Judge Orders Elmer Nah to Answer Murder Charges in Ramnarace Triple Killing Trial

The high-profile Ramnarace triple murder trial took a major turn today after Nigel Pilgrim, Justice of the Supreme Court, overruled a no-case submission filed on behalf of 40-year-old Elmer Nah, ordering him to answer three counts of murder.  The ruling, delivered in under half a minute inside the High Court this morning, meant the trial moved immediately into the defense phase.  Nah opted to make a dock statement and declined to call additional alibi witnesses, insisting he is not the gunman responsible for the killings.  During a 27-minute address to the court, Nah told the judge he had been wrongly identified and pointed to several discrepancies he says contradict the prosecution’s case. Among them, he argued that surveillance footage showed the shooter’s right hand without a tattoo, while he has a visible tattoo he said he obtained years before the murders. He also disputed footwear evidence presented by police, claiming his boots were black and orange while those tendered in court were entirely black.  Nah further questioned the absence of a data chip he says formed a critical foundation of the case and maintained that enhanced video analysis could identify the real perpetrator.  He concluded his statement by telling the court he was not responsible for the murders and called for justice to be based on truth rather than speculation.  Nah’s attorney, Dr. Lynden Jones, spoke to our court reporter following the ruling this morning.

Dr. Lynden Jones, Attorney: “Today we got the decision for the no case submission. The court overruled our application for a no case submission. The details of that overruling will be given at a later date in writing. This morning was short. It was put to our client that he could remain silent, he could give a dock statement, or he could take a stand. Our client had taken a stand before in the voi dire and that evidence is being incorporated into the main case. Therefore he decided to give a dock statement. In that dock statement he was bringing up about the boots, the different colors of the boots that had been brought out in evidence, the chip that contains the original videos of the shooting that went missing and additionally he was saying about the tattoo that they were trying to say he had just put on the tattoo but he placed it the 31st of October 2003 here in Belize City. Therefore, after he gave his dock statement now we must do closing submissions to try and finalize this case. So that is the next step where we’re given until the 24th of February to prepare closing submissions.”

Speaking briefly after the judge’s ruling was the Special Prosecutor Terrence Williams.  Nembhard sought to get his reaction to Nah’s dock statement, but he declined.

Terrence Williams, Special Prosecutor: “They learned judge ruled that there is a case to answer and he gave an unsworn statement and we have a date set in March, I believe the 13th for closing submissions.”

Reporter: Okay, you mentioned that you all will be doing written submissions in closing arguments ?

Terrence Williams, Special Prosecutor: “I think it will be written and complemented with a brief oral.”

Reporter: Okay, are you at this moment, can you say as though Mr. Nah’s dock statement, can you say anything about what he, the allegations he was making in his dock statement regarding the evidence?

Terrence Williams, Special Prosecutor: “I reserve that for my comments to the court.”

Justice Pilgrim has ordered both sides to file written closing submissions by February 24, 2026, with the Crown’s final submissions due by March 10. The matter is scheduled to return to court on March 13, 2026, when oral submissions may be heard if necessary.