By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - I just got back from my road trip to Costa Rica. I'll be back in the office tomorrow morning, and will post the details. FYI...

Copyright 2010 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

(Editor's Comment: This article was first published in New Mexico over a month ago, but I didn't see it when it came out. I found it when I was looking for additional information about Bo Icelar's collection that was discovered under his house in Big Creek on Isla Colon in Bocas del Toro, and thought it would be worth republishing.) By Staci Matlock | The New Mexican - 27 July 2010 - Bo Icelar, former longtime owner of East West Trading on Canyon Road in Santa Fe, talked frequently to his good friend Sharon McConnell. Icelar had moved to Bocas del Toro, a city on Panama's Caribbean coast in 2004 and opened another business, Iguana Limited. "We talked for more than an hour," on Nov. 29 said McConnell, a former Santa Fe artist, now living in Mississippi. It was the last time she heard from him. Two weeks ago, Panama authorities and investigators found bones they think are Icelar's in a shallow grave on a Bocas del Toro property near the body of another American missing since March, Cheryl Lynn "Cher" Hughes. Hughes' husband identified her body. (more)

Bo Icelar and Sharon McConnell   Click Here To Read The Full Article (970 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Remember the information about William Dathan Holbert and Laura Michelle Reese from the America's Most Wanted profile? The last time they had any contact with law enforcement officers in the United States was on 6 February 2006 in Wyoming, when a patrolman pulled them over and tried to arrest them for driving a Jeep that had been stolen from West Virginia. They managed to get away, however in the process they crashed the stolen Jeep and escaped on foot. The next day Holbert and Reese stole a 14' U-Haul van in Bismark, North Dakota. Then about a month later police discovered that same U-Haul truck abandoned in West Palm Beach, Florida. Why West Palm Beach, Florida? I now know the answer. Holbert and Reese hopped on a cruise ship and sailed away to Costa Rica. The area of Puerto Viejo is close to Limon, Costa Rica, a popular cruise ship destination. Apparently Holbert and Reese disembarked from the cruise ship in mid February 2006, and simply stayed in Costa Rica when the ship sailed. It now looks like Jeffery A. Kline was their first "big score" overseas. And all of Holbert's talk about having been in Mexico, Belize and the Cayman Islands? There are several cruise ships that stop at these ports before arriving in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (883 words)

Although he spent four hours in the offices of the Deputy Attorney General, William Dathan Holbert, alias "Wild Bill", refused to expand his statement regarding the murders of five people in Bocas del Toro. William Dathan Holbert, who was accompanied by his lawyer Maria Carrillo, told the prosecutor he would not testify, but he did complain about supposed ill treatment at the La Joya prison, and he said the conditions in the prison were not the best. On 30 July 2010 "Wild Bill" made his first statement and confessed to having murdered Bo Icelar, Cher Hughes, Mike Brown, and his wife and son, with shots to the back of the head. The confessed murderer was transferred from the La Joya prison to the office of the Deputy Attorney General at 8:00 am yesterday morning, and he was there until noon. He came and left under heavy security. Meanwhile, the Anthropological Museum of Panama has requested to the Deputy Attorney General, through a letter, the custody of more than 100 ancient masks and figures found in Bo Icelar's basement, one of Holbert's victims, in order to protect the pieces. (Mi Diario)

Editor's Comment: I discussed Bo Icelar's collection with the prosecutor this morning. He is in the process of calling in experts who will determine the origins and authenticity of the pieces discovered in Bo Icelar's basement. First, they want to rule out that these might have been stolen from somewhere. I told him that I didn't think they were stolen, but rather that Bo Icelar was a well known antiquities dealer and this was his collection. They have already checked and Bo Icelar did not follow the proper procedures to import these artifacts into Panama. Therefore, most likely the government of Panama will confiscate them, and they will end up in a museum somewhere. In the meantime, they will determine what they are, and how much they are worth.   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Confessed serial killer William Dathan Holbert's mother bought him a whole stack of telephone calling cards when she came to visit in Panama. These cards were delivered to Holbert and his girlfriend Laura Michelle Reese by their lawyer. They can use these cards to make telephone calls freely, and for example Holbert calls and talks to his grandmother in North Carolina practically every day. He can also call the pay phone in the Women's prison and talk directly to Laura Michelle Reese. When I learned about this activity this morning, I called and spoke to the prosecutor responsible for the case, Angel Calderon, the Deputy Attorney General. He said "yes, I knew about that ... it's a right they have as detainees in the penitentiary system ... all prisoners have the right to make telephone calls and to communicate with their family members, lawyers, or whoever ... they use those prepaid calling cards and they have access to pay phones installed inside of the prison." I already know every call placed or received on those phones is recorded so at least the calls are not private. Prisoners also often have access to smuggled cell phones which they prefer because it's harder for justice authorities to monitor those calls. Anyway, Holbert and Reese are not totally cut off from the outside. Prisoners all around the world are faced with the same problem so it's not surprising really.

Copyright 2010 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

William Holbert, the savage murderer who killed at least five people in Bocas del Toro, was returned to his cell at the La Joya prison this afternoon after spending the morning before the prosecutor in his case, accompanied by a lawyer, attorney Maria Carrillo Broux. Described by the media as a man who has lost weight, Holbert looks different, he is collaborating with the justice system, and he did not answer any of the questions shouted at him by the press.

Holbert, also known as "Wild Bill," was to expand and give explanations on the evidence sought by the Deputy Attorney General, who has formally accused him of having killed five people. Holbert is not responding to questions, and now his lawyer is in control of his defense, however, neither he nor the legal assistant Maria Carrillo have given any in depth replies and she has only told the media that her client "is well" and that he will ask to have the five charges against him tried as one case.

Authorities are eager to have Holbert provide many explanations on the evidence, such as the masks and objects found in the possession of "Wild Bill" and how he was able to transfer the property to his name. The prosecutor Calderon is waiting for other legal elements, betting that evidence collected will help to clarify this shocking murder case. (TVN Noticias)

Editor's Comment: Losing weight? I guess that's what happens when you stop shooting up steroids all the time. Plus there's no weight lifting equipment in "the hole" at the maximum security lock down in block 7 of La Joyita, where he is actually being held. I already know the prison food sucks. Plus no more steady diet of Seco (slurp) and coke (snort). When Holbert first arrived in Panama, he was asking to make sure he didn't get extradited back to the United States. Now that he's spent a week or two in La Joyita, he's asking to be returned back to the US. Of course, that's not going to happen under any circumstances. Today the prosecutors tried to get Holbert to talk and to expand his statement, but he refused to cooperate. He did, however, complain about the conditions, saying his cell is too small. So, William Dathan Holbert is uncomfortable. Good. Very good.   

With strong security measures, William Dathan Holbert, alias "Wild Bill", was taken to the headquarters of the Deputy Attorney General, with the objective of expanding the investigation. Holbert has been held in the La Joyita prison after confessing to having murdered several people. "Wild Bill" has only been questioned once by Deputy Attorney General Angel Calderon, and since then Holbert has requested a series of prerogatives. "Wild Bill" appears as the main suspect in the deaths of five foreigners in the province of Bocas del Toro. So far, the only victim who has been positively identified is Cheryl Lynn Hughes. (Telemetro)

Editor's Comment: OK, let me explain a few things. When they say "with the objective of expanding the investigation" - that means they are trying to get him to continue with his confession. When he was first extradited to Panama, he confessed for three days and then after that he stopped talking. He drew a map and told prosecutors where the Brown (Salem) family was buried and they used that information to recover their bodies. It really makes no sense whatsoever for Holbert to stop talking at this point. The only way he will ever realize any potential future benefit from cooperating is if he does so freely, completely, and without reservation. If he does that, and to be perfectly clear that means he has to tell the whole and entire truth with no lies or attempts to screw around with the truth - then he might eventually see a reduction in his sentence.

Meddling With The Truth: I think in his original confession Holbert said he killed Bo Icelar in January 2010, and I know it happened on 30 November 2009. I think at the start Holbert was lying about the dates in an attempt to protect Laura Michelle Reese. I think in fact she was on the boat when Holbert killed Icelar, and Holbert thought he could lie enough in his confession to protect her. I think that now, after he has spent a couple of weeks on maximum security lock down in La Joyita, he's having a change of heart. In his position, he has to either cooperate fully and completely, or he will just end up screwing himself over royally. If he lies in his confession, even once, and the prosecutors can prove that in court, then there is little chance that the Judge at his trial will grant any kind of a reduced sentence, based on the fact that he was only telling the part of the story that he wanted told. If Holbert doesn't cooperate completely, then prosecutors can still use all of the information he provides against him, and he's even more screwed in the end.

"Requested A Series Of Prerogatives: This means that Holbert is trying to negotiate with the prosecution in some way. There are several things he might be trying to obtain. For instance, he might want some assurances that only he will be charged with murder, and not Laura Michelle Reese, in exchange for his testimony. That's just a guess, and in reality I have no idea what he's asking for, or what the prosecution might grant (if anything.) But, I just wanted to explain what "requested a series of prerogatives" means in this setting.

   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Some new sources of information are emerging who are able to provide amazing details on the murder of American lawyer Jeffery A. Kline in Costa Rica at the hands of the serial killers William Dathan Holbert and Laura Michelle Reese. I now know when, where, and how William Dathan Holbert met Jeffery A. Kline in Costa Rica. I also know that both Holbert and Kline were living under the same roof, and that Holbert had access to Kline's room and personal documents and information - including bank account records. Most of the new information contained in this article comes from one source, who I consider to be absolutely trustworthy, and whose name I am going to protect and withhold. Therefore, throughout this article I will just identify him as "the source". What's not so clear at this point are the exact dates - his memory is a little fuzzy on those details from almost four years ago. I know from other sources of information most of this activity occurred in the May - June time frame of 2006. The source has also directed me to ways to obtain some specific details on some of the dates of these events for clarification (still working on that.) But for right now I'm going to leave the exact dates out for later confirmation. In any case, this source of information was with William Dathan Holbert at the Best Western hotel in San Jose, Costa Rica when they both met Jeffery Kline for the first time. The source owned a house in the Puerto Uva area of Costa Rica, near the Atlantic coast, where both Holbert and Kline rented rooms simultaneously. And, the source was probably one of the last people to see Jeffery A. Kline alive, before William Dathan Holbert killed him. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (1,902 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - OK, it now looks like I had the timeline wrong for all of the events in Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica, and the murder of Jeffery A. Kline. I had reported that based on available information, the murder took place in April, 2007. However I have since been corrected by a much more reliable source. It seems William Dathan Holbert and Laura Michelle Reese rented that house on or about 6 May 2006 and then left on or about 17 June 2006. The mysterious cement slab was first noticed in January of 2007, discussed again in June of 2007, and then finally ripped up in November of 2007, resulting in the discovery of Kline's body. These new dates still line up with Jeffery A. Kline's travel and activities in Costa Rica. His family members are being asked to provide DNA samples to confirm the identity of the body. Obviously, my Costa Rica timeline still needs more work. Anyway, thanks to the source for the more accurate information. And as always, when I get something wrong on the first go-around, I try to fix it when I get the right information. My apologies...

Copyright 2010 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

During a search of the home of Bo Icelar, one of the victims of William Dathan Holbert, better known as Wild Bill, authorities found dozens of antique masks and figures carved in stone, wood and bronze. The Items were stored in the basement of the American Icelar, located in the Big Creek area of Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro. Authorities are investigating the origin and use of these artifacts, and are consulting with the Heritage Division of the National Institute of Culture, to determine their value and origin, and to determine if these were smuggled into the country. (Telemetro)

Editor's Comment: Of course they were smuggled into the country. Bo Icelar was a well known collector and trader of antiquities and artifacts in New Mexico before he came to Panama. He apparently shipped these things to Panama before declaring bankruptcy back home. They are probably all listed on a shipping manifest somewhere as "old stuff" but I guarantee you Icelar didn't do whatever is legally required to declare and import antiquities to Panama. Once again, these are the things he was trying to hide. My question - they just found this stuff now? On 24 August 2010? Wasn't Bo Icelar reported missing back in December of 2009? How come his house was never searched back then? Why did the authorities wait another full month after the bodies of Cher Hughes and Bo Icelar were found to throughly search his house? What else are they not doing in a timely manner? (Rhetorical questions...)   

ST. PETERSBURG BEACH, Fla. - It looked like a party, and in some ways, it was a party. At the Don Cesar Resort Hotel, on the Sunset Pavillion, there was laughter when some shared stories about their good friend, Cheryl Hughes. The woman was murdered in Panama, where she'd lived for the last decade. Authorities arrested William Holbert and his wife. Officials say Holbert admitted to shooting and killing Hughes, as well as four others. A family member told ABC Action News Saturday night that officials say there may be eleven murders connected to Holbert. Jen Hodecker, Hughes’ niece said "I'm still really mad. Trying to get over it, but still really mad." Though Hughes was killed in the place she called paradise, it was fitting that she was remembered along a beautiful beach.

"For something like this to happen to somebody like Cher, it's just so not fair," said Troy Killius, a longtime friend who was her neighbor in Gulfport before she moved to Panama in 2000. As the sun went down, orchids were picked up and so were several pink and white balloons. Then, into the water, they went, clearly missing Cheryl's huge presence. When asked about what she missed most about her aunt, Hodecker said "Not being able to see her smile. The lovingness. I miss that I didn't get to give her a hug." Killius tearfully talked about how he and his family had spent countless days with Hughes. "Things we did and adventures we went on. From now until the day I die, I'll remember them stories. I'll never forget that. It's just how she was. She touched your soul."

Click on this link for a video news report of this story.   

By Don Winner for Panama-Guide (mobile) - Confessed serial killer William Dathan Holbert actually lived in the same house as one of his victims in Costa Rica in early 2007. Jeffery A. Kline met Holbert at a Best Western hotel in San Jose while Holbert was on a trip there to buy a motorcycle. After Kline met Holbert, he traveled to the area of Puerto Viejo, in the province of Limon on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Kline actually rented a room in the same house where Holbert was living at the time, in late March and during the first week of April, 2007. When Kline ran from his obligations in the state of Illinois in March of 2006, he transferred $107,040 dollars to a bank account in his name in Costa Rica before leaving the United States and moving there himself. Kline apparently became aware investigators from the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) contacted the US Embassy in Costa Rica to try to find him (and his money). When Kline rented the bedroom in that house in Puerto Viejo, he had more than $100,000 in cash physically with him. Apparently he was afraid that if he left the money in the bank investigators might seize it to pay the $70,000 dollars in child support payments he owed to his family back home. Unfortunately for Kline, he ended up living under the same roof as serial killer William Dathan Holbert - the man who kills other citizens from the United States in order to steal their money and belongings - loaded down with cash. Within a week, Kline was dead, Holbert had the money, and Kline's body was buried under the house owned by Joseph and Sue Freconna in Puerto Viejo.

Copyright 2010 by Don Winner for Panama Guide. Go ahead and use whatever you want as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States are cooperating with Panama to identify, locate, and bring to the country the relatives of the victims of the confessed murderer William Dathan Holbert, said Public Ministry sources yesterday. Such cooperation was agreed at the meeting held on Monday between officials from the U.S. agency and officials from the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, and in addition, the FBI provided documents to confirm the identities of the victims, the offender and his partner. Prosecutor Angel Calderon said they expect family members of the victims of Wild Bill will be coming to Panama in the coming days, but he did not say when they would be coming, nor who would be coming. In any case, we know Holbert confessed to the murders of Bo Icelar and Michael Francis Salem (Mike Brown), as well as his wife Manchittha Nankratoke and son Watson. The aunt and ex-husband of Cheryl Hughes, the fifth victim of the murderer, have already been to Panama City. On the other hand, Calderón confirmed that FBI agents provided documents confirming the identification of William Dathan Holbert and his partner, Laura Michelle Reese, and of the five victims. (La Prensa)   

BY JOEL BURGESS - Federal agents in the U.S. have launched their own investigation of Henderson County native accused of killing five people in Panama. An FBI spokeswoman said Tuesday that the agency has opened a case on William Dathan Holbert, referred to as “Wild Bill” by Panamanian neighbors. The government there has charged Holbert with killing five other U.S. citizens, burying them and taking over their property. “There are certain extra-territorial violations in which we get involved,” said Judy Orihuela, spokeswoman for the FBI Miami office that additionally handles cases in the Caribbean, Central and South America. “Kidnapping and hostage-taking, for example,” she said. The FBI got involved because agents believe Holbert and girlfriend Laura Michelle Reese may have kidnapped victims before killing them, Orihuela said. The FBI does not have agents now in Panama, Orihuela said. She would not comment on when or if agents would go there. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (113 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Jeffery Arlan Kline perfectly matched the ideal victim profile for serial killer William Dathan Holbert. Kline's former spouse, Janeen Kline, confirmed much of what I already knew. Jeffery A. Kline permanently moved to Costa Rica in March of 2006. Kline's last contact with any of his family members was through letters he wrote to Janeen Kline and their two children, which they received at about the time he left the country, for good. No member of Jeffery Kline's family has had any contact with him since. An investigator from the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), in coordination with the US Embassy in Costa Rica in late 2006 and early 2007, was able to determine Jeffery A. Kline owned a car registered in his name in Jaco, Costa Rica. However, according to Janeen no government agency was willing to incur the expense of having him arrested and extradited back to the United States, "just because he owed $70,000 in back child support payments." Jeffery Kline has one brother and two sisters, and they both also deny having had any contact with him of any kind. There was no missing persons report filed anywhere on Jeffery Kline - he was a fugitive from justice who was trying to hide in Costa Rica - a perfect candidate for the cold blooded serial killer William Dathan Holbert. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (5,018 words)

Murderer William Dathan Holbert, aka Wild Bill, did not kill five Ngäbe Buglés Indians in Bocas del Toro, as was speculated at the beginning of investigations into this case. This was announced by Assistant Attorney General, Angel Calderon, who said yesterday they have closed this part of the investigation after determining that in fact none of the Indians were actually victims of Wild Bill. The official explained that three of the five Indians were found living on an island close to the area of Aguacate, in the district of Cauchero, Bocas del Toro, close to the house dubbed "Hacienda Cortez", after Holbert killed one of his victims in order to take over the property. According to Calderon, the three people said they held a series of talks with Holbert, because the foreigner was interested in buying the island where they lived, but the transaction did not materialize because in the end, the land was owned by the State.

The prosecutor said the fourth person was found alive and working in Panama City, where he currently resides. Meanwhile, the fifth man did die, according to the version of events told by his family members, in circumstances related to a drug case, and long before William Dathan Holbert arrived in Bocas del Toro. Calderon added that the last two Indians worked at the Hacienda Cortez, but before it was christened with that name in 2007 after Holbert murdered its rightful owners, Mike Brown, with his wife and son. Meanwhile, it was reported that officials from the U.S. Embassy in Panama visited Holbert in prison last week, to see the conditions in which he is imprisoned. Holbert is being held in Block Seven of La Joyita, where foreigners are serving sentences. For his part, Calderon met yesterday with officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. (La Prensa)

Editor's Comment: This actually makes more sense, and fits better with Holbert's now well established patterns of conduct. He kills people to take valuable things from them - land, hotels, property, jewelry, cars, boats, bank accounts, money - killing poor Indian workers never made any sense, from day one. These rumors about Holbert having supposedly killed his workers have been going around since the case started. When I ask "why would he do that" the answers were also just speculation - like, maybe because he was such a racist that he just got mad and killed someone in a fit of rage? Holbert himself has told a story about how he shot an drunk Indian in the shoulder - everyone in Bocas del Toro has heard that story about twenty times so I imagine that was the original source of these rumors about dead Indian workers. Whatever, no matter. The most important thing is that the prosecutors and investigators ran down the leads and information, determined the truth and fact, and now they will be less distracted by those kinds of things. The truth usually comes out in the end, and it's common for the early versions to be flawed. So, there are no dead Panamanian indigenous workers, good (great, wonderful.) However, unfortunately the facts in this case seem to indicated there exists a steady string of dead gringos who had money, buried in shallow graves stretching all the way back to the Rio Grande...   

By HOWARD ALTMAN | The Tampa Tribune - Judy Barber and Cheryl Lynn Hughes were as close as sisters could be. "Inseparable," says St. Petersburg aviation parts manufacturer Doug Barber, Judy's husband and Hughes' brother-in-law. The two were so close, says Doug, that when Judy was going through a bad breakup 25 years ago, Hughes convinced her to move to Gulfport. They set up a sign business and, though Hughes moved to Panama in 2000 to start a hotel and apartment complex, the two kept in touch through phone calls and email. But those calls and e-mails stopped around the beginning of March, says Doug Barber. In late July, the Barbers received a call from Panama with stunning news: Hughes, 54, had been shot to death. Hughes' death adds a Bay area twist to a series of killings, thought to be the work of a serial killer, which have garnered international media attention and sparked a high-profile law enforcement investigation. (more)

Doug Barber and his wife, Judy, right, and Judy's daughter, Jen Hodecker, in front of a large collage of photos celebrating the life of Judy's sister Cheryl "Cher" Hughes. (TBO.com Staff photo by CHRIS URSO)   Click Here To Read The Full Article (895 words)

By Luis Perez, Times Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG — A St. Petersburg family is grieving the loss of a family member who authorities say was slain by a serial killer in Panama. Cheryl Lynn Hughes, 53, vanished in March and family members feared for months that something bad had happened to her. Her body later was found buried. Her family learned of her death in late July. "It's crazy. I keep hoping I wake up from the dream, but it's a nightmare, it's not ending," said Hughes' sister, Judy Barber, 47, a loan processor who lives in St. Petersburg. William Holbert was arrested last month and questioning in the slayings of two Americans and the disappearances of three other U.S. citizens and two Panamanians. A prosecutor in Panama City told the Associated Press on July 31 that Holbert admitted to killing five Americans, including Hughes, so that he could take over their businesses and properties in a Panamanian resort area. "He has explained what he did, how he did it and why he did it," said assistant prosecutor Angel Calderon. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (180 words)

San Jose, Costa Rica - (Editor). Agents of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) in Turrialba, seized important evidence in the investigation being conducted in Panama against a foreign couple suspected of having committed several crimes. William Dathan Holbert (originally identified as William Adolfo Cortez), alias Wild Bill, and his partner Laura Michelle Reese, stayed for several days in a house in the area of Santa Cruz de Turrialba. This house was searched by OIJ agents, and a source close to the case confirmed this morning to La Nacion that they seized two firearms, four laptop computers, several Panamanian license plates, and documentation related to the cases being investigated, linked to the foreigners. This evidence will be delivered in the coming hours to the police in Panama, where the two suspects are being questioned. The Panamanian newspaper "La Critica" reported "Wild Bill" has confessed to having killed five Americans. "The Savage only recognizes the burial of five people in Bocas del Toro, denying that there are indigenous Panamanians missing, and he has identified one single area behind his house, for the locations of the five murders," said Angel Calderon, the Assistant District Attorney in that newspaper. The suspect admitted the killing Mike Brown, his wife, and child. (La Nacion, Costa Rica)

Editor's Comment: Now we're talking. Four laptops. Wonderful. I can't wait to see who was emailing what to William Dathan Holbert, especially starting from about 15 June 2010 when he ran away from the Bocas del Toro area, until the weekend of 24 July 2010 when he abandoned these computers. I bet there's more than one person out there who will turn inside-out due to the "pucker factor" when they read this article. I mean, who hauls four laptops around? Holbert does. He's a collector. I bet at least one of them, if not all of them, were originally owned by his victims.   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - When serial killer William Dathan Holbert was in Jaco, Costa Rica, he would sit all night long in a secret lair - above a bar and across the street from the local whorehouse - where he could spot potential victims. There's only one well known whore house in the middle of downtown Jaco - a place where the prostitutes hang out, prowling for rich gringo tourists. Jaco is a kind of "party town" on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, just a one hour drive from the capital city of San Jose. Jaco is visited by a steady stream of English speaking tourists who go there to "let off steam" - a perfect hunting ground for serial killer William Dathan Holbert. There's no doubt he picked Jaco as his next destination after Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica thanks to these very attributes.

Searching For Victims From The Devil's Lair: Apparently the sex for money business in Jaco, Costa Rica works pretty much the same way as it does in Panama City, Panama. Jaco is reportedly full of fine-tuned and surgically enhanced foreign prostitutes - professional hookers from Colombia and the Dominican Republic who travel to Costa Rica on tourists visas - and who turn tricks for other tourists in Jaco. They hang out at a place that really isn't a whorehouse but rather it's just a little bar - nothing illegal about getting a drink, right? This is exactly the same as the way it's done in "Habano's" in Panama City, across from the Marriott. Once the prostitute has hooked up with her customer they leave the bar and walk next door to a little motel with hourly rates - like a "push-button" in Panama - where they bang the Johns for money. Nothing new about that so far, right? But this is where it gets interesting... (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (1,884 words)

Deputy Attorney General Angel Calderon, said Panamanian authorities will meet with officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from the United States on Monday, 16 August 2010, about the investigations into William Dathan Holbert and Laura Michelle Reese, for the murder of five foreigners. Calderón explained on RPC Radio personnel from the FBI want to deliver some documents, and also to collaborate on the identification of the victims. At the same time, the FBI will provide additional details about Wild Bill himself, said the prosecutor. Meanwhile, Calderon reiterated that both Wild Bill and his girlfriend are being held in different prisons. He added that they would continue to take statements and declarations in this case, in order to bring the pair to justice. (La Prensa)   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Received today via email: "Hello Don - I'm Mark Weiss and I live in Cauchero where I have my home. Cher was my neighbor. I think it's time to bring a little accuracy to all the stories and hope I can rely on you to do this. As closely as I can ascertain, none of the grisly activities of Bill occurred in Cauchero. The house he stole from Salem and family and the location of several of his victims is in AGUACATE. Actually Brown-Salems finca is the outer boundary at some points but is completely in Aguacate. We all miss Cher very much, Keith not so much, but they lived in Cauchero and she was murdered in Aguacate. If you could help get the geography right everyone will appreciate it and be correctly informed. Thank You. Mark Weiss" So noted. I had been told by several people that the Salem finca was located basically on the boundary between Cauchero and Aguacate. And, since you can see Cher's island from Bill's bar, it was just easier to pick one and call the whole thing Cauchero. But anyway, I hear you. And for the record, the only people that would have ever noticed the difference or recognized the mistake are local residents, like yourself. Therefore, Aguacate it is...

Copyright 2010 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Maybe that will wipe the smug grin off of his face. On Wednesday morning when I was flying up to Bocas del Toro, I sat next to Roxana Méndez, Panama's Minister of Government and the Interior. She is responsible for the oversight of the management of all penitentiary systems in the Republic of Panama. There is a National Director of Penitentiaries, but he works for and reports to Roxana Méndez. The day before, on Tuesday, 10 August 2010, the chief prosecutor for this case, Deputy Attorney General Angel Calderon of the Public Ministry, told me William "Wild Bill" Dathan Holbert would be transferred from the temporary holding cells at the Department of Judicial Investigation to a more permanent facility - one of Panama's notorious prisons. When I asked Roxana Méndez to confirm this, she said "yes, I was told yesterday he was going to be transferred." I asked Méndez if Holbert was going to be put into Pavilion 6 in La Joya where most of the other English speaking foreigners are locked up, and she said "no, he's going to Block 7." That's good news for anyone who wants to see this serial killer suffer, and very bad news for Holbert... (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (732 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - I've known since Saturday, 7 August, that serial killers William Dathan Holbert and Laura Michelle Reese were linked to an unsolved murder in Costa Rica from 2007. I also know that their next intended victims, Allan and Stacie Duckworth were exceptionally lucky to be able to escape with their lives. As they were grabbing for their most important possessions and packing as quickly as they could in order to escape with their lives, Stacie Duckworth did a very brave thing. She grabbed a handful of paperwork that Holbert had collected - things such as documents, copies of passports, business cards, handwritten notes scribbled on pieces of paper - because she thought that maybe, these were the documents belonging to people that Holbert had killed. Unfortunately, it looks like she was right. One of the documents she has in her hand is a business card from a (disbarred) lawyer from Wisconsin - Jeffrey A. Kline. A quick Google search on his name with "lawyer" and "Wisconsin" reveals the details of the legal proceedings to disbar him. In that document it describes how investigators discovered how he had transferred $107,040 to a bank in Costa Rica. And, when Allan and Stacie Duckworth first met William Dathan Holbert and Laura Michelle Reese in Costa Rica in the spring of 2007, one of the very first things Bill told them was "I just sold a property for $107,000 dollars." There's a lot more to the story, but at this point I'm about 100% positive that the body discovered buried under the house owned by Joseph and Sue Freconna in November of 2007 belongs to the former Wisconsin attorney Jeffrey A. Kline. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (3,506 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - This is the "Primer Impacto" report that aired in Spanish on the Univision network in the United States last week. The clip played in Panama on Channel 4, but I missed it when it was on originally.

Copyright 2010 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

Wild Bill,” a suspected US serial killer accused of killing at least five people in Panama, was locked up along with his wife in Panama City on Wednesday. The couple allegedly made friends with wealthy US citizens and offered to buy their property before killing them and burying them in the garden of their hostel on the Bocas del Toro Atlantic archipelago. They then took over their property deeds. William Dathan Holbert, 31, was taken from custody to the La Joya prison in the Panamanian capital, police sources said. Police transported his wife, Laura Michelle Reese, 27, to a female rehabilitation centre, the sources said. The couple had fled to Costa Rica and then robbed a boat to travel to Nicaragua, where soldiers picked them up on July 26. Three days later they were transferred to Panama to face murder charges. They are accused of killing Cheryl Linda Hughes, Bo Barry Icelar, and Michael Brown and his wife and son, whose remains were found on the property. Authorities suspect there could be more victims, perhaps in other countries. “Wild Bill,” who used the false name Adolfo Cortez Reese and was said to admire Adolf Hitler, confessed to killing the Americans but denied accusations of killing two Panamanian workers, legal officials said. (Gulf Times)    

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - I've been up in Bocas and I'm just getting caught up on this. The 62 year old American expatriate who was murdered in Boquete on Tuesday was David Bianche. More details are available by reading through the forum posts about this murder on the website boquete.ning.com. Most importantly, according to Bob Wolfe, the DIJ told him "approximately 300 marijuana plants were found growing around Bianche's property, and there was what police described as a “drying shed” for processing the plants" and "the police want to emphasize that this was NOT a routine household burglary." And I would like to emphasize that someone murdered David Bianche in cold blood, yet another member of our community of English speaking expatriates in the Republic of Panama who has lost their lives in a violent crime. His death might have been drug related, and maybe not. That's up to the police investigators and prosecutors to determine.

However: With that having been said, David Bianche also posted the following to another Internet chat group in February 2008:

• Lady Im the guy who was selling the container let me give you a warning for your future, why because several people responded about your smart ass remark you made when I clearly stated write or call me Im no fat ass bitch who can sit by the computer and play cop all day so if you want to enjoy your later in life living in panama keep your fucking mouth shut or someone will shut you up permantly I ve got a problem from Vietnam dont push my button or I will hunt you down like a gook got it lady!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know everything about you You are not in the usa so think twice before spreading lies I take that serious when some one tries to hurt my income when I bust my ass everyday this makes me want to silent the problem boquete is a small fish bowl and when someone calls me stupid watch out you are dreading on thin ice lady a trouble maker trouble makers need to go back to the usa either in first class section or in the cargo hole got it -------------------- David Bianche Montana gringo"

I'm Not A Big Fan Of Death Threats Lately: I don't know what kind of Post Traumatic Stress Disorders David Bianche had related to his service in Vietnam, however obviously these kinds of death threats are completely unacceptable, on many levels, in any forum or format. I post this here only because I feel it serves to illustrate and illuminate the kinds of demons this guy was dealing with. And although the two are obviously not related, consider the murder of David Bianche in context with the whole "Wild Bill" Holbert story. Just exactly what is going on among the community of expatriates in Panama lately?

Copyright 2010 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

Dave Craigh Ivanche, a 62 year old American, was killed on Tuesday night when robbers struck him in the head in his residence located in the community of Las Trancas de Boquete. It was learned that after killing Ivanche, the criminals fled the scene in the victim's car. The National Police mounted a search operation, and Ivanche's car was found abandoned in front of the public school in Aguacatal, in the district of David. Meanwhile, four people have been detained, and police are working to determine if they are involved in this murder, according to preliminary reports (La Prensa)

Editor's Comment: Guys, you know the routine. The Panamanian press often gets the name of the victim wrong. Does anyone know the victim? Did they at least get the name right? If you have any additions, corrections, or information, please send it...   Click Here To Read The Full Article (1 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - I'm heading back to Bocas today, still working on the "Wild Bill" Holbert and Laura Michelle Reese story. Yesterday Panama's Deputy Attorney General Angel Calderon decided to transfer Laura Michelle Reese to the Women's prison on Tumba Muerto. He said "well, if she doesn't want to make a statement and she doesn't want to cooperate with us, then there's no need to keep her here close to my office, and she can go to the prison." And she might be there until about 2060 or so. Her court date will come up in a year, or later. In the meantime she will remain in custody. In his confession William Holbert was trying to protect Laura and others, but those parts of his statement were full of lies that are easily discarded. In other news, word got out over the weekend that Panamanian authorities are searching hard for Wild Bill's accomplices, and I received my first death threat that was supposedly related to another perp (Rod Spiller and Udachu) but I have my doubts. In any case, I passed it to the FBI. Life goes on.

Copyright 2010 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.