A male Belgian citizen identified as Gilles (62), was arrested by the Judicial Investigation Organization officers (OIJ), as the primary suspect in the murder of his girlfriend, a Costa Rican woman named Céspedes (56).

According to the police report, the case began early on December 30, 2023, when Red Cross paramedics responded to an emergency call concerning an alleged case of a woman who had been shot in the head while staying at a hotel in Tortuguero Beach, Limón Province.

When the Red Cross paramedics arrived at the place, Céspedes had no signs of life, she was declared clinically dead.

Later that day, OIJ officers took her body to the Judicial Forensic Medicine Complex, located in Heredia Province.

According to the OIJ agents' report, the case is also being investigated as femicide. Then they raided the same hotel where Céspedes died. At the place, they arrested the alleged woman's boyfriend, Gilles, who is also the hotel's owner.

"The investigations carried out by the Judicial Police establish that it was possible to obtain evidence that links this man as the main suspect of committing this murder," the police said in a statement.

The authorities seized a 38-caliber revolver during the raid. In addition, forensic biology experts and K-9 canines trained to identify human fluids conducted testing on-site. This is done to gather evidence in the case.

Gilles was taken to the Public Ministry's cells and interrogated by judicial investigators. He is currently awaiting a judge's orders on pre-trial actions against him as a suspect in femicide.

Upon initial notification of arrest, representatives of the Belgium embassy in Costa Rica, which is located in the San Pedro District in San José, will visit the prisoner after they were notified by Costa Rican authorities, said the embassy stated on its website.

They will provide to their citizens, according to the embassy, a list of local attorneys to assist the prisoners in obtaining legal representation; providing information about judicial procedures in the foreign country; and notifying family and/or friends, if they are authorized by the prisoners.

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What have you heard in your neighborhood concerning femicides done by the victim's lover? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com