AA
Share
Municipal Police in San Isidro de Heredia, Costa Rica, arrested a man surnamed Carvajal Fernández in the early hours of Tuesday, February 10, 2026. He had been a fugitive and was identified as the hitman who murdered retired Nicaraguan Army major Roberto Samcam on June 19, 2025, in Moravia.
Acting director general of Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), Michael Soto, confirmed that Carvajal Fernández “could be the individual who carried out the homicide,” meaning the person who fired the weapon at Samcam. He added that the arrest opens the possibility of investigating those who ordered the killing.
“To complete the detention of all the individuals who participated in the operational phase of this homicide, we were missing one male suspect, whom we had been searching for for several months (…) This now allows us to clarify, at an important level, the issue of the material perpetrators,” Soto said.
Arrested After Falling Into a Ditch While Attempting to Flee
The arrest occurred shortly after midnight during a routine patrol near the San Isidro toll booth, according to Reiner Corella Carazo, chief of the local Municipal Police, speaking to Costa Rican channel Teletica.
“Officers were conducting a preventive patrol on a little-traveled road around midnight. They saw two vehicles approaching; one continued on, but the other, upon noticing the patrol lights, attempted to flee in reverse and fell into a roadside ditch,” Corella explained.
Authorities said officers followed established security protocols. “The officers approached cautiously and ordered the occupants, who were two men, to exit the vehicle. At that moment they observed that one of them was carrying a firearm at his waist,” the police chief said.
Both individuals were detained, and a visual inspection of the vehicle revealed the presence of a long firearm. In coordination with the national police and on orders from the prosecutor in charge, the detainees were transferred to the Prosecutor’s Office in Heredia.
After verifying their identities, authorities confirmed that one of those arrested was the fugitive sought in Samcam’s killing. “The matter goes further because, when investigating the individuals, it was determined that one of them had an arrest warrant related to an alleged contract killing case,” Corella added.
Firearms Seized During Operation
During the operation, authorities seized firearms found in the vehicle, including a 9-millimeter handgun and an AR-15 rifle.
Soto said ballistic comparisons will be conducted to determine “whether these weapons are related” to Samcam’s murder, although “it would appear not, due to differences in caliber.” However, the OIJ has not ruled out the suspects’ possible involvement in other homicides in Costa Rica.
The police chief, however, noted that it has yet to be determined who carried out Samcam’s killing. “The issue of intellectual authorship is always more complex. We are developing analyses to try to clarify who ordered this person’s death. This is something we will also pursue within the ongoing process,” he said.
According to the judicial investigation, Carvajal Fernández is believed to be the gunman who, on the morning of June 19, 2025, at approximately 7:45 a.m., entered Samcam’s residence by taking advantage of repair work being carried out on the condominium’s access gate.
The assailant, a young man of about 20 years old, proceeded to a building and climbed to the second floor where Samcam lived. Once he had his victim in sight, he riddled him with bullets. Prosecutor General Carlo Díaz later said there are “videos, testimonies, and forensic evidence that establish the participation of the material perpetrators,” referring to one of the raids during which four of the five suspects were captured.
In September 2025, Costa Rican authorities had already detained three men and one woman as alleged accomplices. Those arrested included Chaves Medina, 35, detained in Cañas, Guanacaste; Chacón Guillén, 30; and Orozco González, 33, arrested during raids in León XIII, Tibás.
Samcam’s Widow Calls for Justice
Claudia Vargas, Samcam’s widow, said upon hearing the news that the arrest “is an important step” in the search for justice.
“The investigation will lead us to the intellectual authors, across the border and to the dictators,” she wrote in a social media post.
Vargas insisted that justice must “go to the ultimate consequences” and that authorities must “identify, investigate, and punish those who planned, ordered, and sustained this transnational crime.”
Soto recalled that the case caused “great shock not only in the country but also internationally because of the characteristics of the victim.”
