US court charges man with murder of wife who went missing in Spain

A man who was accused of kidnapping his estranged wife after she went missing in Spain nine months ago has now been charged with her murder by a US court.

A federal grand jury in Miami this week charged David Knezevich, also known as Dušan Knežević, with kidnapping resulting in death, foreign domestic violence resulting in death and foreign murder of a US national. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

US citizen Ana Maria Henao, 40, went missing in February in Madrid, where she was living. Authorities in Spain and across Europe have since been searching for her body.

Knezevich, 36, a Florida-based businessman who was arrested in May after flying into Miami International Airport from his native Serbia, was originally charged with kidnapping resulting in death. In June, Knezevich pleaded not guilty to the kidnapping charge.

According to the new indictment, Knezevich travelled to Madrid from Miami via Turkey and Serbia earlier this year “with the intent to kill, injure, harass, and intimidate his spouse and intimate partner, and committed a crime of violence against her, resulting in her death.”

Knezevich’s lead attorney, Jayne Weintraub, said on Thursday that his client planned to plead not guilty at an arraignment hearing next week.

“It is a desperate attempt by the government to charge everything possible and see what sticks,” Weintraub said in an email. “There is no evidence that David Knezevich kidnapped or murdered his wife.”

US prosecutors say Knezevich flew to Turkey from Miami in January, six days before Ana’s disappearance, then travelled to his native Serbia, where he rented a Peugeot car.

Security cameras captured Knezevich buying spray paint and duct tape at a hardware shop in Madrid on the same day that Henao was last seen — 2 February — according to the court records. Knezevich then entered his estranged wife’s apartment building and disabled a security camera with spray paint, according to prosecutors. He was later seen leaving the building with a suitcase, the court records said.

When Knezevich returned the Peugeot vehicle to the rental agency in Serbia five weeks later, it had been driven 7,700 kilometres, its windows had been tinted, and there was evidence that its license plate had been removed and then put back, prosecutors said.

The couple had been in the middle of a contentious divorce while fighting over millions of dollars in properties, according to prosecutors. They had been married for 13 years.

Henao’s brother Diego told US media this week that the family welcomed the new charges, and that they would continue to search for answers.

Her relatives have previously warned of possible foul play, stating they received messages purportedly from Ana phrased in non-native Spanish amid her disappearance.

Additional sources • AP