A SECURITY guard who stabbed a Floridian tourist to death while fighting off his rape attempt has been jailed for 16 years.
Carla Stefaniak was in San Jose, Costa Rica, celebrating her 36th birthday when she was brutally murdered in November 2018.
Bismarck Espinoza Martinez, who worked as security guard for an apartment complex with Airbnb rental units where she was staying, was today found guilty of fatally stabbing Carla.
Carla’s body was found five days later by tracker dogs, half-buried and wrapped in plastic about 200 feet from the property.
It was said Martinez, originally from Nicaragua, tried to rape her and then he killed her when she tried to fight back.
He was quickly identified as a primary suspect and detained by police.
The prosecution was confident in the DNA evidence and that Mratinez’s statements to police contradicted surveillance footage and other witness statements.
Martinez had access to the apartment where Carla was staying and was able to dump her body on a remote part of the property.
It is said he called his mother after killing Carla to confess what he had done.
A Costa Rican examiner said she was stabbed seven times, including once in the palm of her hand.
They indicated it was sign she was trying to defend herself as prosecutors described it as a sexually motivated attack.
The Venezuelan-American from Miami was on vacation with her sister-in-law April Antonieta.
April left a day before Carla, but she had arranged for the same Uber driver to take her to the airport and checked into her flight.
Carla had told her family via FaceTime and WhatsApp the complex seemed “sketchy” and her last message was received at about 8pm. on November 27, when she said she was going to ask a guard, possibly Martinez, for water.
When didn’t board her flight or arrive in Miami, authorities launched a search for Carla.
Martinez was charged with the Costa Rican equivalent of second degree murder, homocidio simple, because there was not enough evidence to convict on a charge of homocidio calificado — first degree murder because it requires evidence of intent and planning.
In a civil suit, Carla’s family were awarded $53,000 in damages to paid by Martinez and the hotel property.
Carla’s family are said to be outraged at the length of sentence and that the the crime was not considered first degree murder
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
Email us at exclusive@the-sun.com or call 212 416 4552.
