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US prosecutors accuse Guyanese man of raping, killing adoptive mother
Florida (NBC Miami) – A two-year-old murder mystery in South Florida is headed to trial on Monday.
Gerard Lopes is accused of murdering his adoptive mother, 43-year-old Natalie Belmonte, who was originally from Guyana, in July 2011. On Wednesday, a motion in limiting hearing was held in which state prosecutors asked that DNA proving motive for murder be admissible.
Murdered: Natalie Belmonte
The state claims Lopes’ semen was found in Belmonte and that he raped and killed his mother. The autopsy showed the semen matched Lopes’ DNA, but Lopes’ attorneys argue it’s not relevant because the sexual relationship was consensual. Belmonte adopted Gerard, her first cousin, in 2000 from their native country, Guyana, when he was 10.
The state alleges the sexual assault is motive for the murder. It called a DNA expert to the stand, Dr. Martin Tracey, who testified the level of integrity of the DNA found shows the semen was deposited at the time of the murder.
“We know from other kinds of studies that I’m familiar with and teach at the university, the survival time for semen is about 3 to 5 days,” Tracey said.
Police said security video from a neighbour’s house shows Belmonte, who reportedly hails from a prominent Guyanese family in Kingston, Georgetown, and Lopes leaving in the same car and stopping at a Walgreens before heading to a party.
The car returns with both individuals around 2:48 a.m. A short time later, Lopes is seen dragging a bag across the driveway and loading bags into the trunk. Belmonte’s body would be found three days later near their Pembroke Pines home.
Lopes has pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge.
During the motion in limiting hearing, prosecutors called Belmonte’s sister Michaela Teixeira to the stand and asked point blank about the possibility of a consensual sexual relationship.
“There’s absolutely no way she had consensual sexual relationship with her son,” she said. To give the statement punch, prosecutors detailed a normal, loving mother-son relationship showing Teixeira letters between the two, birthday and Mother’s Day cards. Teixeira read from a card – one that if Lopes is proven guilty – could serve as an eerie message from the grave.
“Gerry I’m very proud of the man that you are becoming. Always remember the choices you make today determine the outcome of your future,” she said, reading from the card.
Accused: Gerard Lopes
At the hearing Broward Circuit Judge Matthew Destry ordered two prerequisites. If the state can establish a sexual relationship has serious negative consequences on Lopes, and secondly that the semen was deposited at or near the time of death, he’ll admit the evidence. He also warned that if the state presents the argument into opening statements, but fails to prove relevance, he’ll grant a mistrial.
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