Q COSTA RICA — Rafael Antonio Valdez García allegedly killed his spouse, Jasmina López Castro, and their 9-year-old daughter, Belkania Balezka Valdez López, in Liberia, Guanacaste. He then made a phone call to a neighbor to notify the police so they could recover the bodies.
The incident took place in the early hours of Saturday, October 17, in Liberia, in the province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Read more: Suspect in double femicide in Liberia called a neighbor, asking them to “collect the bodies”
Despite Costa Rican authorities’ efforts to find him, the man vanished. They feared he would flee to his native Nicaragua—and he did.
In Nicaragua, four days after the incident, he was arrested at the La Aurora estate, located in the La Fundadora community in Jinotega, while attempting to “hide to evade justice.”
The National Police followed up with the release of a statement that included details from the confession attributed to the detainee. According to the document, Valdez García stated that he entered the room where the victims were sleeping, carrying a machete, at approximately 12:30 a.m.
The police statement notes that the man cut the cord holding up the bed’s mosquito net. According to the account provided by the Nicaraguan authorities, Jasmina López Castro woke up and attempted to get up; at that point, the suspect allegedly attacked her with the weapon.
The couple’s daughter was sleeping in the same bed as her mother. The child also sustained fatal injuries during the attack, according to the confession made to police in Nicaragua.
The statement provides no information regarding any history of domestic violence, prior complaints, or a possible motive for the crime.
Valdez García left the machete under the bed and fled on foot and fled on foot toward a mountainous area, according to the report from the Nicaraguan National Police. According to the official account, he arrived in Liberia around 6:00 a.m. and bought a coffee. He then boarded a bus headed for Peñas Blancas, on the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua and entered Nicaragua via an unofficial crossing
He reportedly continued his journey by public transport to Managua, and from there, he traveled to Matagalpa, 130 km north, some 2 to 3 hours north of Managua. The police place his arrival in that city at around 5:00 p.m. that same Saturday—nearly 17 hours after the attack at the home in Liberia.
Once in Matagalpa, Valdez García called the neighbor. Nicaraguan authorities have presented this call as part of the detainee’s confession.
While Costa Rican authorities are requesting his “swift” transfer so that he may face justice in Costa Rica, Nicaraguan authorities maintain that he will be prosecuted in Nicaragua.
The reason is constitutional. Following the capture, the National Police announced—via press release- that the individual, who is of Nicaraguan origin, “will be prosecuted and tried in our country under the classification of an atrocious crime,” and pledged to ensure “that the full weight of the law falls upon him.”
Valdez García cannot be extradited to Costa Rica
Nicaragua’s Constitution establishes that “there is no extradition for political offenses or common crimes connected to them” and that extradition for common crimes “is governed by law and international treaties.” Nevertheless, it is categorical in stating that “Nicaraguan citizens may not be extradited from the national territory.”
Despite the constitutional prohibition, Costa Rica insists on his transfer.
Pablo Martínez, director of Costa Rica’s National Security Intelligence Directorate (DIS), confirmed in a video that the arrest of the Nicaraguan national was made possible through the joint efforts of both countries. He further emphasized that they will not allow “anyone who commits a crime of this nature—or any other—to remain at large.” He added that they will pursue any criminal, “wherever they may be.”
Meanwhile, Costa Rica’s Minister of Public Security Gerald Campos stated that they will take all necessary steps to ensure the Nicaraguan—who was captured on a farm in Jinotega, more than 400 kilometers from the scene of the crime—is “promptly brought to the country to face the consequences of his actions.”
Nicaragua’s Swift Justice
Despite the call from Costa Rican authorities, Nicaragua seeks to protect sovereignty and prevent a Nicaraguan national from being tried abroad, regardless of the severity of the alleged crime.
The usual practice is for Costa Rican authorities to formally send Nicaragua all evidence, witness statements, expert reports, and police records collected during the investigation, so they can be included in the case against the accused.
Criminal procedure in Nicaragua is designed to move cases through defined stages, with hearings and deadlines intended to prevent proceedings from dragging on indefinitely.
In principle, speed can serve defendants and victims alike. A prompt hearing can reduce the time an accused person spends in uncertainty or pretrial detention, while allowing victims and witnesses to have their evidence considered without years of delay, as it often does in Costa Rica.
However, Costa Rican authorities have a concern.
While cases in Nicaragua move quickly—months instead of years—Valdez García could receive benefits in the future, such as one of the prison benefits granted by the Sandinista regime, such as the “family coexistence” program, through which common-crime inmates can be released. According to a report by La Prensa in Nicaragua, so far this year, the number of prisoners who have received such benefits has reached 7,000.
Experts agree that there is nothing to exempt Valdez García, nor is there any restriction preventing him from receiving such benefits in the future—though, given the gravity of his crime, they will not be granted, given that the Nicaraguan police described Valdez García as a highly dangerous individual, and he represents a serious and direct threat to public safety due to the extreme cruelty, treachery, and disregard for human life he demonstrated by taking the lives of his own family.