By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Prosecutor's Office said the trial in the murder of U.S. citizen Carla Stefaniak was to start this morning at the Criminal Court in Pavas west of San José.

According to the case, the victim's father surnamed Caicedo-Irumba, and the owners of the villa surnamed Simmond, where Ms. Stefaniak's body was found, are among the witnesses to testify at the trial.

In February the Prosecutor's Office opened the file on the murder case of Stefaniak, who was killed Nov. 28, 2018. Her body was found Dec. 3, 2018, in a wooded area near the villa in Escazú in San José, where she had been staying.

The opening of the evidentiary file was in the Pavas Criminal Court in the presence of the lawyers of the victim's family, José Rivera. Also attending were specialists in forensics and the suspect of the crime, a man with the surnamed of Espinoza-Martínez.

After attending court session, attorney Rivera said that among the evidence included was the suspect's cell phone where lawyers will have access to see a file of "photos, recorded messages, written messages and videos."

The suspect of the crime, Espinoza-Martínez, was the security guard at the Villa. According to the prosecution’s thesis, the motive for the murder was a sexual attack. The suspect continues is in pre-trial detention.

Caicedo, held a press conference in December 2018 when he was in Costa Rica where he said that he hopes that justice will be done and that those responsible for the murder will be punished.

"The police investigation does not comfort me in any way, but I want the authorities of this government, specifically the courts of justice, to catch those responsible for this abominable and terrible crime," said Caicedo.

In January 2019, the Municipality of Escazú confirmed that the villa where the victim had been staying and where her body was found was closed because the owners do not have the necessary permits allowing them to run the B&B to offer accommodations to tourists.

Carlos Bejarano, the spokesperson of the municipality, confirmed, "the place had not updated the legal license to offer tourism services since 2013. So it was closed."

Some information provided by the Judicial Investigation Organization about Ms Stefaniak’s case was in December 2018, when the agents asked for the collaboration of citizens in finding a suitcase that belonged to the victim.


Investigators report that, a person who manages the property found several pieces of clothing near the villa.

The agents said they went to the site where they found "a suitcase, valuables, clothing and Stefaniak's passport." A second suitcase is still missing.




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