AIRBNB FAILED TO SCREEN A SECURITY GUARD

Airbnb began in 2008 when two men who had space to share im their home had hosted three travellers looking for a place to stay. Now, millions of hosts and travellers choose to create a free Airbnb account so they can list their space and book unique accommodations anywhere in the world. And Airbnb experience hosts share their passions and interests with both travellers and locals.

Airbnb claims that it helps making sharing easy, enjoyable, and safe. They verify personal profiles and listings, maintain a smart messaging system so that hosts and guests can communicate with certainty, and manage a trusted platform to collect and transfer payments. They also claim that your safety is their number one concern.

In theory it sounds like a great idea. It can certainly be a good money maker to hosts but here have been real problems connected with travelers and hosts alike which also included with neighbor’s complaints of such homes.  

This article is  about a female traveler who  stayed at such a home. The family of slain Florida woman Carla Stefaniak filed a lawsuit against Airbnb and the  property owners at a Costa Rican village after she was killed at while vacationing there in 2018.

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A  lawsuit was  filed at the Hillsborough County Court. Evidence showed that bad reviews and comments associated with Villa le Mas, in San Antonio de Escazú, were deleted, which may have changed Carla’s mind about staying there, had she read the negative reviews beforehand.

Carla was in Costa Rica celebrating her 36^th birthday when she disappeared on her final night in Costa Rica. She was later found dead behind the Airbnb resort.

“While the defendant, Airbnb, had previously posted complimentary and positive reviews of the resort property and its hosts, there are and were multiple reports since 2013 of guests who encountered bad experiences and recounted being victimized by personnel affiliated with the resort that Airbnb sanitized from its own promotions and advertising materials.

The lawsuit, filed by Carla’s brothers, Mario Caicedo and Carlos Caicedo Jr., lists both Airbnb and the property owners as defendants.

The lawsuit accused Airbnb of failure to screen suspected murderer, 32-year-old Bismark Espinosa Martinez, who worked as a security guard at the villa. Espinoza, of Nicaragua, was apparently an undocumented immigrant who lacked the correct credentials to work in Costa Rica. Further, the lawsuit claims Martinez was given the authority to open any apartment door at the villa without supervision and/or permission. What dummy gave that killer that privilege?

“[Airbnb and Villas le Mas knew or should have known of the potential danger in facilitating Martinez’s un-supervised access to vulnerable women guests in a private setting,” the lawsuit read. In the claim, it says, “[They owed a duty to maintain its premises, in a reasonably safe condition, and to take reasonable care for the safety of Stefaniak and protect her from reasonably foreseeable criminal conduct by third parties and employees and agents.”

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Carla never boarded her flight back to Miami on November 28^th. The authorities said she was attacked before could make her flight while she was still inside Apartment 8 at the Airbnb Villa La Mas. Martinez, who stayed in Apartment 7, was arrested earlier in December 2019 in connection with Carla’s murder.

According to Walter Espinoza, the head of the Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department, , the 36-year-old lost her life due to a possible sexual assault. Authorities found Carla partially nude, wrapped in a plastic bag and buried behind the Airbnb she stayed at. Espinoza declined to elaborate on the details of the attack, but indicated the victim had been hit on the head and stabbed on the neck and arms. A medical examiner reportedly wrote that Carla died from the neck wounds. Her jugular had been cut.  In all likelihood, the police found her blood on him or his clothing and if so, that would be evidence that he had killed the woman.

Authorities also found evidence of a struggle inside Apartment 8, including blood and fluids that were being processed at a state lab. Investigators continued to look for evidence, including Carla’s luggage, which has yet to be found.

Carla’s brother, Carlos Caicedo Jr., said that he spoke with the security guard, Martinez when the family arrived in Costa Rica week to search for the victim. Martinez apparently told Caicedo Jr. and Carla’s sister-in-law, April Burton, that he last saw Carla at 5 a.m. on November 28^t , leaving the Airbnb with her luggage.

That was a stupid statement to make since her body was found in her apartment when the authorities later arrived in her apartment.

Martinez said that Carla decided to stay an extra day alone and  the next say, she got into an Uber on the early morning of November 28^th,  despite that her flight was not leaving until later in the afternoon.  

Carla said, “The guard told us that she left at 5 in the morning with all of her bags and got into an Uber. She wouldn’t do that since her flight was at 1:30 p.m. She’s never been early for anything in her life she wouldn’t leave to go to the airport at 5:30 a.m.”

That was another blunder by Martinez.  Murderers often make stupid statements because they can’t get the events organized I their minds. 

Bismark Espinosa Martinez was charged with second degree murder. As of this date, he hasn’t been put on trial. I will let you know what thr  verdict will be and when I learn of it, I will put in at the bottom of this article,