AA
Share
Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) considers that the murder of retired major from the Nicaraguan Army, Roberto Samcam, had an “ideological” motive. It also states that the trigger for the crime was the former military officer’s collaboration with a report by the UN Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN), which exposed the participation of military forces in the repression of unarmed civilians in 2018.
According to the judicial file, accessed by the Costa Rican outlet Teletica and including new testimonies, the crime bore the characteristics of a contract killing and was carried out in a “professional” manner, reinforcing the hypothesis that it was a planned action.
In February 2025, GHREN published a report determining, for the first time, that the Nicaraguan Army “actively participated in the repression” of the 2018 protests and “committed extrajudicial executions,” which left more than 300 people dead.
“Most of this document (the GHREN report) was based on the investigation carried out by Roberto Samcam, so the government’s anger against him was significant and could have led to his killing (…) he was a specific target of the regime,” emphasized the witness included in the case file.
According to the Group of Experts’ report, the Army “provided weapons to the Police and pro-government armed groups, carried out intelligence operations, and trained civilian personnel, including members of the Sandinista Youth, marginalized youth, and public officials.”
In connection with this case, which occurred on June 19, 2025, at the victim’s home in Moravia, San José, four people remain in pretrial detention.
Information contained in the case file indicates that one of the detainees is allegedly linked to a criminal group operating in the department of Carazo, Nicaragua, raising the possibility of transnational connections in carrying out the crime.
Another trigger for the crime
In addition to the UN report, investigators also believe that “the straw that broke the camel’s back” was the drafting of a document Samcam was working on with other exiled individuals, proposing the formation of a transitional government in Nicaragua.
“The idea was for it to be a document people could sign, like when the constitutional reform was done in January 2025. A document with signatures, gradually challenging the Constitution at that moment—but Roberto circulated it,” another witness stated.
He added that the former military officer had circulated another text with strong accusations against military and intelligence institutions, which further raised his profile as an opponent.
“In March or April, he released a very hard-hitting document against a number of individuals he described as killers. He was targeting the military, intelligence institutions, and the Interior Ministry. All of that made him a target for the Nicaraguan government,” the witness said.
UN says the crime was “planned”
Samcam had been living in Costa Rica since 2018. In February 2023, he was arbitrarily stripped of his Nicaraguan nationality and later granted Spanish citizenship. In June 2025, he was murdered at his home and, according to investigators, was shot eight times.
In February 2026, GHREN stated that Samcam’s killing was “carefully planned, following prior surveillance and threats against the victim, and bore the hallmarks of a contract killing.”
GHREN also detailed how the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo used state resources to sustain repression in Nicaragua and to expand a network of surveillance and intelligence aimed at targeting Nicaraguans in exile.
Samcam’s case has also been linked to patterns of transnational repression, in which state actors—or those connected to them—extend acts of persecution beyond their borders against opposition figures in exile.
In statements to the outlet Teletica, former OIJ investigator Rogelio Ramírez said that “what is typical of dictatorships is control over citizens—even espionage and conspiracy become strategies and even state policies (…) the survival of dictators and their inner circle depends on that control to prevent and crush any signs of dissent.”
The case file also includes information about the existence of an alleged list of individuals considered targets of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. The list reportedly includes at least ten names, among them Samcam, reinforcing the hypothesis that the killing was a targeted operation.
Claudia Vargas, the widow of the murdered retired Army major, reacted on social media, stating that the developments confirm that Samcam “was killed because of his investigations,” and that this means “restoring dignity to his memory.”
