Fingerprints Collected In Nosara Murder Case

Authorities are continuing to investigate the apparent murder of Carl David Brainard, a U.S. citizen whose body was found July 12 in the Pacific beach town of Nosara.

No arrests have been made, however. Police have obtained fingerprints from the inside of the house where a gardener discovered Brainard’s body, said Greylin Moncada, the Nosara director of the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ). Also, the Toyota 4-Runner that was stolen from in front of the house (TT, July 14) was discovered last week in Tibás, north of San José, and police have obtained fingerprints from its interior.

Moncada said police are analyzing the fingerprints to see if they are clear enough to be used as evidence.

Preliminary autopsy reports indicate that Brainard suffered various wounds, including a fractured trachea, which caused him to suffocate, Moncada said.

Meanwhile, Brainard’s son Jeff, 42, traveled to Costa Rica from the U.S. state of Michigan last week to speak with authorities about his 65-year-old father’s death.

Jeff Brainard told The Tico Times that the house in which his father’s body was found belonged to a friend. Carl Brainard was moving into the house to watch over it and had borrowed the 4-Runner from another friend to move his things, his son said.

Jeff, who has been to Nosara several times to surf, said he introduced his father to the town 10 years ago. The older Brainard moved to Nosara two years ago.

“He made more and more friends and soon became a staple there,” Jeff said.

Carl Brainard worked at the Nosara Real Estate office answering phones and helping out the realtors, but did not sell real estate; he also worked at The Juice Lab smoothie bar next door.

Jeff Brainard said he has no idea who would want to kill his father and wonders if someone followed him in the 4-Runner with the intention of stealing it.

“He was such a benign person, down here doing nothing but being retired,” Jeff Brainard said.