Former marine denies murdering girlfriend and dumping her dismembered body in Panama jungle
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 19 April, 2015, 1:02am
UPDATED : Sunday, 19 April, 2015, 1:30am
Agence France-Presse in Los Angeles
Yvonne Baldelli and Brimager.
A retired US marine has pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered his girlfriend, dismembered her body and dumped her remains in a jungle in Panama.
Brian Karl Brimager, 37, was indicted by a federal grand jury in San Diego, California on first-degree murder charges over the death of Los Angeles woman Yvonne Baldelli, 42.
In September 2011 the couple moved from Los Angeles to the archipelago of Bocas del Toro, in Panama, renting a room on an island reachable only by boat, the Department of Justice said in a statement, citing the indictment.
It alleges that Brimager was emailing another girlfriend, the mother of his young daughter, and beating Baldelli.
In November that year Brimager murdered Baldelli, dismembered her body and disposed of its parts in a remote jungle area, according to the indictment, before conducting an elaborate scheme to cover his tracks. It included sending emails from Baldelli's email account pretending to be her and using her bank card.
Baldelli's remains were not found until almost two years after her murder by a man cutting bushes on the island.
