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Published Edition, February 6, 2019

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Police arrested three suspects in murder of U.S. citizen

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Agents of the Deputy Prosecutor's Office against Drug Trafficking made three raids on Tuesday and arrested three Costa Rican nationals suspected of the murder of U.S. citizen Michael Chaim Caspi on March 23, 2017.

Mr. Caspi, 48, was an Israeli born businessman and a naturalized U.S. citizen. The surnames of the suspects are Alfaro-Conde, Rodríguez-Retana and Guerrero-Corrales.

According to the agents, Caspi was an entrepreneur who came to the country for short periods and maintained important real estate investments in the Central Pacific area of the country.

The three suspects were captured in their homes, Alfaro-Conde in Santa Ana*, and the other two men in Alajuelita*.

Agents confiscated cell phones and computers at those homes as evidence in the case.

According to the investigators report, the victim, Michael Chaim Caspi, had a friendship and trusting relationship with suspect Alfaro-Conde who was his lawyer. Alfaro-Conde had access to confidential information about the victim's business activities.

"Alfaro, who was also his lawyer, presumably because of that close relationship, he knew that on the day of the murder the victim had approximately $9,000 in cash, so he used that information to devise the assault and murder with Rodriguez," said the prosecutor in his statement.

The agents suspect that, under the leadership of lawyer Alfaro-Conde, the other suspects Rodríguez-Retana and Guerrero-Corrales intercepted the victim when he left home in Sabana Sur* at around 5:30 a.m. They stole the money and shot the victim four times in the torso and the head, causing his death.

The judicial agents took the three suspects before the Criminal Court of Pavas*, where a judge will determine the pre-trial penalties.

The investigation into this case is ongoing.

In another case, as A.M. Costa Rica reported, the Judicial Investigation Agency continues investigating the kidnapping of U.S. businessman, William Sean Creighton Kopko, which occurred on September 24, 2018.

That night Mr. Creighton left his job in San Pedro* to go to his home in Curridabat*.

Two transit officers surnamed Medrano-Vargas and Jirón-López, suspects in the kidnapping, followed Mr. Creighton when he left work. When they reached the site known as Granadilla*, the officers pretended they were making a routine traffic stop and asked him to pull the car to the side of the road.

As Mr. Creighton complied, a group of four men arrived at the site in a gray pickup truck and kidnapped the victim. Those suspects are identified as: Morales-Vega, the leader, Vega-Aguirre, Martínez-Chacón, and Ford- Dauman.

The men forced the victim into the pickup and drove to a property in the village of La Trinidad in Moravia* where the leader’s grandmother lives. Her surnamed given as Aguirre-Leal.

One of the suspects, Ford-Dauman, drove the victim’s car away, but for reasons that are still not clear, he crashed the car in San Isidro in Heredia*. The suspect communicated with the other kidnappers to report what happened and then left the car at the crash site.

Judicial Investigation Organization courtesy photo
/ illustrative purposes

The victim, Michael Chaim Caspi, had a friendship
and trusting relationship with suspect Alfaro-Conde
who was his lawyer.

This vehicle was confiscated by the police and investigative analysis was made to collect more evidence.

After taking the victim to the property in La Trinidad in Moravia*, the suspects communicated several times with relatives of the victim. At first, they asked for a ransom of five million dollars but a payment of $950,800 was accepted. The payment was made in Bitcoin currencies in four different accounts.

Once the kidnappers received the money, all communication between the suspects and the victim’s family ceased.

Suspects sentenced to six months pre-trial jail are: a woman surnamed Aguirre-Leal, a woman surnamed Sanabria-Abarca, a man surnamed Vega-Aguirre, a man surnamed Martínez-Chacón, a man surnamed Ford-Dauman, a man surnamed Rivera Masis, and a man surnamed Sánchez-Gamboa.

The National Police of Spain captured the rest of suspects in Zaragoza* in Spain - a man surnamed Morales-Vega, a woman surnamed Solís-Chaves, and a woman surnamed Vega-Aguirre. They are in migration detention jail in Spain awaiting extradition to Costa Rica.

Two other suspects Medrano-Vargas, and Jiron-Lopez, were sentenced to sign in each month at the court, not leave the country and not make contact any other suspects on this case.

Investigators are trying to establish what happened to the victim.

In another case involving a U.S. citizen, as A.M. Costa Rica reported, Ms Carla Stefaniak was murdered on November 28, 2018.

Her body was found a short distance from the villa-hotel where she was staying in the town of San Antonio in Escazú*.

The suspect in the murder of Ms Stefaniak is currently serving six months pre-trial detention. He is a Nicaraguan national identified with the surname Espinoza who was the security guard at the hotel. According to the prosecution’s thesis, the motive for the murder was a sexual attack.

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Are U.S. citizens an easy target for criminals in Costa Rica? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com

*Link to reach the place on google maps.

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