On February 9, 2013, Geovanny Soto Ruiz, 52, and his two sons, Mauricio (29) and Enmanuel (20) were murdered in La Fortuna de San Carlos, Alajuela.
The father was the owner of the Mountain Paradise Hotel, in La Palma. That February night two men, Moisés Francisco Sándigo Fernández and José López Carmona, committed the triple murder.
In Costa Rica, two trials were held against the two men. The first was in July 2014 and the second in September 2016.
In the first trial, the three-judge panel acquitted them due to a poor investigation by authorities. In November 2015, the Sentencing Court of San Ramón annulled the acquittal and ordered a new trial.
In the second trial, López was set free, the judges saying that the OIJ mishandling the evidence and that the majority of witnesses were not clear on the details; while an international arrest warrant was issued against Sandigo not appearing at trial. He was declared a fugitive, “reo rebelde” the term used in Costa Rica.
Sandigo fled Costa Rica, headed north to his native country.
On Tuesday, March 26 of this year, Sándigo was arrested by Nicaraguan authorities in Nueva Guinea. On May 3, Sandigo went to trial in Nicaragua and was found guilty, the prosecution asking for a 129 year sentence.
On sentencing this past week, Nicaraguan judge Adela Cardoza did not have any compassion and sentenced Moisés Francisco Sándigo Fernández to 129 years in prison.
Nicaragua’s constitution does not allow the extradition of their citizens but will try its citizen for crimes committed abroad.
