US couple held as serial killing suspects in Panama paradise

It was a fluid community, people always coming and going, so there was no immediate alarm. Why worry? The only danger in this tranquil haven, it seemed, was the tap water.

But there was another menace: the cheerful husband and wife who ran a hostel were, it is alleged, serial killers who murdered up to nine people for their property and money.

William Dathan Holbert and Laura Michelle Reese were in a jail in Panama City today suspected of conning and killing seven fellow US expatriates and two Panamanians in cold blood.

The man known to neighbours as "Wild Bill" has confessed to murdering seven people, said Angel Calderon, a prosecuting attorney. "He has told us how many people he killed, why he killed them, how he killed them and where he buried them."

Posing as wealthy entrepreneurs, the couple allegedly befriended residents before shooting them in the head, burying them and taking over their homes and businesses. "He picked out his victims after making their acquaintance," Calderon told reporters. "Knowing that nobody would ask about them, he got rid of them."

Read more in The Guardian...