5 Americans Stabbed to Death in Costa Rica, Suspect Still at Large
Five members of an American-Costa Rican family residing in Matapolo de Santa Cruz in Guanacaste were killed after a Nicaraguan man allegedly went on a killing spree over the weekend.
The Tico Times reported that Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Police Director Walter Espinoza disclosed the details of the incident to the press during a media conference Tuesday afternoon.
According to Espinoza, the deceased victims include three children aged six, eight and 12 years old as well as a couple, an American businessman and his Costa Rican wife.
"All of them had stab wounds," Gustavo Mata, the country's Public Security Minister, explained during an interview with Telenoticias Channel 7 on Tuesday.
The suspect, whom authorities identified as Nicaraguan Adrián Salmerón Silva, remains at large.
A recent update from Costa Rica Star News revealed that authorities are under the impression that the suspect fled to his home country after the incident, leaving Costa Rican law enforcers no choice but to seek help from the Nicaraguan government with his capture.
Initial investigations revealed that Silva and the 56-year-old victim had a personal conflict, which is currently seen as the primary motive for the crime.
Coincidentally, authorities said that the 38-year-old wife filed a domestic violence complaint against the suspect.
A report from La Nacion cited a statement from Silva's father, Salmerón, who confirmed that his son confessed to him about murdering his girlfriend and her family.
Aside from the deceased, authorities also revealed that a seven-month-old baby and a four-year-old toddler were rushed to Nicoya's La Anexión Hospital after the fatal stabbing spree.
According to La Nacion, La Anexión Hospital director Anner ángulo said that the four-year-old child was in shock and nearly unconscious when they arrived at the medical facility.
The victims were later transferred to the National Children's Hospital in the Costa Rican capital San José where director Olga Arguedas revealed that the toddler suffered from anemia due to blood loss from stab wounds in the chest.
Since the child lost so much blood, the four-year-old underwent a blood transfusion prior to the transfer and was transported by land as air travel would have made her case worse.
Meanwhile, the infant showed no signs of injury or wounds but suffered dehydration due to the length of time they waited before police officers arrived.
Neighbors who called for the police said they heard children crying in the residence on Tuesday at around 8:40 in the morning.
However, initial processing of the scene of the crime showed evidence that the killing spree occurred on Sunday, some 48 hours before it was reported.