Family of woman killed in Costa Rica believe others are involved

TAMPA (FOX 13) - It’s been more than a week since Costa Rican officials arrested Bismark Espinosa Martinez for killing Florida native Carla Stefaniak in her Airbnb the night before she was to return home.

Her family and friends say he was likely not alone.

In a recent Facebook post, the family cites a news article from Costa Rica that states, "The results of the forensic examinations lead investigators to believe that more people are involved in the murder."

The post goes on to say the family "Believed this since day one that this was organized by more than one person, as soon as Carla booked the place."

Carla’s longtime friend Greg Zwolinski spent days with her family searching for her in Costa Rica.

“Based on the evidence we've seen, which is a little more than the public knows, it's kind of hard to think that somebody would act alone," Zwolinski said.

The family says Stefaniak's personal belongings were found far from the Airbnb.

"A good distance away, through mountainous and thick terrain,” he said. “And then the crime scene was cleaned up before the next guard came on shift."

When they first arrived to search for Carla, Zwolinski and Stefaniak's brother met the guard who is now in custody for her murder.

"We went to the Airbnb and we met the owner and we met her killer,” Zwolinski said. "We shook his hand and looked him in the eye, and did a tour of the property, and looked at her room, which later we found out was the crime scene." 

Less than 48 hours later, Martinez was in custody for the 36-year-old's death.  

"We did not get that vibe. We talked about it many times but we did not get a creepy vibe from him,” he said. “He shook our hand, he seemed to be cooperative at the time, he was very nice."

At this time, Costa Rican authorities only have the one man in custody.