-Published: Friday, January 3, 2020-





By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Judicial agents of the theft section, arrested New Year's Eve two women, 20 and 40, as suspects of stealing cash and credit cards from a U.S. tourist.

According to the agents' report, last June a male U.S. citizen made a complaint about theft.

According to the case, the man met two women in a bar in San Jose's downtown. After  enjoying the nightlife at the bar, he took them to his hotel located in the city of Pavas, west of San José.

"Minutes later, the women left the room with the victim's bank cards and made different purchases at several stores," the judicial agents said in their report.

According to the Judicial Investigation Organization, one of the suspects was between 20 and 25 years of age. The other woman was around 40.

On Christmas Day, agents posted a video on the YouTube channel of the Judicial Investigation Organization where the suspects can be seen leaving the victim's room. The video was published to obtain information from the public about clues to find the suspects, the agency said.

The video can be seen on the organization's site on YouTube.

The two women were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry where they were interrogated by the judicial agents and after that, they were to wait until a judge orders any pre-trial measures against them.

The name of the victim was not released.



A similar case in which a woman seeks friendship with a U.S. citizen to rob him happened in 2018. But in that case, the victim was murdered by the woman and her friend.

According to the Prosecutor's Office report, the murder happened in July 2018, when a U.S. citizen William Nearhoff, 70-year-old, invited to his home a woman surnamed Jiménez-Esquivel. The home was in located in Grecia, in Alajuela Province

When Nearhoff and the women were together, she contacted a man surnamed Montoya-Acosta, who arrived at Nearhoff's home that night, prosecutors said.

According to authorities, both Jiménez-Esquivel and Montoya-Acosta beat Nearhoff to end his life, then they robbed the victim belongings.

Police found the victim dead of injuries that included stab wounds in his home. "The man was gagged, and his hands and feet were tied," said the police at the time.

The body was found due to a strong odor detected by the neighborhoods, who called to the Red Cross, police said.

In November 2018,  both Jiménez-Esquivel and Montoya-Acosta were detained by the Judicial Investigation Organization agents, as suspects of the murder.

Last October the Prosecutor's Office confirmed that a criminal court ordered 30 years in prison for both, Montoya-Acosta and a Jiménez-Esquivel. They were found guilty of the murder of Nearhoff.

The judicial agents called on the population to report any suspicion robbery to tourists to the confidential line 800-8000-645, where there are bilinguals agents who can answer calls in English or Spanish.




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