Costa Rica Crime – Americans Murdering Americans

This last week was not a ‘good news’ week for Americans in Costa Rica.

1. An American identified only by his family name, Emmett, 67, was held suspect of the murder of his 33 year old fellow countryman Benjamin Daniel Wood, 33, whose body was found with a bullet in his eye near Turrucares, Alajuela. It was Wood’s Costa Rican girlfriend who alerted the police about the possibility of Emmett’s involvement in the murder.

According to investigators Wood used to work for Emmett in a house and a business property of the older man. The murder of Wood, supposedly occurred after Emmet aged 67 had an explosive argument with his 24 year old South American girlfriend.

2. And this past weekend, a 34 year old American man Garrett Gora was arrested for the murder of his own 65 year old mother Darlen Gorla whom he beat to death on Saturday night in a B&B in Alajuela because she refused to give him money to buy drugs. The victim had only arrived in Costa Rica on Friday from Hawaii.

Investigators stated that the the American man was a martial arts fan and had beaten his mother all over her body causing serious fractures in her arms, legs and ribs before dying.

When hotel staff heard the beating, they tried to hold the man but he ran off, jumped over a wall and fled. He was captured a few hours later with crack cocaine in his possession.

It’s interesting to note that on the rare occasions when an American is murdered by a Costa Rican, it’s front page news in the USA but, when they are murdered by another American, you can’t even find it.

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.