Wild Bill Capture Confirmed

William and Jane Cortez, accused of multiple killings in Bocas del Toro, are no longer on the run.

They were apprehended yesterday on the San Juan river in Nicaragua.  According to Nicaraguan authorities, the fugitives boarded a boat to cross the San Juan from Costa Rica where they had been hiding out.  When they encountered a police checkpoint, they threw their boat driver into the water and attempted to flee but were intercepted by heavily-armed Nicaraguan forces and surrendered.

The Dutch passports they were carrying identified them as William Sectar Howard and Laura Michel Ruiz.  Wild Bill had cut his hair and shaved his beard.

During their spree in Panama, the Cortezes acquired four properties in Bocas del Toro and three in Chiriqui.  Last week, Panamanian authorities discovered the bodies of Cheryl Hughes and Bo Icelar buried on one of their acquired Bocas del Toro properties, launching an international manhunt.

Investigators are now working to establish the couple’s real identity and expect to find more victims.  Panama has requested the Cortez’s extradition.

UPDATE:  On Tuesday, Nicaragua accepted to extradite Wild Bill and Jane Cortez, as they called themselves, to Panama by week’s end.