The trial against the former boxer, Félix Verdejo, accused of the murder of Keishla Rodríguez, continues this Monday in the federal court in Hato Rey.
Last Friday, the jury heard the testimonies of police officers who worked on the case.
One of the policemen who sat on the podium was Lieutenant José Bonilla Ruiz, from the Missing Persons Division of the Bayamón Criminal Investigation Corps (CIC).
Bonilla Ruiz reported that the FBI concluded that Keishla’s cell phone was close to Verdejo’s, which led them to check the cameras on the Teodoro Moscoso bridge. In the videos, they were able to locate the Dodge Durango vehicle – owned by the expugil – stopped on the bridge.
A bus like the one described by the lieutenant is seen in a Telenoticias video from that May 1, 2021.
Then, the agent received information from the FBI again, this time indicating that the young woman had been thrown at the scene, so he moved to the scene. Police divers found the body of the victim, who was tied with wire and had a block around her waist.
At the scene they also found two moldy bullet casings that were not part of the investigation as they had not been fired recently.
The lieutenant said that while they were working on the scene, one of his colleagues had heard on the radio that the defendant was passing through the bridge. Turning around, he saw Verdejo at that precise moment in the back of a Honda Pilot.
REVEALING CALL
On Thursday, the federal prosecutor’s office revealed the recording of a call between Verdejo and Keishla Rodríguez’s brother-in-law, Junior Zavala, in which the former boxer admitted to having driven over the Teodoro Moscoso bridge.
“Why does your bus appear in all ‘lao’s cab#$@?” Zavala questioned him, to which the expugil replied: “I went through Teodoro there normally.” More details here.
The recording was presented after the testimony of Bereliz Rodríguez Ortiz, Keishla’s sister, who described their relationship as open and toxic.
Also sitting on the stand were Keyla Ortiz, Keishla’s mother; David Alexander Ruiz, who recorded Verdejo’s training sessions, and a medical technologist who had access to the young woman’s medical records.
Among the witnesses presented by the prosecution was the sister of Keishla Rodríguez, who said that the victim was a victim of disrespect by the ex-boxer.
KEISHLA’S MOTHER TESTIFIES
Ortiz took the stand Wednesday and began by describing her daughter as a good-hearted girl.
“Kind, good daughter, sister and always wanting to help whoever needed her help. Animal lover. The best daughter a father could have,” he said of Keishla.
Subsequently, he identified the defendant in the courtroom as Félix Verdejo. Later, he began to tell how his daughter informed him that she was pregnant through a phone call.
He identified him in court as his daughter’s murderer.
Once the young woman was reported missing, the witness would have called Verdejo.
“Where is my daughter? And he with a nervous voice said: I don’t know, I don’t know.” “You are lying to me. She told me that you were going to go where she was,” Ortiz would have told Verdejo.
The panel of 12 jurors in the trial against Verdejo was chosen that morning.
Those selected were nine men and three women. Meanwhile, four other men and two women were chosen as alternates.
The federal judge, Pedro Delgado, proceeded to take the oath and later excused them from the room. In the afternoon, the opening arguments were presented.
Potential jurors were interviewed one-on-one after they indicated they had been in contact with news of the case.
Although the selection process with the first panel was going quite fast on Tuesday, it had to be put on hold since Delgado asked the shortlisted if any of them had been in contact with information or news about the case. Virtually everyone raised their hand, prompting them to be interviewed individually.
Here is the chronology of the case.
Against Verdejo, the federal prosecutor’s office has evidence such as text messages, AutoExpreso records, iCloud recordings, financial transaction records, as well as videos from security cameras of the Teodoro Moscoso bridge, Kennedy street, Pradera street, El Auténtico Isla Verde , Laguna Gardens Condominium and an intersection in Carolina.
He faces charges of kidnapping resulting in death, vehicular theft resulting in death, and intentional murder of an unborn baby. He also faces charges for possessing a firearm during and in connection with a violent crime.
According to an affidavit from the special agent who investigated the case, a witness indicated that Verdejo would have beaten the victim and injected him with drugs that he bought at the Luis Llorens Torres residence. Everything, with the help of Luis Antonio Cádiz Martínez. Later, they would have thrown the body from the Teodoro Moscoso bridge, after shooting it.
Cádiz Martínez pleaded guilty in November 2022 after reaching an agreement with the federal prosecutor’s office.
Federal prosecutor’s office submits evidence against the ex-boxer accused of the murder of Keishla Rodríguez.
The events began in April 2021.
