Us woman’s kill in Costa Rica may have been sexually motivated: authorities

The safety shield is a suspect in killing of Carla Stefaniak in Costa Rica.

Protection guard arrested after American disappears

an US lady was stabbed to death in Costa Rica with what detectives suspect had been an intimately determined approach, authorities mentioned Wednesday.

The fresh new facts inside heinous slaying of Carla Stefaniak, 36, of Miami emerged each and every day after a security safeguard at the hostel where she was staying during the woman yesterday evening in Costa Rica was actually detained associated with the lady demise.

Stefaniak had https://datingmentor.org/escort/el-paso/ been murdered in a condo she was actually residing in the Costa Rican capital of San Jose, and her partially-nude muscles is receive covered in soil nearby, authorities stated at an information discussion Wednesday.

Walter Espinoza, director of Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department stated detectives receive traces of bloodstream through the apartment in which they think Stefaniak was actually killed. Officials mentioned that a preliminary evaluation indicated that killer’s desire is sexual, but extra examinations are being carried out to ensure that principle.

Stefaniak’s grandfather, Carlos Caicedo, informed ABC internet facility WFTS-TV in Tampa that he thinks his child died wanting to safeguard herself.

“i assume that Carla fought,” Caicedo mentioned, including that he collected from her accidents that have trouble with the lady killer “was very long.”

Stefaniak’s defectively decomposed human anatomy was determined Tuesday through fingerprints and dental care data, authorities said. An autopsy learned that she ended up being stabbed during the throat, that the woman neck had been busted and therefore she suffered trauma towards the head.

Caicedo stated the guy went along to the morgue Tuesday evening and confirmed their child’s identity.

Investigators believe the lady lifeless human body got removed from the house and dumped in a wooded neighborhood, about 1,000 ft out, officials mentioned.

On Tuesday, investigators in Costa Rica detained Bismarck Espinoza Martinez, 32, relating to Stefaniak’s slaying.

While Martinez has not been energized in Stefaniak’s death, Espinoza labeled as him “a questionable.”

He mentioned Martinez was from Nicaragua possesses an “irregular” immigration record.

Stefaniak ended up being finally known from on Nov. 27, the night before the girl 36th birthday celebration, this lady family told ABC News. She journeyed to Costa Rica on Thanksgiving time to celebrate the woman birthday celebration with her sister-in-law, April Burton, but decided to remain an additional time after Burton returned to Florida on Nov. 27, the household mentioned.

Martinez stayed in the room alongside Stefaniak’s in the hostel, authorities mentioned. He had been arrested after testimony the guy provided investigators didn’t complement surveillance video footage and other experience comments, Espinoza. Martinez were in the united kingdom since June, Espinoza said.

An autopsy done on Stefaniak determined the main cause of death as “stab wounds across the neck and extremities,” Espinoza said. Your body also had a blunt power upheaval problems for the top.

Investigators examined monitoring footage through the location where Stefaniak ended up being remaining, close to the Juan Santamaria International Airport in San Jose, and contrasted it to experience statements, Espinoza stated.

The testimony from Martinez is “incompatible to real life,” Espinoza stated. Martinez ended up being surviving in suite No. 7, while Stefaniak got remaining nearby in suite No. 8. bloodstream was actually uncovered in her own area.

Stefaniak’s friends and family latest spoke to the lady from the nights Nov. 27 right before this lady cell passed away around 9 p.m., per a timeline the household given to ABC Tampa affiliate marketer WFTS.

A couple time before, Stefaniak delivered a message to friends cam on WhatsApp stating it absolutely was raining greatly and that the ability went, describing the problem as “Super Sketchy.”

While FaceTiming with a pal around 7:20 p.m. that evening, Stefaniak informed the buddy that she was thirsty, according to research by the schedule. As he recommended that she cook some liquids, she informed him that all she can find got a skillet and asserted that she was going to inquire the security protections buying this lady a bottle of water, since it is raining, the household told WFTS. It really is uncertain if she had exposure to the protection protections.

Who owns the hostel informed Stefaniak’s parents that she got checked with all the woman belongings at 5:10 a.m. on Nov. 28, according to research by the schedule provided to WFTS. Stefaniak’s flight wasn’t until 1:30 p.m. that day, in addition to household mentioned it actually was extremely unlikely she’d see very early with no reasons. There have been no security camera systems on home to confirm the hostel manager’s claim, the family informed WFTS.

An Uber motorist who’d driven Stefaniak from airport on hostel on Nov. 27 — after she fell Burton off for her trip and came back her local rental car — told the family she’d requested him to choose the lady within the subsequent morning around 8:30 a.m. and need this lady to a shopping center, but she never ever turned up, in line with the supplied timeline.

That Uber drivers also had used Stefaniak on an urban area trip of San Jose after she examined to the hostel, your family informed WFTS.