At 4:30 p.m. near the entrance to his home an individual shot him twice, to the face and body, then got in a car and fled.

2007:
December 19, 2007 the Heredia Court sentenced Omar Cháves as the mastermind to 35 years in prison and another 12 years for criminal deception; and Luis Alberto Aguirre Jaime, a.k.a. El Indio, as the perpetrator, to 30 years.

Catholic priest Minor Calvo was also convicted and sentenced on December 19, 2007 to 15 years on a charge of criminal deception, resulting from denunciations made by the journalist. He was, however, acquitted on a homicide charge.

On December 19, 2007 given the benefit of doubt and thus acquitted were John Gilberto Gutiérrez Ramírez, Danny Smith Mata, Juan Ramón Hernández Pereira, Juan Gabriel Carvajal Angulo, Jorge Castillo Sánchez and Randall González García.

Omar Cháves, Luis Alberto Aguirre Jaime and Minor Calvo.

In December 2007 Cháves and Calvo’s attorneys appealed the sentences.

The trial was regarded as the longest in Costa Rican legal history. It began on December 6, 2005 and ended on December 19, 2007.

In October 2006 it was learned that public prosecutor Giselle Rivera –leading the prosecution in the case – had been receiving threats. She was put under protection, as was public prosecutor Miguel Ramírez, also involved in the case, as well as 16 witnesses who had been intimidated.