The accused, Alfred Saunders, 20, was at a remote eco-farm in northern Columbia when he was alleged to have murdered female student Alexandra Drbohlavova, 22, who was on a Christmas volunteering break.
The organic farm is run by British man Nic Donati and his American wife Erin and is next to a rainforest, with students and gap year volunteers working in exchange for food and lodging in tents. Progress on the farm has previously been updated in Donati’s blog.
Saunders was said to have recently returned from a three month long martial arts course in China. Some reports have claimed that the young man, from Notting Hill in London, has a history of schizophrenia. He arrived at the farm with no luggage and was offered a place to stay by the British owners of the site who took pity on him.
Drbohlavova, who is a student at Miami University in Florida, was stabbed 15 times by her attacker in the head, neck and chest. Saunders was aprehended soon after the incident by the farm owner’s father and handed over to the police.
Interpol released a ‘green alert’ warning to Nicaragua in November 2011 telling officials that Saunders had been linked to a number of criminal incidents in Central America. Saunders crossed the border into Costa Rica on December 27.
A statement from Costa Rican police said “The suspect was sleeping in a tent near to the murder victim’s. The manager of the farm heard screaming and shouting and as he approached the woman’s tent, saw the suspect coming out with a torch in his hand. He shone his torch at him and saw blood on his clothes and face.
“He managed to apprehend him and tie him up with the help of his wife. The victim was already near death when he looked inside her tent. There’s no phone at the farm so he brought the suspect to us and asked for help for the woman”
“She was already dead by the time help arrived. The suspect told us he can’t remember anything about what happened. The suspect had a lot of marks on him which appear to indicate he was involved in a struggle.”
