Law enforcement officers in Costa Rica are currently engaged in a manhunt for Nicaraguan farmer believed to have carried out a gruesome murder in the Chontales Department. The suspect’s name is Herner José Galeano, and his last known whereabouts place him in the rural canton of San Carlos, province of Alajuela.

 

According to a recent news report filed by Gustavo Retana of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the National Police of Nicaragua explained that the fugitive is the only suspect of the murder of Javier Antonio Lozano, a farmhand whose severed head was found hanging from a Guanacaste tree in Finca Nicoya, where the rest of his remains were found. The murder weapon was a machete, which was also used to separate his torso and his limbs.

 

The suspect’s relatives have cooperated with the police and prosecutors; they are convinced he is guilty of the crime, and they explained that he would likely be found in Costa Rica since he has worked here in the past. The suspect has experience in illegal border crossings, and he is familiar with the northern region of Costa Rica.

 

Officers from Fuerza Pública, the national police force of Costa Rica, and agents from the Office of Judicial Investigations are currently engaged in the manhunt, and they have already searched the communities of Guatuso and Brasilito as well as other rural areas in the canton of Los Chiles. Residents of Pavon reported seeing the suspect, who is wearing a wig, walking near a high school and recycling center. They have also seen him riding a bicycle.

 

The fugitive is considered to be extremely dangerous; in the past, he has been a suspect in other murder cases in Nicaragua but it is not clear whether he was convicted.