Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — UPDATED: Two Canadians were killed early Monday inside a condominium building in central Playa del Carmen. The man and woman died after sustaining knife wounds to their necks. One man, a local security guard, was also injured.
The targeted attack happened during the early morning hours of Monday. Emergency services received the report of the discovery of their bodies inside the 20th Avenue condo around 5:20 a.m.
Inside, police found the man and woman dead. Both had severe neck wounds. The on-duty security guard was treated in hospital for a leg injury. The man and woman are reportedly from Quebec. The man has been unofficially identified as Raphael N, who went by several aliases, one of which was Erick McCarthy. The identity of the woman remains unknown.
Allegations of illegal bank activity and an international arrest warrant for fraud for the man have been reported as possible motive in the deadly attack. The man and woman had been living in the condo since April, however, reports peg them as living in the area for the last four years. Local authorities have not provided details regarding the two murders.
The only acknowledgement from police was a social media post made Monday by the FGE who reported “the FGE of Quintana Roo has began an investigation into events that occurred in a lodging center in the Municipality of Solidaridad where a man and a woman lost their lives due to stab wounds and a male was injured. Search protocols are activated.”
UPDATE: State Attorney General Oscar Montes de Oca has confirmed both killed inside the condominium complex were of Canadian nationality. He also confirmed that the now-deceased man was wanted by Interpol.
On Tuesday, Montes de Oca said he spoke with the director of Interpol Canada to confirm the identity of the man wanted, who he reported, had a red notice. The man, he says, was wanted for cyber fraud.
Inside the condo, Montes de Oca reported finding sophisticated equipment. He said that detectives working on the case also located multiple false identification.
“As part of the investigation, it turned out that one of them had a red notice from Interpol. He was wanted by Interpol. I have already had contact with the director of Interpol and he confirmed it, confirming the man was wanted for cyber fraud,” he said.
“False identifications with the same identity as him were even found. They had quite sophisticated equipment and it will be the analysts and experts team who will review everything to determine what type of crime they were carrying out,” he added.
“We are in contact with Canadian authorities. The consulate has already been notified and we are complying with all the requirements,” he said adding that police in Playa del Carmen are still trying to figure out the relationship between the man and woman found dead inside the condo.
He also said they are still trying to determine motive, if it was a robbery, revenge or another type of incident.
Montes de Oca said that a piece of Canadian identification was found for the woman, but he did not disclose her name.