Fort Lauderdale man suspected of masterminding wife’s disappearance in Madrid is denied bond
A man suspected of masterminding an elaborate intercontinental kidnapping and murder of his wife in Spain was denied bond in Miami federal court Friday by a judge who said his wealth and connections abroad made him a flight risk.
Federal magistrate Edwin G. Torres called it a difficult decision in a case that was based on circumstantial evidence and in which no body has been found. Making it tougher, he said, was defense attorney Jayne Weintraub’s argument that keeping David Knezevich locked up on a kidnapping charge was dubious because prosecutors didn’t know where, or were even certain that a kidnapping occurred.
The judge said his decision to keep Knezevich behind bars was based on “given the means he has to flee and given the seriousness of the charge.”
Knezevich — arrested after a return flight to Miami International Airport earlier this week and handcuffed at his lawyer’s side Friday — hasn’t yet been charged with the murder of Ana Knezevich, 40, his wife of 13 years. He is likely to be, if Spain’s National Police or the FBI recover his wife’s body.
As of now, it’s not even known if she’s dead.
READ MORE: ‘We miss her’: Brother of Fort Lauderdale woman who vanished in Spain pleads for help
Federal prosecutors believe Ana Knezevich was so frightened by her husband that the Fort Lauderdale couple’s relationship essentially ended when she boarded a flight for Madrid the day after Christmas. Once there, they say, she messaged friends and family of the troubled relationship and began to date several men.
Disappears in February
Ana Knezevich disappeared on Feb. 2 and all contact with friends and family ended.
After worried relatives contacted Spanish and U.S. investigators about the woman, federal prosecutors pieced together David Knezevich’s movements before and after his wife’s disappearance and came up with a twisted flight log and a series of strange circumstances.
First, they said, David Knezevich flew from Miami to Istanbul on Jan. 27, then made his way to Serbia, where he rented a Peugeot 308 for two weeks. During those two weeks, they said, Knezevich, who has ties to Serbia, drove the car 7,677 kilometers, or about 4,800 miles, about four times the distance from Belgrade, the Serbian capital, to Madrid.
Buys paint, duct tape in Madrid
Along the way, they claim, David Knezevich stole a license plate and was seen clearly on video surveillance buying paint and duct tape at a Madrid store while Ana Knezevich was in the city. Then, they said, video surveillance captured him entering and leaving his wife’s Madrid apartment building while spray-painting a surveillance camera to block the view.
Spain’s National Police claims to have matched the rare type of spray-paint believe purchased by David Knezevich to the store in Madrid where he was seen making the purchase. The worker there also told police he recalled seeing the man a few days before.
At one point, investigators said, David Knezevich was seen with a suitcase on Feb. 2, entering and leaving the apartment building where Ana Knezevich was staying. What they haven’t said: If they believe David Knezevich killed, then stuffed his diminutive wife in the travel case.
A federal complaint against David Knezevich also includes a series of messages between him and a Colombian woman that prosecutors claim is his girlfriend. During one exchange, he asked the woman to translate a message into “perfect Colombian” for a friend in Serbia writing a script. David Knezevich told the woman he wanted the writing to sound authentic, according to the complaint.
Strange text to friends
The day after Ana Knezevich, who is Colombian American, disappeared, three friends told investigators they received the same strange message from her:
“I met someone wonderful. He has a summer house about 2h from Madrid. We are going there now and I will spend a few days there. There is barely any signal though. I’ll call you when I come back. Kisses,” was the message on Ana Knezevich’s cellphone. Investigators have yet to recover her cellphone or any other electronics.
Ana Knezevich’s brother, Juan Felipe Henao, said Wednesday he last talked to his sister in late January, and she was excited about her new life in Spain.
The couple did extremely well financially. State records show they managed a company named EOX Capital LLC, a Deerfield Beach home rental business with 15 homes in Florida valued at more than $15 million, according to court records. Court records also show that in December and January, David Knezevich sold seven of the homes to a single buyer for nearly $7 million.
Court records show the couple had agreed to split their assets equally in a “soon-to-be-filed divorce.”
