Costa Rica murder: British academic’s son arrested for Alexandra Drbohlavova stabbing

  • Victim stabbed 15 times in ‘drug-fuelled’ attack
  • Foreign Office providing consular assistance

By
Neil Sears , Tom Kelly and Vanessa Allen

Last updated at 11:52 PM on 1st January 2012

The son of two high-flying academics has been arrested for the sexually motivated murder of a young backpacker at a paradise hideaway in Central America.

Alfred Saunders, 20, is suspected of stabbing to death Alexandra Drbohlavova in her tent at an ‘eco-farm’ in a remote rainforest area of Costa Rica.

Miss Drbohlavova, from the Czech Republic, suffered 15 stab wounds to her face, neck and chest.

In custody: British suspect Alfred Saunders is led away by Costa Rica police in Aguas Claras de Upala, at the border with Nicaragua

In custody: British suspect Alfred Saunders is led away by Costa Rica police in Aguas Claras de Upala, at the border with Nicaragua

Alexandra Drbohlavova was murdered in Costa Rica

Alexandra Drbohlavova was murdered in Costa Rica

Saunders, whose father is a professor
of English and whose mother is a psychoanalyst, is reported to have
been caught leaving the 22-year-old victim’s tent covered in blood. He
was restrained and tied up by the British owner of the farm, before
being detained by police.

A local police chief said yesterday
that he believed the murder could have been sexually motivated – and
claimed the young Briton was already on an Interpol wanted list, for
offences including a sex attack and use of firearms and explosives.

Local news reports claimed Saunders
was high on drugs at the time of the incident, and police said he had
arrived unannounced from neighbouring Nicaragua just a day before the
killing with barely any possessions.

The horrific attack took place at the
Finca La Libertad organic farm, where international volunteers are
offered free food and lodging in return for working to help establish an
ecologically friendly development in the rainforest. The farm, run by
British ecology graduate Nic Donati and his American wife Erin, has been
closed since the murder.

As a result of Costa Rica’s
reputation for relative safety in Central America, it has proved popular
with British ‘gap-year’ youngsters seeking adventure.

Saunders, who lives in a £1million
mews house in exclusive Notting Hill, West London, with his mother Dr
Catia Galatariotou, an expert on the sexual development of children,
appears to have been travelling the world for some time. Costa Rican
police chief Johnny Fernandez Morales said Saunders arrived at the farm
only hours before the killing.

Tourist destination: Costa Rica has many national parks with volcanoes and rainforests

Tourist destination: Costa Rica has many national parks with volcanoes and rainforests

He added: ‘The mystery is what he was
doing at the farm. He turned up the day before the incident with no
luggage and virtually just the clothes he was wearing. We believe he
came from Nicaragua.

‘The farm manager says he doesn’t
know him and he hadn’t arranged to do any volunteer work, and it appears
he and his wife have taken pity on him and allowed him to borrow a tent
and stay.’

The murder took place late last
Wednesday night, when Mr Donati is understood to have heard screams
coming from Miss Drbohlavova’s tent.

Mr Morales – who claimed Saunders had
a history of schizophrenia – said: ‘The suspect was sleeping in a tent
near to the murder victim’s. The manager of the farm heard screaming and
shouting and as he approached the woman’s tent, saw the suspect coming
out with a torch in his hand. He shone his torch at him and saw blood on
his clothes and face.

‘He managed to apprehend him and tie
him up with the help of his wife. The victim was already near death when
he looked inside her tent. There’s no phone at the farm so he brought
the suspect to us and asked for help for the woman.

‘She was already dead by the time
help arrived. The suspect told us he can’t remember anything about what
happened.’ The policeman added: ‘The suspect had a lot of marks on him
which appear to indicate he was involved in a struggle.’

Saunders was taken to the regional
capital of Aguas Claras de Upala, 50 miles from the farm. He was then
remanded in custody following a court hearing in the middle of the
night.

Mr Morales said a ‘green Interpol
notice’ issued as an international warning of a potential offender, had
been sent out about Saunders.

‘It’s for offences relating to the use of firearms and explosives and also for a sex attack,’ he said.

British police and Interpol were
unable to confirm the claim. But a Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We
can confirm a British national has been arrested in Costa Rica. We are
providing consular assistance.’

Saunders’ father Max Saunders, 54, is
a professor of English at King’s College London, and lives in
fashionable Hampstead, North London.

His mother Dr Galatariotou, 56, who is separated from Mr Saunders, has lectured on psychoanalysis at University College London.

Miss Drbohlavova was a philosophy
student from Prague. She had spent two terms at university in Miami,
before travelling to Costa Rica. Friends said she spent every summer
carrying out voluntary work, usually with children.

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