Expat Serial Killer Arrived in Costa Rica on Cruise Ship
Cruise Ship in Limon
William Dathan Holbert and Laura Michelle Reese arrived in Costa Rica via the port of Limon on a Cruise ship in 2006, and the body found under a mysterious concrete slab in Puerto Viejo is fugitive attorney Jeffery A. Kline. Many of the details of this story have been reconstructed recently by Don Winner in Panama, and the storyline could easily fill the pages of a crime novel.
For most the discovery of a crudely constructed concrete foundation on their Costa Rica rental property would send shivers up their spine. This is exactly what expat landlord Joe Freconna discovered in 2007 upon making a trip to check up on his property investment. His worst fear was confirmed when excavation turned up the shallow grave of Wisconsin attorney Jeffery A. Kline who turned out be on the run with $100,000 in cash.
Lawyer Jeffery A. Kline
Kline arrived in Costa Rica during the spring of 2006, and had recently transfered $107,000 into a local bank account. He was on the run from a child support judgment and an ugly divorce.
Holbert, the man later to be known as Wild Bill Cortez befriended him during a trip to San Jose, and both stayed at the Best Western Irazu. Kline was a heavy drinker and apparently confided enough for Holbert to know that he had some cash, and no one would miss his disappearance.
Don Winner speculates that it was Holbert who burglarized Kline’s hotel room and robbed approximately $6,000 in cash. It’s also probable that Holbert gained access to important personal documents that made it possible to take over his bank account after murdering him. At the very least Holbert could have obtained the debit card and PIN, which made it possible to drain the funds over the course of several months.
ATMs of public banks in Costa Rica tend to have much higher limits than in the United States, and it’s possible to withdraw several thousand dollars per day.
Holbert in Custody in Panama
Working with a source in Costa Rica Don Winner was able to reconstruct most the the details of Holbert’s and Kline’s brief relationship.
The other interesting revelation made by Don Winner is that Holbert and his girlfriend Laura Michelle Reese arrived in Costa Rica via a Cruise Ship. Holbert apparently stole a U Haul truck in Bismark, North Dakota after escaping a Wyoming highway patrolman in a high speed chase. He had been stopped in a stolen Jeep with West Virginia license plates.
According to Don Winner, Holbert and his paramour arrived in Puerto Limon via cruise ship after driving to Florida in the stolen truck.
Holbert apparently established himself in Costa Rica by dealing in used cars and was able to finance his foray into Jaco on the Pacific coast with the cash he acquired from Kline.
Expat Allen Duckworth reports that during a trip to Jaco he suspected Holbert was plotting his murder in order to steal his business and property and he escaped the country in a big hurry.
According to other sources Holbert leased an office across the street from the Beattle Bar and initiated a night photo surveillance on affluent sex tourists. Its unclear if there are victims of Holbert in Jaco, and it’s possible he was content to live off the proceeds of extortion.
Eventually Holbert and Reese left Costa Rica for Panama where Holbert took on the identify of Wild Bill Cortez and combined his portfolio of murder with property fraud. He made the mistake of killing an honest woman, Cher Lynn Hughes who unlike other victims had family and friends to miss her in the United States. An investigation into her disappearance uncovered a body and Holbert became a Fugitive from Justice in Panama. He fled Panama ironically enough for Costa Rica, and was Captured at the Border with Nicaragua.
Many questions remain unresolved, and since Holbert has confessed to the murder of five people in Panama he will likely never live to be a free man again. It’s also unlikely that many of his crimes in Costa Rica will never come to light.
Did You Enjoy This Article? Subscribe by Email to Updates
Filed Under: Local News
