Canadian John Deshaies, Charged For Theft, Denies Involvement In Double Murder

John Deshaies, he's the Canadian man in police custody who we've been telling you about since Wednesday. We can report his name now, because he's been remanded to prison on a theft charge. He also remains a murder suspect in the investigation into the double murder of Francesca Matus and Drew Devoursey. Matus was his landlord - and today we asked him what he knows about the murder. Here's Courtney Weatherburne's report on that and his arraignment for theft in Independence Village:...

Courtney Weatherburne reporting
The piercing grief following the chilling murders of Francesca Matus and her boyfriend Drew Thomas De Voursey is reflected in these Facebook posts. Matus' family and friends in Canada have been posting their favorite memories of her and sharing warm messages on her page.

Trying to block out the reality of their killing: Matus and De Voursey were strangled to death. Their bodies were found on the Chan Chen Road in Corozal on Monday. Their vehicle was found a day earlier on a sugar road 6 miles away from their bodies. It came as a shock to their friends in the Corozal Expat Community because they couldn't think of anyone in their circle who would want Matus and De Voursey dead. Here is what Colin Mcgowen had to say when we asked if this was an attack from within their own community.

Colin McGowen, Owner Scotty's Bar
"I wouldn't speculate on anything. If it was I would be very surprised. They were both very well liked throughout the whole community. So it hit people hard."

It hit people even harder when Police named Canadian John Deshaies as a prime suspect in the double murder.

What is even more troubling is that Deshaies rented the downstairs of Matus' Consejo Shores home in Corozal.

But Deshaies remains as just a suspect in that case at this point. Today in Independence he was charged for theft and handling stolen goods in an unrelated case. He allegedly took over $57,000 worth of items from the Placencia casino: hard drives, laptops, machine gaming systems among many other pieces of equipment. The information is that police took him to Corozal yesterday to retrieve some of the items. Now police have been following this theft case since March and the report is that Deshaies was hired by one of the shareholders of the Casino to remove all these devices and gaming machines. But after his arraignment, he told the media that he doesn't agree with the charges and he was just doing his job

Courtney Weatherburne, 7News
"How about the theft, the charges, what you have to say in response to that?"

John Deshais, Charged for Theft and Handling Stolen Goods
"It don't matter. This was me doing my job."

Reporter
"So you believe you were wrongly accused?"

John Deshais, Charged for Theft and Handling Stolen Goods
"Absolutely."

But the theft and handling stolen goods charges are just one part of today's court session. As was said, Deshaies is a prime suspect in Matus' and De Voursey's murder. But he told us he had nothing to do with it:

Courtney Weatherburne, 7News
"Were you involved in the murder of your landlord Francesca Matus?"

John Deshais, Charged for Theft and Handling Stolen Goods
"Not at all. She is very good friend of mine. Absolutely not."

While he maintains his innocence, it still doesn't bring the families of Matus and De Voursey any closure and the police still have to develop a case and gather evidence to move on with the double murder investigation.

Now, Belize police will have help from a team of North American forensic investigators. They arrived at the Corozal police station today and in this footage you can see them collecting evidence from various vehicles that have been brought into the police compound.

Police have told us they hope to continue questioning Devoursey about the murder. He was remanded until November and intends to apply for bail at the first opportunity. Devoursey is a contractor who has been living in Corozal for about three years.

Channel 7

Charged for Theft and a Person of Interest for Double Murder, John DeShaies Denies Both

News Five can confirm tonight that there's a team of F.B.I. agents in Belize investigating the double murders of one of their own, ex-U.S. marine thirty-six-year-old Drew Thomas DeVoursney and his girlfriend, fifty-two-year-old Canadian national Francesca Matus. The couple was found dead inside a cane field in the outskirts of Chan Chen Village, Corozal District where their bodies had been dumped after they were bound at the wrist with duct tape and manually strangled. Locally, the Belize Police Department has had little information to go by, except the fact that the couple was last seen alive on April twenty-eighth, leaving Scotty's Bar and Grill in Corozal Town. They never reached their home on Serenity Sands Road in Consejo Village and Matus' Isuzu Rodeo SUV was discovered abandoned inside a cane field in Paraiso Village five days later.  The international investigating team was today seen processing the vehicle to assumingly assist the police with finding the perpetrators of the heinous crime.  But since Tuesday, fifty-four-year-old John Deshaies has been in police custody as a person of interest for the homicides. The Canadian national, who says he has been living in Belize for the past two and a half years with his girlfriend and two kids is accused of the theft of over fifty-seven thousand dollars worth of electronics from the Placencia Casino, for which he was arraigned today. News Five's Duane Moody has been following the story and reports from Independence where he and cameraman Kenroy Michael stood watch as the accused thief was hauled to the southern court earlier this morning.

Duane Moody

"In the next few minutes, a person of interest in the Corozal double murder of Canadian American couple, Francesca Matus and Drew Thomas DeVoursney will be paraded up these steps to the Independence Magistrate's Court. A fifty-four-year-old Canadian national, John Deshaies, is expected to be charged for offenses in relation to theft at a Placencia casino, which occurred early this year."

Around one-thirty p.m., Deshaies arrived at the Independence Police Station and within minutes was escorted to the court where he appeared unrepresented before Magistrate Yolanda Demoya. He had been criminally charged for two offenses: the theft of fifty-seven thousand three hundred and seventy-eight dollars worth of data servers with hard-drives, laptops, tablets, fourteen gaming machines, external hard-drive, electronic chips and adapters amongst other miscellany.

The second charge was for handling stolen goods. On Thursday, Deshaies was transported from Placencia to Corozal in handcuffs where he led police to where he lived on Serenity Street in Consejo to recovery the stolen items from the casino. Fifty-two thousand and eighteen dollars worth of the unlawfully obtained items were retrieved and taken back Placencia.

No plea was taken from Deshaies since the matter will be dealt by indictment before the Supreme Court. During arraignment, Deshaies, who says he is a building contractor by profession, claimed that his attorney Estevan Perera was unable to make it to court in time. He, however, made a brief statement to our cameras while exited the courtroom.

John Deshaies, Accused of Theft

"This was a job matter; this was me doing my job."

Duane Moody

"So you believe that you are wrongly accused?"

John Deshaies

"Absolutely. Absolutely."

Duane Moody

"Sir so what now because now you are being remanded to the prison."

John Deshaies

"Well we got to find out."

During his arraignment, the prosecutor, Sergeant Kenneth Magdaleno, objected to bail on four counts: the gravity of the charges due to the volume and value of the stolen items. Considering that Deshaies is a flight risk and also that the case has caused national and international alarm. But the nail in coffin is that the Canadian national is a suspect and is under investigation by officers in the Corozal jurisdiction for the murder of his landlady and her American boyfriend.

Sr. Supt. Dennis Arnold, O.C., Corozal Police Formation [File: May 4th, 2017]

"We have one person we believe can assist us in our investigation."

Reporter

"Is that person in custody?"

Sr. Supt. Dennis Arnold

"So far yes."

Reporter

"Is he a local?"

Sr. Supt. Dennis Arnold

"I rather not day."

Reporter

"Often times these crimes may involve someone with some familiarity or intimacy because he's an ex-marine, according to his physical description, six foot six if I'm not mistaken. It's not someone lightly taken on. Are you able to say if the suspect may have had some familiarity that these people were not on their guard? Because taking down a six foot six marine and strangling him, it wouldn't appear to be a quite easy thing, you'd need a very large or a significant number of people to do that."

Sr. Supt. Dennis Arnold

"At this point the investigation is still in its infancy stage and we are looking on that angle also. At this point we cannot say."

Reporter

"Were you involved in the murder of your landlord Francesca Matus?"

John Deshaies

"Not at all; she is a very good friend of mine. Absolutely not."

Duane Moody

"You lived with her sir?"

John Deshaies

"Yes I did."

Deshaies was remanded to the Hattieville prison until November sixth, when disclosure is to occur followed by a preliminary inquiry on November twenty-third. Duane Moody for News Five.

Channel 5