Life in prison for 2013 murder

Life in prison was the sentence handed down on Facundo Guerrero, 42, of Point for the “barbaric” and “heinous” crime of murder.
Five years after Miguel Olivero was hacked to death, Guerrero and his co-accused Angel Manuel Nieves, 32, of Villa faced Justice Keith Thom yesterday for sentencing. Nieves was sentenced to 28 years in prison for his role in the brutal crime.
Guerrero will have his sentence reviewed after 30 years and thereafter in five-year intervals.
He was found guilty of murder on August 1, 2018, while Nieves pleaded guilty to the crime on July 4 this year, three days into the murder trial.
The 37-year-old victim became the country’s 12th murder victim for 2013 after he died at Mount St. John’s Medical Centre in October 2013, hours after he was involved in a fracas in a bar on Popeshead Street where he was chopped and stabbed about the body.
The fight began at La Loba Bar on Dickenson Bay Street and ended with Olivero being hacked to death in public view on nearby Popeshead Street.
The incident occurred yards away from where the father of three operated a small vending booth.
Olivero was at the bar when at around 9:45 p.m. two men stormed in and demanded $120, which he allegedly owed them.
The argument escalated into a fight in which all three men were armed but Olivero never used his weapon.
The man who was stabbed and chopped several times with a machete died hours after the incident.
Nieves threw in the towel after the court heard evidence by a witness, who testified that he saw Nieves and Guerrero attack the deceased with machetes.
The court heard that the wounded man was bleeding profusely from several wounds about his head and neck and one of his arms was almost severed.
A doctor testified Olivero died at the hospital 
after surgeons tried unsuccessfully to suture the wounds and stop the bleeding.
Guerrero, who maintained his innocence throughout the month-long trial, told police Nieves was the only person who chopped the deceased.
Attorney-at-law Sherfield Bowen appeared for Guerrero, while Ralph Francis represented Nieves.
Director of Public Prosecutions, Anthony Armstrong and Crown Council Shannon Gittens prosecuted the matter.