A 57-year-old German man suspected of killing his Costa Rican girlfriend reportedly committed suicide in a holding cell of Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) over the weekend, though authorities have yet to release an official statement on the matter as of early Monday morning.

The man, identified originally as Karl Alwanmeyer though there is some confusion as to the man’s proper name, is suspected of killing his 51-year-old Costa Rican girlfriend, Mariana Esquivel Alfaro.

Alwanmeyer was stopped by police officers shortly before 3 a.m. Thursday morning in the neighborhood of La Virgen, in Sarapiqui, after residents called authorities to report a suspicious vehicle driving aimlessly around the neighborhood with a flat tire.

When officers stopped Alwanmeyer’s vehicle, they discovered the dead woman in the passenger seat.

Initial reports indicated that Alwanmeyer admitted at the scene that he had beaten the woman to death and was attempting to find a suitable location to bury her remains before taking his own life; however, OIJ director, Walter Espinoza said at the press conference that the woman had no visible injuries and that an autopsy would be performed to determined the cause of death.

Sources close to the investigation but who were unauthorized to speak on the matter said that the woman is believed to have been asphyxiated.

According to the OIJ director, the victim was originally from Heredia and had been living with Alwanmeyer for about four months. However, the German man appeared to be legally married to a different Costa Rican woman in the National Registry.

Immigration records show that Alwanmeyer had traveled frequently to and from Germany in recent years.

An official statement regarding the man’s death is expected sometime Monday.