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A former Colorado real estate broker was killed at a luxury resort in Belize in what appears to be a targeted attack, authorities say.
Boris Mannsfeld, the 56-year-old founder of Boris Mannsfeld & Associates, was found dead on Friday at the Villas of Cocoplum in Belize’s Maya Beach after suffering a gunshot wound to the back of the neck, Breaking Belize News reported.
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Near Mannsfeld’s body, police found the developer’s wallet, which held his ID and some cash, as well as a loaded 9mm pistol registered in Mannsfeld’s name and a shell casing.
Two of Mannsfeld’s known associates — Ricardo Borja and Darren Taylor — were killed in a similar manner in 2023 and 2024.
The Villas at Cocoplum | www.thevillasatcocoplumrental.com
Mannsfeld moved to Belize in 2006 and founded his development firm in 2010. Prior to that, he had been working as a real estate agent in Denver for more than a decade. According to the Colorado Division of Real Estate, his broker’s license expired in 2015. Since Borja and Taylor’s deaths, Mannsfeld had been in and out of the country, according to Belize Police Commissioner Chester Williams. He was killed on the day he had returned to the country after a trip away, police said.
The murder “has all indications of a hit,” Williams said in a press conference reported on by The Denver Post.
One suspect, named Frik De Meyere, was taken into custody. De Meyere was also named a person of interest in Borja’s death, but no charges have been filed in that case. Multiple individuals were charged in Taylor’s murder, however, and are awaiting trial.
No motive connecting the three murders has been identified. Mannsfeld, however, seems to have somehow been involved in what he called in an email he wrote last month a “massive fraud case” that included millions in stolen assets. He also mentioned a $3.9 million lawsuit against a former associate, according to Breaking Belize News.
Boris Mannsfeld | Boris Mannsfeld & Associates
According to Mannsfeld’s bio on his company’s website, he fell in love with Belize after first visiting the country in 1992. His first major development project was the Villas at Cocoplum, where he ultimately met his end. The villas feature two-, three- and four-bedroom accommodations on a one-mile stretch of beach between the Caribbean Sea and a lagoon. Amenities include an infinity pool, kayaks, paddle boards, beach volleyball and a pier, all within walking distance of Sirenian Bay Resort, which includes an 18-hole mini golf course.
Mannsfeld was also ingrained in the community as a founder of the Placencia Volunteer Fire Department, founding member of the Plantation Emergency Response Team (PERT) and was sworn in as a Belize Police Officer, his website says. He appears to have been a fitness and outdoors enthusiast as well, running in the first-ever Placencia Marathon, participating in bike races and enjoying Belize’s natural beauty, which he said was where his children first learned to swim.
He held degrees in International Economics from UCLA and an MBA from the University of Denver.
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