By the A.M. Costa Rica staff 

A judge of the Court of Atenas Canton in Alajuela Province ordered six months of pre-trial prison against four people, who are suspected of committing two homicides, a U.S. Citizen James Allen Honer, 77-years-old  and his Costa Rican girlfriend Bianca Mena Sibaja, 30-years-old, announced Prosecutor's Office on Monday.

According to the case, the suspects are a woman and three men. The suspects were identified as a man surnamed Salas -Suárez, his mother surnamed Suárez- Jiménez, and two more men surnamed Reyes-Villalobos, and Esquivel-Castro.

The suspects were detained in Atenas, by Traffic Police officers, on Saturday, when they were traveling in two cars that had a ban for driving.

At the time of the detention, the Prosecutor's Office already had information linking the people to the double homicide, so it was requested to the agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization to inspect the suspects and vehicles. "After the inspection, the agents identified that one of the cars belongs to Honer," said the Prosecutor in its statement.

After the suspects were arrested, the prosecution ordered the judicial agents to carry out two raids, one in the victims’ houses and the other in the home of the woman surnamed Suárez-Jiménez, who worked as a maid in the victims' house.

Suárez-Jiménez lives in the same Canton of Atenas. Her house is located at a distance of 600 meters near the victims' house, said the Prosecutor.

During the search of Suárez- Jiménez's house, the judicial agents seized several objects as relevant evidence for the development of the investigation, among those was a credit card that belonged to Honer.

According to the Prosecutor, the case began on May 3, after some people reported a fire in an empty lot near La Loma Street in Atenas. After the firefighters put out the fire, two burned bodies were found, a man and a woman.

The Prosecutor's Office and the Public Ministry presume that the bodies belonged to Honer and his girlfriend Mena. The DNA test is still processing, to confirm with certainty the identity of the victims.

According to the preliminary results of work done by specialists in Forensic Pathology of the Judicial Investigation Organization, it is concluded with some level of certainty that the identity of the victims are a U.S. citizen and his Costa Rican girlfriend Mena, both were living together.

According to the reconstruction of the crime made by the Prosecutor agents, it is alleged that the four suspects arrived at the victims' house and killed them in the house.

It is estimated that the murder occurred on the last day of April or the first days of May because the Prosecutor considers that the suspects possibly hid the bodies for a few days.

Then, on the night of Sunday, May 3, it is alleged that the suspects took the bodies to the empty lot and set them on fire.

After the Prosecutor gathers all the evidence in the case, the trial date for the crime will be announced. Meanwhile, the four suspects will remain in pre-trial jail.







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