Post by Scumhunter on Nov 29, 2014 8:45:17 GMT -5
Link to "The First 48- Body of Evidence episode" (may need to sign into cable/satellite company and/or purchase episode from A&E website in order to view): www.aetv.com/the-first-48/video/body-of-evidence
Admin Note #1: Based on crime location/First 48 airing, our advice for anyone with information on this case would be to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS
It may be one of the most gruesome unsolved murders in recent memory in Miami, Florida. And unfortunately, it is still unsolved. The case of the unknown killing of Omar LaParra has been profiled on the A&E series "The First 48." It was also listed on AMW as a web-exclusive but I don't believe it ever made the show. Below is a pretty decent recap (slightly edited by me) of the show I found when Google searching:
"In Miami Florida on May 31, 2009, dismembered body parts were found floating in Biscayne Bay at 9:00 AM, Detective Orlando Silva was investigating a leg in a trash bag. They could tell it was a white male that had been dead for 2 to 3 days.
As more trash bags are found they recover a torso, head and them more body parts. The body was identified as Omar Laparra – 21, an immigrant from Guatemala. He lived with his brother and sister and worked as a day laborer in construction.
Omar worked hard and mailed money home to his family. He was an avid soccer player who played on the weekends. He spent most Saturday nights at the El Mexicano restaurant and night club in Miami’s Little Havana. He was last seen alive there on May 30, 2009. At 3:00 AM as he woke up from sleeping at a table and told it was time to go home. He walked out never to be seen again
There did not seem to be any reason for him to be cut up. Maybe he was killed and then the killer didn’t know what to do with the body.
His brother and sister went on TV to try to get help or leads. One lead came from his cell phone being used by “Nacho”. He is finally dismissed as having just finding the phone.
Possibly a gold Honda picked up. Police are looking for links with Luka Rocco Magnotta who was recently arrested in Berlin for a similar case
.
The case is still not solved."
I'll get to Luka Magnotta in a few minutes since he seems to have been ruled out since but first a few more key pieces of evidence to point out since I've seen the show itself:
-A young man Omar Bravo was the main focus at first. He was the one using LaParra's phone and claimed he bought it off a black Cuban male. After his story didn't add up, he finally confessed to Detectives that he saw LaParra passed out on the ground and simply stole it off of him. Bravo's final story was believed by Detectives on the show and he was not charged with robbery and/or believed to have anything to do with the murder of LaParra.
-The best piece of evidence comes from a female witness who may have seen the killer. She too saw LaParra passed out on the sidewalk between 4:15-4:30, 30 minutes after his phone was believed to be taken. She says two men approached Omar and lifted him from the ground and then put him in a tan or beige car, possibly a Honda car. One of the men got in a bicycle. The bicycle and car headed off in separate directions. Detectives spot an older model Honda Accord on video, release it to the public, but get no leads.
Ok, now for Luka Magnotta. For those who don't know, Magnotta was a Canadian pornographic actor and model who made headlines and became the subject of an international manhunt after killing and dismembering a Chinese exchange student and mailing his body parts to various elementary schools and federal political party offices.
The reason for the interest in Magnotta by the general public seemed to be that in 2010 a man claiming to be "Luka Magnotta" posted on various Miami-based message boards, saying he had moved there recently. However, in June 2012, Miami police issued a statement to the media, saying they were simply asked by Canadian authorities if they had any similar cases, and it doesn't appear Magnotta is connected. As pointed out, Magnotta seemed to know his victim and it was a domestic killing. LaParra's seemed random.
Thoughts? I feel that Luka Magnotta may be the one guy besides Israel Keyes that amateur internet sleuths try to connect to every unsolved murder in America in the most. (For the record, I acknowledge we're amateur internet sleuths as well, but I'd say we're damn good ones!
). For one thing, Luka Magnotta was/is an attention whore. He's admitted to killing Jun Lin (the exchange student) but his lawyer is trying to claim he wasn't in the right state of mind (which I guess is like an insanity defense). But considering him mailing body parts and posting videos online of killing kittens, I find it hard to believe Magnotta would keep quiet about LaParra. He'd like to get his name in the mix somehow even if he had nothing to do with it. (although the media did a good enough job of getting his name in anyway).
Also, besides the fact Magnotta seemed to know his victim, I believe the body parts in Miami just happened to wash ashore. Perhaps bad and/or panicked planning. The killer wasn't intending for Miami police to find those bags and indentify the victim, at least in my opinion. Magnotta sickeningly mailed body parts around Canada and wanted to make sure they were found.
Our best clue is that Honda accord. And my question is whether the two men had something to do with LaParra's murder or if the Accord driver was someone who fooled the man that took off on the bicycle that he knew LaParra and had him help get the passed out man in his car so he could take him home. Unfortunately, on the show the surveillance didn't seem to show the car that well (license plate etc). and no one in the public has come forward.
If anyone has any information on this case, PLEASE call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers. Omar LaParra came to this country wanting a better life for himself and instead of was brutally murdered for seemingly no good reason.
mansellm.blogspot.com/2013/05/psychology2301-spring-2013.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luka_Magnotta
www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/11/luka-magnotta-miami-murder-omar-laparra_n_1587330.html
www.facebook.com/whokilledomarlaparra
Admin Note #2: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
