FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A businessman from Florida, who has already been indicted for the abduction of his estranged wife in Spain, is now facing additional federal charges in the United States, implicating him in her murder.
On Wednesday, a federal grand jury in South Florida announced a superseding indictment against David Knezevich, which includes charges of kidnapping resulting in death, foreign domestic violence that led to death, and the foreign murder of a U.S. citizen. If he is found guilty, he could face the death penalty.
Knezevich previously pleaded not guilty to the charges of kidnapping his 40-year-old wife, Ana Hedao Knezevich, whose disappearance has garnered significant media attention globally. Currently, the 36-year-old Knezevich remains in custody without bond.
Attempts to get comments from his legal representatives regarding the latest developments in the case were unsuccessful.
Ana Knezevich was last seen in her Madrid apartment on February 2, shortly after moving there five weeks prior. To this day, her body has not been recovered.
Eyewitness accounts report a man donning a motorcycle helmet entering her apartment building and disabling a security camera by spraying the lens. Surveillance footage later captured this individual rolling out a suitcase from the building. Ana Knezevich is listed as 4 feet, 11 inches tall and weighing around 100 pounds, according to her driver’s license.
Prosecutors claim they have significant evidence that links Knezevich to the individual seen in the helmet. They assert that he traveled from Miami to Turkey six days before his wife’s disappearance and then promptly made his way to Serbia, where he rented a Peugeot vehicle.
On the day Ana vanished, security footage reportedly depicted Knezevich in a hardware store located in Madrid—approximately 1,600 miles away from Serbia—purchasing duct tape and the identical type of spray paint used to obscure the security camera.
When he returned the rented Peugeot to the agency five weeks later, it was revealed that the vehicle had accumulated over 4,800 miles. Alterations included tinted windows, the removal of two identification stickers, and modification of the license plate, according to statements from the prosecution.
The couple was entangled in a turbulent divorce, battling over numerous properties valued in the millions, as noted by prosecutors. They had been married for 13 years.
During a court proceeding earlier this year, Knezevich’s primary attorney, Jayne Weintraub, cast doubt on the integrity of the prosecution’s evidence. She contested the notion that her client had liquidated some properties to fund an escape from the U.S. Furthermore, she suggested that the divorce was proceeding amicably, with financial matters being settled.