September 4, 2015, San Isidro de El General – Final arguments will be heard in the murder trial of Ann Patton Bender on Friday, September 4^th, 2015, beginning at 7:30 AM, in the Poder Judicial Courthouse in San Isidro de El General, Perez Zeledon. The trial is public and open to all interested parties.

Ann Bender stands accused of murdering her husband, John Felix Bender, on January 8^th, 2010, in their isolated mansion in Florida de Baru, Perez Zeledon. She has maintained that it was a suicide, which Ann unsuccessfully tried to prevent. John, who had a history of suicide attempts and mental illness, was killed by a single gunshot wound to the back of his head. There were only two people present at the time of the incident, and much of the evidence against Ann as the murderer is circumstantial.

The Benders arrived in Costa Rica as a couple in March, 2000, with the dream of living out their lives together in paradise, and setting up a wildlife reserve on a 5,000-acre tract of land that they bought in the south of the country. John suffered a stroke one day after they arrived, but that was only the beginning of their challenges and misfortunes.

Bender earned his money as a hedge fund manager on the Philadelphia stock exchange, working with the likes of George Soros and other well- known millionaires. It was reported that the couple arrived in Costa Rica with $600 million to invest. They bought their reserve, Boracayan, built a mansion on a hill top, with a moat, heliport, and elevator. The house had no walls, only rolling metal screens which were closed at night, but open during the day to allow full appreciation of the surrounding jungle.

On January 8^th, 2010, Ann Bender called her guard staff on the walkie-talkie asking for help, saying that John had shot himself. The local police and O.I.J. arrived on the scene, and seemingly made the assumption that they were investigating a homicide, not a suicide.

This is Ann’s third trial for the same crime, something which is permitted under Costa Rican law. She was acquitted for lack of evidence at the first trial, found guilty of all counts at the second trial, and probably has the best chance of being found innocent this time, due in great part to an amazing U.S. forensics team who testified for the Defense, Richard and Selma Eikelenboom of Colorado.

The Eikelenbooms testified that the crime scene was not processed according to international standards of crime scene processing, including very poor photography of the crime scene, poor trace recovery done at the crime scene, failure to process the headboard, bedding, and pillows on John’s deathbed, failure to process blood and gunpowder residue at the crime scene, and most egregious, failure to fingerprint the murder weapon.

Ann Bender, who suffers from Lyme’s Disease and walks with a cane, sits stoically behind her lawyer in the courtroom, with two personal guards nearby. She is frail, pale, and clearly in occasional pain. Her parents, brother, uncle, and a cadre of supporters from Florida de Baru attend to support her. Former friends and business associates of John’s have also been attending and supporting.

United States television show 48 Hours, of the CBS network, is there filming every agonizing minute, one assumes to do an update of the first two times they have aired a show about the Bender saga, once a verdict is rendered. The U.S. Embassy has sent observers from San Jose to monitor the proceedings.

A verdict will be handed down very soon. An outcome in favor of Ann Bender will allow her devote all her time to prepare her case against the lawyer who allegedly absconded with the $70 million trust from the nature reserve and left her penniless. She is relying on family and friends to provide for her and pay her legal fees.

Sometimes paradise is not all it’s cracked up to be.

48 Hours “Paradise Lost”

As explained above by Ms. Vaugh, the U.S. CBS network has been updating this case. Here is a portion of their most recent update:

After four years and two trials, there [was] perhaps no way Ann [could] prepare herself for the verdict: guilty of murder.

Last February, nine months after Ann Bender was convicted of murdering her husband, an appeals court overturned that decision. Their finding: the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient proof of murder.

Ann was released from prison. She told “48 Hours” she barely survived her time behind bars. But her ordeal is not over yet. The court ordered a third trial.

Sadly, her boyfriend who had fought so hard to bring attention to her case died of natural causes while she in was in prison.