Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again – and expecting different results.” This week Costa Rica’s Justice Department and Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ), announced through press releases and wanted posters that they are once again on the hunt for the American widow of John Felix Bender where they are looking at putting her on trial for the 4th...

Hospitality investment and development firm Gencom announced the acquisition of Hacienda AltaGracia, Auberge Resorts Collection, a high-end resort in the mountains of Pérez Zeledón in the southern region of Costa Rica. The resort was originally conceived and developed as a family retreat and coffee farm in a storied agricultural town and has consistently ranked among the top resorts in Central Ame...

Internationally renowned historian and reverend Yamil Jimenez Tabash gave a lecture to a standing-room-only audience in Perez Zeledon last Friday on an un-sanitized version of the history of Costa Rica – the true history – according to this Perez Zeledonian historian and scholar. Jimenez did not pull any punches, detailing both the locally accepted version of Tico history, and the more probably ac...

Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica (April 5, 2019)                                            Crazy Jungle Love, the shocking tale of love and despair based on the true story of American millionaire John Felix Bender’s exploits in the jungles of Costa Rica, is now available on Amazon and Kindle. Written by journalist Carol Blair Vaughn, Crazy Jungle Love makes use of Vaughn’s intimate knowledge of La...

American actor and singer Zac Efron is no stranger to Costa Rica, he has vacationed in the country in the past and he wanted to come back for more. The handsome young man spent several days in the country, and like last year, he visited the with some friends and his brother Dylan. Efron shared some of his adventures in the country through his social media accounts, a visit to waterfalls in t...

The Risk Prevention and National Emergency Attention Commission (CNE) is making an investment of over $5.6 million across different counties of the Zona Sur (South Zone) for the rehabilitation and reinforcement of dikes, construction of bridges, intervention of rivers and the purchase of materials, tools and equipment for farmers. In total there are 16 projects being developed, out of which hal...

What happens in Costa Rica when a rescued wild animal is too injured to ever return to the wild, but is not at the end of its natural life? iRescue Animal Sanctuary steps in. And what a blessing that is for both the animals and the over-crowded animal sanctuaries throughout the country. The sad truth is that Costa Rican animal sanctuaries are overwhelmed by wild animals, many too injured or ha...

Most expats and Ticos alike remember the infamous death of multi-millionaire hedge fund manager John Felix Bender in Florida de Baru in 2010, and the subsequent three trials of Bender's wife, Ann Patton Bender, for Intentional Homicide. The Bender case put the Southern Zone of Costa Rica in the international news spotlight, and its infamy was spread far and wide by extensive television coverage on...

Ann Maxine Patton, the US woman accused of killing her wealthy husband John Felix Bender on January 8th, 2010, is scheduled to begin her third murder trial at 8 a.m. Monday morning. The trial will take place at the Perez Zeledon Criminal Court and is expected to last at least one week. The same court dropped charges against Patton in January 2013 following her first murder trial, deciding it...

"48 Hours Mystery logo" by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia 48 HOURS: "Paradise Lost" was Saturday's #1 broadcast at 10:00 PM with the key adult news demographic and viewers, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings for July 25. 48 HOURS was also the #1 program for the night in viewers. 48 HOURS (R) (10:00-11:00 PM) delivered 4.16 million viewers and a 1.0/04 with adult...

On November 16, 2014, Gregory David Fischer, the 40-year old boyfriend of Ann Patton Bender, was found dead in his bed in Escazu, Costa Rica. According to his brother, Brian Fischer, “He was found lying peacefully in his bed with his puppy at his side.” Authorities have ruled out foul play in his untimely death. A heart or asthma attack is the suspected cause of death, according to authorities....

American citizen, Ann Patton Bender, who was accused of murdering her husband, John Felix Bender, in Costa Rica in 2010, has been moved out of the ICU, and into the women’s prison, El Buen Pastor, located in San Rafael Arriba de Desamparados, in San Jose. Ms. Bender has been sentenced to 22 years for first-degree murder, following an initial acquittal of the charges in January 2013, of killing ...

What if you heard a tale of a mysterious murder/suicide in an 30,000-square foot glass mansion, with 550 Tiffany lamps, 3,000 loose rubies, diamonds, and sapphires, a helipad, and a moat separating it from one of the world’s most rugged jungles – would you think this was a movie script, or the plotline of a pulp fiction novel? It happens to all be true, and it happens to have taken place in Per...

Ann Maxine Patton, the U.S. woman who was accused of killing her wealthy husband, John Felix Bender while he slept in their sprawling estate in Baru, Perez Zeledon in 2010, was found guilty of murder yesterday after a retrial and sentenced to 22 years in prison. The judgment was handed down at 3:20 p.m. yesterday by the criminal court in Perez Zeledon after a nearly two-week long retrial. The s...

Ann Maxine Patton, the U.S. woman who was accused of killing her wealthy husband, John Felix Bender while he slept in their sprawling estate in Baru, Perez Zeledon, will face a retrial of the case after a court dropped the charges against the woman in January. In the original trial, Patton was accused of shooting her husband in the head, and charged with first-degree murder. Patton, however, cl...

The Perez Zeledon Court dropped its charges and absolved Ann Maxine Patton, who was suspected of murdering her husband, yesterday afternoon. After deciding it had insufficient evidence to convict her, the court set Patton free, and dismissed the charges against her. Patton, since her husband’s death, has always maintained her version of the events, stating her husband, John Felix Bender, had co...

Prosecutors and the District Attorney are asking for a 25-year prison sentence for U.S. citizen, Ann Maxine Patton, accused of killing husband, John Felix Bender in 2010 in the couple’s home located in Florida de Baru, Perez Zeledon. Since his death, Patton has continuously insisted that her husband’s death was a suicide gone wrong. Yesterday, during closing arguments, and based on expert te...

The defense of U.S. citizen, Ann Maxine Patton, on trial since Monday in Costa Rica on charges of murdering her husband, John Felix Bender, received a serious blow as a forensic doctor “ruled out,” the chance that her husband committed suicide. Bender died from a gunshot wound to the head. In her initial testimony on Monday, Patton stated that she did not murder her husband, but rather that Ben...

The trial of Ann Maxine Patton, 42, began in Costa Rica on Monday. The U.S. woman is facing first-degree murder charges stemming from the death of her husband, John Felix Bender. Prosecutors say the woman shot her husband in the head. The alleged murder occurred in January 2010, on the 4th floor of the couple’s mansion, located on a 5,000-acre estate in Baru, Perez Zeledon, in Costa Rica. The P...