that the person looked like her assailant.
The next witness was Inspector Carillo, who interviewed Vivian and requested that Uh videotape the interview.
Next, police corporal Middleton testified, but his testimony was interrupted because he did not have the headlight which he said that the shooter was allegedly wearing.
When the voire dire resumed today, the first witness was Dr. Pedro Arriaga, who testified that he was called to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital on the night of January 1, 2023, when he met Vivian, and he assessed her health condition, and that she was able to express herself properly, that she was alert and fully conscious. He said a Glasgow Coma was performed on Vivian and she passed with flying colors. Under cross examination by Dr. Jones, he admitted that Glasgow Coma was only performed on patients suffering from head trauma, and Vivian was not suffering from head trauma. He also stated that Vivian had received surgery at the Western Regional Hospital on December 31, 2022, and after that she was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.
The next witness was Dr. James Onoje, who testified that he was called to the ICU at the KHMH on January 1, 2023, when he met Vivian and spoke to her.
He said that Vivian, who had multiple gunshot wounds, was conscious and alert.
The next witness was Charista Courtenay, a woman with a Master’s degree in mental health, who testified that she and Vivian were friends, and that she had known Vivian for 14 years. She said that when she went to visit Vivian on January 6, 2023, at the KHMH, Vivian recognized her and she was conscious and alert. She said Vivian’s expressed concern to her about her 5-year-old daughter, and sought her advice on how she, Vivian, could tell her daughter that her father, Jon, had passed away.
Two more witnesses are left to testify: the Justice of the Peace, Catherine McKenzie; and Yemi Alberto, who was also shot by Nah, but had managed to escape by running through the back door of the home of Jon and Vivian Ramnarace.
Jon Ramnnarace, 38, and his brother, David Ramnarace, 29, were both shot at about 7:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2022, while they were in the yard of Jon’s residence, located next to Squirrel Avenue in Belmopan. David died on the spot, but Jon died while he was being taken to the Western Regional Hospital.
After shooting Jon and David, the gunman went into the house and shot Vivian and Yemi Alberto, David’s girlfriend. Vivian succumbed to her injuries 15 days later at the KHMH.
The case for the Crown is being presented by special prosecutor, Trinidadian attorney Terence Williams, who is being assisted by attorney Arthur Melbourne.
British Caribbean News
