A Romanian citizen, convicted in his country for a murder that occurred in 1996, had been hiding in La Fortuna de San Carlos for several years and was arrested on Thursday in a joint operation between the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) and Interpol.
Doru Cristian Pilut, 40, was wanted along with his father -called Jacob- for the crime of murder. They both lived in the town of Turda, a Romanian municipality located in the province of Cluj.
In 1996, Pilut and his father were arrested. However, shortly after they were released, and in 2002 they disappeared from the European country after being sentenced to 15 years in prison. Apparently, father and son killed their neighbor after giving him a strong beating with fists and kicks. The dispute was motivated by personal quarrels.
The foreigner’s trace was lost until February this year, when the Romanian newspaper La Gaceta de Cluj reported that he had lived in Costa Rica for many years, specifically in La Fortuna de San Carlos. That publication pointed out that the European lived a normal life in Costa Rica and even had a good relationship with the community. Here he has worked as an informal taxi driver, and more recently as an agricultural laborer, and he apparently formed a family.
According to the OIJ, Pilut was arrested at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday because the request for his arrest was taken by the Costa Rican authorities in March. From that, a follow-up work was developed by judicial agents stationed in that area.
The Romanian will be referred to Immigration authorities to continue with the deportation process at the request of the authorities of his native country.