Shock in boxing: Félix Verdejo killed his lover and threw him in a lagoon

The Puerto Rican boxer Felix verdejo handed over to federal agents on Sunday night to face charges just hours after authorities confirmed that the body of a 27-year-old woman was that of the fighter’s pregnant lover.

FBI criminal complaint accuses Verdejo of knocking Keishla Rodriguez in the face and inject it with a syringe with an unidentified substance acquired from a social housing complex. The indictment notes that Verdejo subsequently tied the victim’s hands and feet and tied a heavy block to her before throwing her into a lagoon in the island’s capital from a bridge Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. .

Then the 27-year-old boxer shot Rodriguez’s body from the bridge, underlines the complaint.

The document guarantees that a witness, who has not been identified, helped Verdejo kidnap and murder Rodríguez.

The woman’s body was found in the lagoon on Saturday a few days after the news of her disappearance was announced. The victim was identified on Sunday through his dental records, the Puerto Rico Institute of Forensic Sciences reported.

Limary Cruz, an FBI spokesperson, said The Associated Press that the agency was filing charges which will be announced in the next few hours. In the meantime, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office has indicated that no decision has been taken on whether to attempt to obtain the death penalty.

Verdejo and his lawyers had previously declined to comment, with police saying the boxer initially refused to cooperate and answer questions.

Rodríguez’s family have indicated that they are expecting a child from Verdejo. Keila Ortiz, the victim’s mother, told reporters her daughter called her on the phone before disappearing on Thursday and told her Verdejo was coming to her home to see the results of a pregnancy test.

“I said, ‘Be careful’. Because he had already threatened her not to have her (the baby) ”, because it would affect his career and his family, Ortiz Rivera said in an interview with Wapa Televisión.

Verdejo is married but had known Rodríguez from high school and they had kept in touch, the victim’s parents said. They reported her missing after she failed to report for work at a veterinary cosmetician.

Verdejo (27-2, 17 KOs) represented Puerto Rico at the 2012 Olympics, the same year he moved to professionalism in the lightweight division. His career was temporarily affected after suffering a motorcycle accident in 2016 which sent him to hospital.

The case sparked outrage in Puerto Rico, where the charred body of a woman was recently found after filing a domestic violence complaint, which was dismissed by a judge. A Supreme Court magistrate has announced an investigation into the decision.

Hundreds of people gathered on a bridge over the lagoon where Rodríguez’s body was found on Sunday to demand justice for her and other murdered women. Some of the participants threw flowers in the water.

With AP information

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