Arrests in slaying of Tico radio show host

Investigators arrested a priest and the financial backer of a religiously oriented radio station on December 26 and 27 in the murder case of Parmenio Medina Pérez, a radio political commentator.

Arrested was Mínor de Jesús Calvo Aguilar, the priest who founded and was active on the radio station. Also arrested was businessman Omar Luis Chaves Mora.

The arrests were initiated by Francisco Dall'Annese, the new fiscal general or chief prosecutor of the country. Both suspects had been questioned at length about the assassination of Parmenio Medina and both have denied involvement. The case is the highest profile criminal case in the country.

Father Mínor founded and Chaves supported Radio María, which raised large amounts of money from the faithful for various causes. Parmenio Medina, who had his own weekly satirical radio show on another station, denounced the religious station for financial irregularities and for the conduct of the priest.

The then-Roman Catholic archbishop closed down Radio María, in part because of the issues raised by Parmenio Medina.

The radio commentator was gunned down by men in an adjacent car in broad daylight not far from his home July 7, 2001. His murder received widespread international exposure in journalistic circles.

Dall'Annese, who has been on the job since December 1, said he was going to make the arrests Christmas Day but another case involving the drive- by assassination of another communications figure caused him to rescheduled the twin detentions.

On Christmas, Dall'Annese and agents stopped a former partner of Ivannia Mora Rodríguez when he tried to leave the country by air.

They said he was an important figure in the investigation of the December 23 murder of the 33-year-old newswoman and said they wanted him to stay in Costa Rica for the duration of the case. The man, who is an Uruguayan national, was jailed.

The arrested man is Eugenio Millot, director of the Red Castle publishing group, who told reporters Wednesday that he himself had been targeted by threats. He had worked closely with Ms. Mora for several years. She left Red Castle just two weeks ago to take a job publishing a magazine for local credit card holders. Friends said she had received unspecified threats. Red Castle puts out a half dozen business-oriented magazines.

Two men on a motorcycle pumped four bullets into the newswoman's head as her car was stopped at a traffic light in Curridabat about 8:30 p.m. on December 23.

Dall'Annese said the most difficult part of making the case would be to locate the actual gunmen.

Investigators believe they know who pulled the triggers in the Parmenio Medina case and have pointed to a group of gang members, who are in jail, dead or in flight.

Fuerza Publica officers assisted prosecutors when they arrested Father Mínor at the Hotel El Sitio in Liberia. He had traveled there with other priests for the holidays. Officials knocked on his door at 3:55 a.m. and said he cooperated but asked to pray. He came back to San Jose on a Ministerio de Gobernacion, Policia y Seguridad Publica aircraft. When he arrived at Juan Santamaría Airport he was in handcuffs. He was jailed for investigation.

Dall'Annese told reporters that strong evidence exists against both Father Mínor and Chaves. That evidence is believed to be the testimony of a jailed individual who recently decided to tell investigators that he was the middleman in the transaction that led to the death of Parmenio Medina.

The man is expected to testify that working on the orders of Father Mínor and Chaves he contracted with a gang of gunmen, and the gunmen are the persons who actually shot Parmenio Medina as his car approached his home in San Miguel de Santo Domingo de Heredia.

One of the gang members is dead, another is in flight and at least one is in jail on another charge.

Parmenio Medina came to Costa Rica from Colombia in 1968. He started his radio show, La Patada (The Kick), some five years later. The show was characterized as anti-corruption and satirical.

Radio María was founded by Father Mínor in 1999, and Chaves paid a lot of the bills. Parmenio Medina is believed to have obtained inside church documents that questioned the finances of Radio María. He disclosed some of the presumed problems on his show and generated a lot of backlash among followers of the priest and Radio María.

Parmenio Medina also made much of an incident when Father Mínor was stopped in a car after dark in the vicinity of La Sabana Park with a young male passenger. The priest said he was giving the man driving lessons. Parmenio Medina ridiculed that explanation.

Also in this section:
Panama News Briefs
Legislature leaves much undone
Looking back on 2003
Arrests in Costa Rican radio pundit's murder
On the campaign trail
Venezuelan soldiers killed in Colombian incursion

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Arrests in Costa Rican satirist's murder