WHAT HAPPENED?

Costa Rican Police: Carla Stefaniak Killing May Have Been Sexually Motivated

Costa Rican officials said she died from injuries to her “neck, head and extremities.”

Police in Costa Rica on Wednesday said the killing of 36-year-old Carla Stefaniak may have been “sexually motivated,” the Miami Herald reports. Walter Espinoza, director of Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department, said at a press conference that Stefaniak’s autopsy results showed she died from injuries to her “neck, head, and extremities.” Espinoza also said those injuries appeared to come from a weapon. Marco Peraza, a criminal analyst with the OIJ, said the man detained in connection with the killing—Bismarck Espinosa Martinez—might soon face a murder charge. Martinez was reportedly working as a security guard at the apartment complex where Stefaniak was staying. Officials said they would continue to work with the FBI to confirm their theory that the murder was sexually motivated. Stefaniak arrived in Costa Rica on Nov. 22 and did not board her flight back to her home state of Florida on Nov. 27. Officials said Martinez became a prime suspect for the killing after he “presented many contradictions” when police questioned him. Stefaniak’s body was reportedly found partially nude and wrapped in plastic about 1,000 feet from where she was staying.

MURDER IN PARADISE

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