A Florida businessman charged with killing his estranged wife in Spain last year has died by apparent suicide, his lawyer said Monday.
David Knezevich, 37, was found dead in his cell at the Federal Detention Center in Miami, where he was awaiting trial for the kidnapping and murder of 40-year-old Ana Knezevich.
“The defense team is devastated to learn of this news,” Jayne Weintraub said in a statement Monday, without providing any details about his death. “We sincerely hope that an appropriate and prompt investigation will be conducted.”
Correctional center staff found Knezevich unresponsive in his cell on Monday shortly after 8 a.m. He was pronounced dead by emergency medical services personnel after life-saving efforts failed, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The Fort Lauderdale man was arrested at Miami International Airport in May 2024 and initially charged in connection with the disappearance of his estranged wife. In November, a Broward County grand jury indicted him for her murder.
The victim, a Colombia-born U.S. citizen, went missing in Madrid in February 2024, according to Spain’s National Police. She disappeared after a man wearing a motorcycle helmet spray-painted the lens of a security camera of an apartment complex where she had been staying since she separated from her husband in December 2023.
On Monday, her family released a statement saying that while Knezevich’s death may bring some sense of closure, it will also likely make it impossible for them to discover the whereabouts of her body.
“The suicide of Ana’s murderer closes a painful chapter in our lives, previously filled with the dread that he might not face justice,” the family said through their lawyer.
They added, “It is a cruel final insult that we may never recover Ana’s remains or know the full extent of the betrayal she suffered.”
