September 4, 2015, Perez Zeledon – Final arguments were heard today in the case of United States expat Ann Patton Bender, who is accused of killing her multi-millionaire husband in 2010 at their mansion Boracayan del Sur, in the Perez Zeledon municipality of Costa Rica. John Felix Bender was shot in the back of his head and died immediately. The prosecution and defense argued today whether the death was a homicide, or a suicide.

The hearing started with the prosecution stating that John Bender had been asleep in his bed, naked, with earplugs on, until about 12:15, when the defendant putatively shot him at close range with a handgun from John’s gun collection.

The defense argued that Ann awoke to see her husband with a gun to his head. She lunged to try to take the gun away, the couple fell sideways, and the gun went off, killing John on the spot. Ann testified that John’s last words to her were, “Now you will know what’s it’s like to wake up next to your dead husband.”

The lead prosecutor, himself a former member of the Office of Judicial Investigation (Spanish initials: OIJ), stated that all deaths in Costa Rica are investigated initially as homicides; this was no exception. The final accusation of homicide was made after a short study of the crime scene analysis and forensic evidence. That investigation, apparently, took only three days.

The prosecution spent a lot of testimony trying to discredit the defense’s main forensic doctors, Richard and Selma Eikelenboom from the U.S., who testified two weeks ago, pointing out sloppy crime scene processing and less-than-sophisticated forensic science. The two most glaring errors, they testified, were failure to fingerprint the gun, and failure to look at John and Ann’s hands under a microscope and infrared light.

The defense countered that the case against Ann lacked a motive as well as clear, forensic proof from blood stains, fingerprints, ballistic studies, and gun powder residue. They cast doubt on the position of John’s body when he was shot. John showed traces of gunpowder on his hands – not Ann – and there was no residue on either the walkie-talkie or computer Ann used after the incident.

The prosecution is asking for a 22-year sentence for Ann Bender. A final verdict is scheduled for Monday, September 7th, 2015 (Labor Day in the U.S.), at the courthouse in San Isidro de El General, beginning at 9AM. The proceedings are public, and open to all interested parties.

48 Hours “Paradise Lost”

The U.S. CBS television network has been updating this case over the last two years on its investigative news program 48 Hours. Here is a portion of their most recent update:

After four years and two trials, there [was] perhaps no way Ann [could] prepare herself for the verdict: guilty of murder.

 

Last February, nine months after Ann Bender was convicted of murdering her husband, an appeals court overturned that decision. Their finding: the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient proof of murder.

 

Ann was released from prison. She told “48 Hours” she barely survived her time behind bars. But her ordeal is not over yet. The court ordered a third trial.

 

Sadly, her boyfriend who had fought so hard to bring attention to her case died of natural causes while she in was in prison.