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ANN PATTON BENDER WILL NOT BE BACK IN COSTA RICA FOR ANOTHER MURDER TRIAL
Did you know that in Costa Rica you can be brought to trial several times for the same crime, whether found innocent or guilty in previous trials? Think about that.
Unlike in the US, Costa Rica justice is based on Napoleonic Law. There is no Double Jeopardy restriction. This was the Catch-22 nightmare in which widow Ann Patton Bender found herself after her husband John Felix Bender died in their shared bed on January 8, 2010, a bullet hole in the back right side of his head. Ann claimed his death was a suicide. Costa Rica — and public opinion – disagreed.
Ann was brought to trial three times for homicide. She spent 90 days in the women’s prison El Buen Pastor, something that would have vanquished a lesser warrior. She was not found guilty at the first trial, found guilty and sentenced to a 22-year prison sentence at the second trial, and found not guilty due to insufficient evidence at her third trial. She was never found innocent of John’s death.
She has been waiting 13 years for justice. Her passport was confiscated, she appeared on international Most Wanted websites. Her property, now price reduced to 22-million dollars, was appropriated by the dishonest family lawyer, all her artwork and furnishings have rotted in the holding basement of the courts, her phenomenal jewelry collection has vanished bit by bit in court custody, and all 500 Tiffany lamps that shone light on this sad couple have been broken or disappeared.
Ann and her legal team, led by Federico Campos, has a pending case before the United Nations International Court of Human Rights for violation of her human rights throughout the entire legal process. The court hearing has yet to be announced. That court moves slowly.
A book has been written about the Bender saga (Crazy Jungle Love), translated into Spanish (Loco Amor en la Selva), a 6-episode Podcast (Hell in Heaven) based on the book is ready to air, and a documentary movie (The House with No Walls) is in production hoping for a 2024 opening.
With all of that drama as a background, Costa Rica’s highest court Sala IV has decided to archive Ann’s case and not pursue a fourth murder trial. Ann’s travel restrictions and arrest warrant have been dismissed.
How will she ever recover from this trauma? Only time will tell.
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DIAMANTE WATERFALLS — WITNESS TO AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY
The story of the tragic demise of American multi-millionaire John Felix Bender in 2010, deep in the jungles of Costa Rica, remains an unsolved mystery to this day. He was found in the bed he shared with his wife, Ann Patton Bender, with a single bullet wound to the back, right side of his head. The couple was alone in their well-fortified Bender Dome at the time of John’s death. Perhaps the only witness to this mysterious death was the massive waterfall that overlooks the Bender estate, Diamante Waterfall, fiercely hurling its frigid waters down the mountain toward the Bender property.
The Benders liked things that were BIG. They bought a huge property (Boracayan), that they converted into a nature reserve. They drove powerful Humvees up and over the mountains surrounding their estate. Their guards were armed with big AK-47s. They had a big team of security guards surrounding them always. And most impressive, perhaps, was that they lived in the shadow of Costa Rica’s tallest waterfall – Diamante Falls – 600-feet of churning ferocity. In the strong Costa Rican sun, the falls sparkle like diamonds. And the Benders were jewel collectors, who were very fond of diamonds.
Diamante Waterfall holds a surprise for anyone with the strength and fitness to climb up the slippery steps leading to the mouth of the falls. Behind the cascading waters is a giant cave, one that was used by the Boruca Indigenous since before the time of Columbus for shelter and religious ceremonies. The view from the cave is magnificent. The sound of the pounding water rattles you to your core, like being at a rock concert, near the front of the stage. The sensation is thrilling.
Boruca (aka Brunka) is an indigenous tribe in the South Pacific area of Costa Rica. They survived the Spanish Conquistadors, and have managed to preserve much of their culture and spiritual practices. Most now live on reservations, continuing to grow the same crops as their ancestors, and augmenting their income through the sale of handicrafts, most especially the colorful balsa masks for which they are famous. The elders pass down their indigenous legends from generation to generation. Legend holds that the Boruca would hike up to the mouth of Diamante Falls to bury their dead. This ceremony was accompanied by gallons of chicha, a powerful fermented corn alcohol.
It is believed by some that at the top of Diamante there is a portal to another universe through which the dead pass on their way to their next life. Recent research on portals seems to make this theory plausible. Explains NASA-funded plasma physicist Jack Scudder of University of Iowa, “Portals are places where the magnetic field of the Earth connects to the magnetic field of the sun, creating an uninterrupted path leading from our own planet to the sun’s atmosphere 93 million miles away.”
The portal is an extraordinary opening in space or time that connects travelers to distant realms, explains Jon Chapman, the owner of Diamante Falls. He feels the portal at the top of the falls allows spirits to travel to a fifth dimension. Chapman owns Pacific Journeys, a tour company offering guided hikes to the top of Diamante, and even overnight stays in the caves. Chapman has years of experiencing the magic and mystery of Diamante and organized the construction of the stairs up to the cave – built by recovering drug addicts.
John Bender lived his life surrounded by the specter of death: death threats from unhappy neighbors, kidnap attempts from ex-business partners, regular encounters with deadly jungle animals, and powerful enemies he seldom discussed. He chose to build his dream house in Las Tumbas (The Tombs). His Diamante Valley neighbor, Jesse Blenn, believes Bender has been unable to move on to his next dimension, and continues to suffer in torment. Blenn and his wife help people transition to their next worlds, with well-documented success in facilitating this forward movement toward eternal peace.
After John’s death, he was cremated and his urn of ashes remained at Bender Dome for many months, placed in one of John’s favorite spots overlooking Boracayan, according to the Bender’s butler Osvaldo Rojas. After the Bender staff were all terminated, the contents of the mansion were in the possession of the OIJ, Costa Rica’s elite police force. It is unknown what became of John’s ashes after that. It is believed that his spirit is still struggling in angst and turmoil. Jesse Blenn says he has contacted John numerous times via his pendulum, and John remains in limbo, tormented by guilt and angst.
How ironic that John spent his final moments at the foot of Diamante Falls, yet is unable to take the final steps in his journey of pain and despair to the Diamante Portal, gateway to his resting in peace forever.