QCOSTARICA – A 20-year-old man was arrested this Wednesday on suspicion of planning the murder of his mother to collect a life insurance policy valued at ¢1.1 million, that’s about US$1,800 at today’s exchange rate.
The arrest, of the 20-year-old, with the surnames Vega Mejía, along with that of two minors, one 16 and the other 17, was confirmed by the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) and the Puntarenas Prosecutor’s Office, after three raids in homes in Barranca, Puntarenas.
The victim was identified as Yelba de los Ángeles Vega Mejía, 45, who presented several stab wounds in different parts of the body, murdered on October 2.
On the day of the murder, the woman’s son told the OIJ that two hooded men entered the house to assault them and attacked his mother, killing her in front of him. He even alleged that the assailants tied him hand and foot.
However, as the investigation progressed, judicial agents determined that the son had planned everything.
“The suspect Vega would have devised a plan to assassinate his mother and thus be able to collect compensation. For this reason, it is believed that the suspect hired the young men, who on October 2 entered the house of the victim, in Barranca, and staged an assault.
“Apparently, the underage suspects beat the woman and stabbed her with a knife, so it is presumed that the woman died as a result of these attacks,” explained the Prosecutor’s Office through its press office.
Though the Prosecutor’s Office did not detail the value of the life insurance policy, saying “this information is a private part of the investigation, so it is not possible to expand details, in accordance with article 295 of the Criminal Procedure Code”, the OIJ explained that it was a policy acquired by Yelba Vega and that, apparently, her son believed that it would give him a “large sum of money if his mother died violently”.
The amount of money collected by the Vega was not revealed, but the OIJ did confirm the policy was valued at ¢1.1 million colones.
In addition to the suspect, the woman had a 21-year-old daughter and two minor children (13 and 7 years old).
