No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeNewsCosta RicaVideo shows suspected killers of Gerardo Cruz, who confronted man filming up...

Video shows suspected killers of Gerardo Cruz, who confronted man filming up skirt

Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) on Wednesday released a video of two men suspected of killing Gerardo Cruz Barquero, the 22-year-old man who in October became famous for posting a video to his Facebook page of himself confronting a man who had been trying to film up a woman’s skirt with a smartphone camera.

Cruz was stabbed two days later and died on Nov. 19 after spending a month and a half in critical condition at a hospital in San José.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkumoV1j-jI

The OIJ video compiles footage from three surveillance cameras showing the two suspects fleeing the area where Cruz was stabbed at around 7 p.m. on Oct. 7.

The attack ocurred in the southern San José suburb of San Sebastián, shortly after Cruz left his job at a local bakery, while he was on his way to grant an interview to a local TV news show.

Guillermo Fonseca, operations director for the OIJ, also released a composite portrait of one of the suspects, “with the help of a description of a witness who saw the men flee the area at around the time of the crime,” he said.

Investigators’ analysis of the video and the witness description concludes that one of the suspects is a thin male between 25 to 30 years old and about 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) tall, with dark skin and short hair.

Suspect of murdering Gerardo Cruz. May 25, 2016
(Via OIJ)

The other suspect has dark skin, is about 1.60 m (5.2 feet), has short dark hair and is around 35 years old.

Fonseca called on the public to provide any details to identify the suspects by calling OIJ’s confidential hotline, 800-8000-645, or by writing to cicooij@poder-judicial.go.cr.

Cruz spent 44 days in the Intensive Care Unit of Calderón Guardia Hospital in downtown San José, and underwent four heart surgeries.

Numerous groups of people during that time staged vigils in front of the hospital and at public parks and also marched along the capital’s streets, demanding justice for Cruz and stronger actions against street harassment.

The man in the video, a Finance Ministry employee identified by the last name Umaña, granted interviews on various media outlets apologizing for his behavior and denying any involvement in Cruz’s attack.

The Finance Ministry last April 25 reported in a news release that Umaña was suspended without pay for 22 days while it conducted an investigation into his behavior.

Trending Now

Costa Rica’s Religious Culture Through the Eyes of a Non-Religious Expat

Costa Rica is the only country in the Americas that has an official religion—Catholicism—enshrined in its constitution. While the Constitution recognizes freedom of worship,...

Costa Rica’s Olympic Hero Claudia Poll Alleges Abuse by Famed Swim Coach

Claudia Poll, Costa Rica's only Olympic gold medalist, and two other former swimmers from the country, alleged on Monday that they suffered psychological, physical,...

Canadian Tourism to Costa Rica Drops Amid Rising Crime Concerns

Canadian visits to Costa Rica have started to drop in 2025, with crime playing a big part in the shift. Data from the Costa...

Salvadoran Lawyers Fight for Rights of Trump-Deported Migrants in Secretive Prison

A small group of overstretched and outmatched lawyers is fighting for the rights of men deported by the Trump administration and held in a...

What are Diatoms and how are they used in Costa Rica?

A key ally in natural pest control is now available in Costa Rica.

Dominical to Quepos: The Costa Rican Road That Took 30 Years to Finish

The original Pan-American Highway heading south from San José once took a dramatic and daunting route. It passed through the old capital of Cartago...
L. Arias
L. Arias
Reporter | The Tico Times |
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica