GUILTY COSTA RICA - Carla Stefaniak, 36, American tourist, San Antonio de Escazú, 27 Nov 2018

[loraball]

Was the door to her place on the first... or second floor? We've been wondering how he took her from the room... so perhaps (sorry for this visual) he tossed her body from the back of the room to outside... so no one could see him take her out the front way. The fall could explain the head trauma and the broken vertebrae.



I have four kids total... the Life 360 is on all of our phones. Comes in handy for when my daughter has to get her brother's from the bus stop in the winter. She knows when their bus is close.

I have done a bit of thinking. I compared the crime scene photos (one is below) to the tripadvisor photos and it appears her room is located on the ground level. I am making an assumption that there are no other rooms set up and looking just like her crime scene room. On tripadvisor, all the rooms had a different look and style to them.

 

[Rob774]

I have done a bit of thinking. I compared the crime scene photos (one is below) to the tripadvisor photos and it appears her room is located on the ground level. I am making an assumption that there are no other rooms set up and looking just like her crime scene room. On tripadvisor, all the rooms had a different look and style to them.

Interesting...

So perhaps he broke her kneck/vertebrae in the violent struggle. Hearing the extent of her injuries paints that much more of a horrible picture that this poor woman suffered immensely before she died.

Just once I'd like to hear one of these guys try to attack a woman, and the woman has tactical hand-to-hand combat training and beats him to a pulp.

 

[Cryptic]

"They" is often used in place of a third person singular pronoun.

Good point. This also occurs in English where the speaker uses the plural form when referring to a singular person or thing. Perhaps it is a sub conscious way of not assigning responsibility to a negative (or in this case horrific) action to a singular individual.

As a side note, and as the other poster stated, Spanish speakers frequently omit pronouns. This is because the verb changes form depending on who or how many is doing the action. Thus, since the verb already says I, he/she, we or they, pronouns can be seen as redundant. They then get habitually omitted unless they are needed to avoid confusion in similar verb forms.

 

[Deeptoad]

Carla went missing on November 27, her room was not treated as a crime scene until December 3. It was then that investigators found blood evidence. Does it not strike you as completely bizarre that a guest room would not be cleaned for over a week after a guest's departure? Irrespective of the circumstances.

Additionally, the owner of the property (an expat named Raymond Simmons) told OIJ that he witnessed Carla leaving the property at roughly 5.30 am on the morning of November 28. His words. Now, we know he was lying.

Simmons should be in police custody. It doesn't take a genius to suss out that he had a hand in what happened to Carla. At bare minimum, he was covering for the illegal migrant he hired to guard his property.

They both belong in jail, IMO. The people here want answers.

 

[JerseyGirl]

via Google translate:

After the arrest of the Nicaraguan, he was immediately transferred to the Public Prosecutor's Office where the First Judicial Circuit of San José managed to get three months of preventive detention on suspicion of murdering Carla Lucia Stefaniak.

According to the press release from the prosecutor's office, "Apparently, Espinoza took advantage of having access to the rooms, since he worked as security guard of the place, to enter the room of the victim.

It is presumed that, with a sharp weapon and a cable, the accused ended the life of the foreigner and half buried the body.

After the discovery of Stefaniak's body, the Prosecutor's Office conducted an operation in his room, where, with the help of the Canine Unit and tests with luminol, traces of blood were found. "

Now Espinoza Martínez is the main suspect in the crime under file 18-034263-042-PE.

Diario Extra - Papá reconoce cuerpo de turista asesinada

So her blood was found in his room, not hers?

___

he was also in CR illegally:

"The man was indeed in an irregular condition in the country, on June 8 he entered with a tourist visa whose expiration was on July 8."

 

[MOTORUNNER]

Carla went missing on November 27, her room was not treated as a crime scene until December 3. It was then that investigators found blood evidence. Does it not strike you as completely bizarre that a guest room would not be cleaned for over a week after a guest's departure? Irrespective of the circumstances.

Additionally, the owner of the property (an expat named Raymond Simmons) told OIJ that he witnessed Carla leaving the property at roughly 5.30 am on the morning of November 28. His words. Now, we know he was lying.

Simmons should be in police custody. It doesn't take a genius to suss out that he had a hand in what happened to Carla. At bare minimum, he was covering for the illegal migrant he hired to guard his property.

They both belong in jail, IMO. The people here want answers.

Couldn't agree more. He is just as disgusting as his guard

 

[Deeptoad]

So her blood was found in his room, not hers?

Unfortunately, it depends on the news outlet. We've seen his room/her room in local news. Either way, the days that passed before the hotel was a crime scene - no one bothered to clean up? Doesn't make any sense.

 

[crhedBngr]

Interesting...

So perhaps he broke her kneck/vertebrae in the violent struggle. Hearing the extent of her injuries paints that much more of a horrible picture that this poor woman suffered immensely before she died.

Just once I'd like to hear one of these guys try to attack a woman, and the woman has tactical hand-to-hand combat training and beats him to a pulp.

Agreed. I'm looking into a three-day self-defense training course.

 

[Satchie]

Unfortunately, it depends on the news outlet. We've seen his room/her room in local news. Either way, the days that passed before the hotel was a crime scene - no one bothered to clean up? Doesn't make any sense.

It was reported up thread that her room was cleaned the day she 'checked out' and it was occupied by another guest(s), apparently nothing was found during the cleanup that alarmed the maid.

 

[otto]

Was the door to her place on the first... or second floor? We've been wondering how he took her from the room... so perhaps (sorry for this visual) he tossed her body from the back of the room to outside... so no one could see him take her out the front way. The fall could explain the head trauma and the broken vertebrae.

I have four kids total... the Life 360 is on all of our phones. Comes in handy for when my daughter has to get her brother's from the bus stop in the winter. She knows when their bus is close.

The Airbnb is a group of cabins or free-standing rooms.

 

[otto]

Carla went missing on November 27, her room was not treated as a crime scene until December 3. It was then that investigators found blood evidence. Does it not strike you as completely bizarre that a guest room would not be cleaned for over a week after a guest's departure? Irrespective of the circumstances.

Additionally, the owner of the property (an expat named Raymond Simmons) told OIJ that he witnessed Carla leaving the property at roughly 5.30 am on the morning of November 28. His words. Now, we know he was lying.

Simmons should be in police custody. It doesn't take a genius to suss out that he had a hand in what happened to Carla. At bare minimum, he was covering for the illegal migrant he hired to guard his property.

They both belong in jail, IMO. The people here want answers.

Isn't it more likely that the room was cleaned and luminol was used to detect blood evidence?

 

[Elainera]

After the discovery of Stefaniak's body, the Prosecutor's Office conducted an operation in his room, where, with the help of the Canine Unit and tests with luminol, traces of blood were found. "

The original is
"Tras el hallazgo del cuerpo de Stefaniak, la Fiscalía dirigió un operativo en su habitación, donde, con ayuda de la Unidad Canina y pruebas con luminol, se ubicaron rastros de sangre”.

"Su" can mean both, his or her, in Spanish. It depends on the context. Since the first part of the sentence spoke about Carla, "su" obviously refers to her room. The Google translation is wrong imo.

I would strongly assume that he cleaned up after the murder but overlooked some smaller drops of blood that were later found by police during a more thorough search.

 

[Deeptoad]

Isn't it more likely that the room was cleaned and luminol was used to detect blood evidence?

Yeah, maybe so. I'm still a bit hung up on the owner telling cops he saw her leave at 5.30 the morning of the 28th.

 

[Tssiemer]

"They" is often used in place of a third person singular pronoun.

Especially in translation I’ve noticed.

 

[loraball]

Yeah, maybe so. I'm still a bit hung up on the owner telling cops he saw her leave at 5.30 the morning of the 28th.

I am not totally certain, but I don't think the owner technically said that HE SAW her leave at 5:30, but the way I read it was that he said something along the lines of "she was seen leaving at 5:30", implying that the guards had said she was saw leaving at 5:30 with her luggage.

Caicedo said the owner of the Airbnb told him a security guard watched his sister get into a car with her bags at 5 a.m.

I am not certain, and this is only my opinion.

Body found in area where U.S. tourist went missing in Costa Rica

 

[Mica]

Yeah, maybe so. I'm still a bit hung up on the owner telling cops he saw her leave at 5.30 the morning of the 28th.

Wondering if the owner is in some way connected politically or business wise and protected by the authorities/government.

 

[otto]

According to the facetime friend, Carla was all dressed up to go out for the evening, but at 9PM she decided she was tired and would stay in. Clearly she felt quite comfortable in Costa Rica if she planned to out late in the evening by herself.

After learning that Carla told her facetime friend that she was going to ask the security guard for water, I wondered where she thought she would find him. I assumed that he was patrolling the gate/entrance to the property, but if she felt safe enough to walk to the gate, why wouldn't she feel safe enough to go to the main reception area to get water?

That never quite made sense to me.

Did she know that the security guard was in the room 8? Why would she know where the security guard was staying? Why would the night security guard be in his room rather than patrolling the property?

Was it part of his regular duties to provide services like delivering water to guests? Did this start with Carla going to room 8 to ask for water, or did he get water and did this start in her room 7?

 

[otto]

Yeah, maybe so. I'm still a bit hung up on the owner telling cops he saw her leave at 5.30 the morning of the 28th.

Could that be something that was lost in translation - where the owner and the uber driver repeated to police what they were told by the security guard?

 

[Deeptoad]

According to the facetime friend, Carla was all dressed up to go out for the evening, but at 9PM she decided she was tired and would stay in. Clearly she felt quite comfortable in Costa Rica if she planned to out late in the evening by herself.

After learning that Carla told her facetime friend that she was going to ask the security guard for water, I wondered where she thought she would find him. I assumed that he was patrolling the gate/entrance to the property, but if she felt safe enough to walk to the gate, why wouldn't she feel safe enough to go to the main reception area to get water?

That never quite made sense to me.

Did she know that the security guard was in the room 8? Why would she know where the security guard was staying? Why would the night security guard be in his room rather than patrolling the property?

Was it part of his regular duties to provide services like delivering water to guests? Did this start with Carla going to room 8 to ask for water, or did he get water and did this start in her room 7?

I can see this. If the hotel/BNB has a service kitchen that closes at a particular hour, it makes sense.

 

[whitelilac]

I am not totally certain, but I don't think the owner technically said that HE SAW her leave at 5:30, but the way I read it was that he said something along the lines of "she was seen leaving at 5:30", implying that the guards had said she was saw leaving at 5:30 with her luggage.



I am not certain, and this is only my opinion.

Body found in area where U.S. tourist went missing in Costa Rica

This is correct. The owner was not there. Martinez the suspect told the morning security guard at the shift change that Carla left in another car. The owner and the Uber driver (who came to pick her up at 8:30 am) were told the same. Owner did not witness Carla supposedly leave. Only Martinez lied.