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Bar employee charged in
slaying of online gambling entrepreneur
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A bar employee was arrested on
suspicion of murder Thursday in the slaying of a wealthy
Winnipeg businessman in Puerto Rico’s capital.
Jonathan Roman Rivera, 22, worked as a cleaning person at the Pink Skirt, a
restaurant and bar owned by the Puerto Rican wife of
Adam Anhang, an online gambling executive who was
stabbed and beaten to death along the cobblestone
streets of Old San Juan.
Witnesses shown photos of Roman identified him as the
man who attacked Anhang and his wife as they walked to
their car from the Pink Skirt on Sept. 23, said Lt.
Eddie Hernandez, the head of San Juan’s homicide unit.
Roman, who was detained Wednesday at the Pink Skirt,
declined to appear in a police lineup on advice of his
lawyer, Hernandez said.
His lawyer did not immediately return a phone call
seeking comment.
Reports have surfaced
that Rivera was offered $300.000, presumably to
assassinate Anhang. In 2002, Rivera was arrrested
for firearms violations.
As first reported by Gambling911.com,
Anhang, 32, was stabbed more than 10 times in the head
and neck with a 15-centimetre kitchen knife in front of
several witnesses. His wife, Aurea Vazquez Rijos, was
wounded in the attack. Vazquez told police the attacker
had demanded money, but authorities said the assailant
fled without taking the businessman’s wallet, expensive
watch or cell phone.
Anhang was a powerful
real estate developer in Puerto Rico and a CEO for
online gambling firm CasinoWebCam, a live casino
platform utilized by MVP Sportsbook and Easybets.
The 32 year old
graduate of the prestigious Wharton School in
Pennsylvania was also a part owner in Martineau Bay
Resort & Spa located in Vieques, Puerto Rico.
Authorities have considered the possibility that Anhang,
who moved from Winnipeg to Puerto Rico in 2004, was the
victim of a murder-for-hire scheme.
Police were seeking to question Vazquez, 25, who was
released from a hospital last week after being treated
for unspecified injuries. Original reports had Ms.
Vazquez released from the hospital the day after
Anhang's murder. Friends and colleagues had been
unable to reach her.
Vazquez gave diverse
accounts of the murder to investigators. One of
the versions described the assailant as a ragged
individual and with sores on his arms, but witnesses
claimed otherwise, telling investigators he was a strong
youth that wore a dark jacket, making it impossible to
see any sores.
The couple married in March after dating for two years
but had begun divorce proceedings, said Roberto Cacho,
Anhang’s business partner in Puerto Rican real estate
ventures. Ms. Vazquez reportedly stood to
inherit $25 million.
Prenuptials allowed for
Vazquez to enjoy a pension of $3,500 monthly for three
years if the marriage lasted a minimum of a year and of
$5000 a month for a maximum of 60 months if the divorce
occurred after 7 years.
Weeks before the murder, Anhang had initiated legal
filings to be divorced of the young woman, and
apparently would also have canceled some insurances of
those that she would be the beneficiary in case of
death.
When the agents carried out the arrest of Rivera, he
resisted and the CIC had to send out reinforcements.
Rivera refused to appear in a police lineup on advice of
his lawyer.
Back in Winnipeg, the
parents of Adam Anhang were glad to see that putting up
a $25,000 reward
for information related to their son's murder was
beginning to pay off.
"We're certainly very
relieved," Anhang's father Abe told the Winnipeg Press
last night. He said he and his wife Barbara offered the
reward, and an informant came forward. They're expecting
to hear today about charges against "two or three" other
people as well, Anhang said last night.
Anhang's widow reportedly was in the process of moving
out of her home last night when agents tried to contact
her. Further arrests in this case are likely.
----
Christopher Costigan,
www.gambling911.com
Originally published
October 14, 2005 10:53 am EST
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