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One hour before the murder of retired Nicaraguan Army major Roberto Samcam, the hitman, the middleman, and a driver carried out “surveillance work” at the Nápoles condominium in Moravia, Costa Rica, where the victim lived, Costa Rican authorities reported. That surveillance, they said, allowed them to “carry out the crime calmly, though not very professionally.”
The hitman, a young man of about 20 years old with the last name Carvajal, entered the condominium on June 19, 2025, walked to a building, and went up to the second floor where Samcam lived. Once he had his victim in sight, he riddled him with bullets. “Videos, testimonies, and forensic evidence make it possible to establish the participation of the direct perpetrators of the act,” explained Attorney General Carlo Díaz during one of the raids in which four of the five suspects in the crime were arrested.
The suspects detained by the OIJ are:
- A 35-year-old man with the last name Chaves, arrested in Cañas on Thursday, September 11, 2025. Identified as the middleman between the intellectual authors and the material perpetrators of the murder.
- A 30-year-old woman with the last names Chacón Guillén, arrested in a public street. Identified as the wife of the middleman, who allegedly paid 50,000 colones (about 100 dollars) for the transportation of those involved.
- A 23-year-old man with the last names Cordero Robles, arrested during a raid in the León XIII neighborhood in San José. Believed to be one of the drivers involved.
- A 33-year-old man with the last names Castro Pérez, arrested in a public street. Believed to be one of the drivers involved.
The OIJ is also still searching for a 20-year-old man with the last name Carvajal, who is believed to be the shooter. Steps are currently being taken to arrest him.
A car was left behind after the murder
After committing the crime, the hitman, the middleman, and the driver “abandoned the car they had used to carry out the homicide,” said the director of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), Randall Zúñiga. The vehicle —a station wagon with no plates or visible identification— was found about eight kilometers from the scene, in the Vázquez de Coronado area.
At that location, “another private driver was waiting for them —whom we were also able to identify. We traced the route he took as he dropped them off at different points, which in this case was the León XIII neighborhood,” Zúñiga explained.
The Middleman and His Wife
According to information provided by Costa Rican authorities, the hitman was allegedly hired by a man with the last name Chávez, identified as the middleman in charge of contracting the killer.
“This man (Chávez) was present on the day of the homicide along with the shooter —the one who carried out the act— and another person who provided transportation in a car and a motorcycle that they were switching between on June 19, 2025,” Zúñiga specified.
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When they arrived in Vázquez de Coronado, where they abandoned the vehicle, a 30-year-old woman with the last names Chacón Guillén, identified as the middleman’s wife, was waiting for them along with a second driver.
“This woman apparently paid 50,000 colones (about 100 dollars) for the transportation that took them from Vázquez de Coronado to León XIII,” emphasized the OIJ director.
Parallels with the Attack on Joao Maldonado
Zúñiga also noted that there are “several parallels” between Samcam’s murder and the two attempted murders of Joao Maldonado, which took place in 2021 and 2024.
He stated that both crimes were carried out “in a rather crude, clumsy manner, by people without much expertise or knowledge in the field,” the OIJ director commented.
He added that although those responsible for the crime carried out “prior tracking and surveillance,” they “left behind many traces.”
In both cases, a private driver from the León XIII neighborhood was used, Zúñiga highlighted.
