William Trickett Smith II became known as “The Suitcase Murderer” when the body of his Peruvian wife washed ashore in Lima in 2007. The discovery would bring grief wrapped closure to her family. Listen to the story of “El Enigma de la Mariposa” (The Mystery of the Butterfly).
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TuneInBackground
William Trickett Smith II was born in 1981. His father was William Trickett Sr but went by Bill. Bill Trickett was chairman of the Dauphin County Republican Committee. He was disbarred is 1985 for bid-rigging along with R. Budd Dwyer. In the early 80’s Pennsylvania discovered its state workers had overpaid federal taxes due to errors in state withholding. Many accounting firms competed for a multi-million-dollar contract to determine compensation to each employee. In 1986, Dwyer was convicted of receiving a bribe from the California firm that ultimately won the contract.
Bill Smith was the attorney for Computer Technology Associates, which won the $5 million no-bid state contract. The deal was canceled two months after it was signed when the FBI began to probe.
Smith had offered a bribe to Dwyer and Bob Asher, chairman of the state party committee. He testified for a lighter sentence, spending 3.5 years in federal prison. Dwyer was scheduled to be sentenced on those charges on January 23, 1987..
On January 22, 1987, Dwyer called a live news conference in the Pennsylvania state capital of Harrisburg. He killed himself in front of the gathered reporters, by shooting himself in the mouth with a .357 Magnum revolver.
Drug Arrest
In 2000 William Trickett Smith II, was arrested and sentenced to 2-4 years on drug charges. He was found with coke and marijuana packaged for sale. In 2004, he was arrested and sentenced to 9 months for pushing a police officer and fleeing arrest after a traffic stop.
Online Dating
While on parole William met Jana Claudia Gomez Menendez on Match.com and they began talking. In August 2006 William violates his parole to visit Jana in Peru, traveling back and forth multiple times.
In February 2007, he meets Monica Munoz Pereda online and they become « intimate » friends.
Marriage
On March 1st William and Jana marry in Trujillo, Peru. William is 26 and she is 21. You can see their wedding photos and they look more like homecoming pictures.
Jana’s family starts to notice that he is controlling. He won’t let her hang out with her friends from school and spies on her. Her friends even say that he choked her unconscious when they were arguing. During their marriage, he was still traveling back and forth to PA.
He continues his affair with Monica through April until she finds out he is married. She says that from that point they were friends but there was nothing intimate.
Planning a Murder?
In their communication there are emails where he is asking Monica
- where can I get a drug that puts people to sleep?
- where can I rent a boat that doesn’t require a lot of paperwork?
- what are the police in your country like?
RED FLAG – RED FLAG – RED FLAG
On July 2nd Monica calls Nextel Communications posing as Jana and asks for her plan to be canceled. She says her phone has been stolen. On July 4th Jana heads to Lima, taking a 10-hour bus ride. She told her parents that she was breaking it off with William and she was going to finish her studies. Other reports say she was hoping that he would take her to the US, bringing her passport with her.
Blue Suitcase
On July 5th William meets Jana at the San Remo Hotel. They are seen together until July 8th. After that, he is seen alone with a blue suitcase leaving the hotel.
He calls Monica and asks if he can meet her at her apartment. William brings the suitcase up with him and duck tapes it shut. William asks if she will go with him to a business meeting. Later he changes his mind and asks if she’ll go on a boat ride with him to Chorillos (about a 25 min drive from Lima).
Discarding the Body
They board the boat of Justo Jose Servign Solano (who had been hired by William the day before). They are out on the water for about 15 min when William asks how deep the water was. Jose responds and states it’ around 35 meters. William secured the suitcase with rope and a heavy object and threw it over the side of the boat.
When Monica asks what he’s doing he says it’s an American tradition to throw things in the ocean when you want to forget. She also asked what was in the suitcase and he responded saying it was old papers.
On the 9th Monica calls the hotel posing as Jana and cancels the rest of their stay. It was supposed to run through the 12th but William had already flown back to Pennsylvania.
Search for Jana
Upon his return, William calls Jana’s family saying he can’t get a hold of her. Her family says that she was supposed to meet him in Lima. He responds by saying he wasn’t even in Perú. It’s at this point that the family puts out a missing person’s order.
Monica traveled to Italy for her studies. When emails are discovered between her and William her parents encourage her to come back to assist with the investigation. She comes home and cooperates with the police but is not allowed to leave the country. William still says he hasn’t seen or spoken to Jana and that he was in the US. Unfortunately for him, the hotel staff confirms that they saw him and Jana.
At the end of July, he flies to Peru to help find Jana. Her family asks about a diary that Jana always kept. He said he had “accidentally” taken it back with him and they find a key chain that had been missing since she went missing.
Through their investigation, Peruvian police began to find evidence of potential drug trafficking with flights from Ecuador, Peru, and Costa Rica. After 2 weeks of him searching in Peru, he said he had to return to the US. On the same day, a massive earthquake hits Peru 90 miles south of Lima killing 500 people and stopping all flights.
Blue Suitcase Washes Onshore
On the 16th on Les Cascadas beach in Lima, a blue suitcase washes onshore with green cords attached to it. Inside is a decomposing female body in the fetal position with a butterfly tattoo at the top of her spine. That same day William calls Jana’s family to say that he is back in the US.
Watching the daily news Jana’s mother sees that the body of a young woman was found with an image of the tattoo and knew instantly that it was her daughter. She broke down in sobs in front of her television. The case became widespread in Peru and known as “El Enigma de la Mariposa” (“The Mystery of the Butterfly”). Upon autopsy, it is found that she died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Arrest
On August 24th William is arrested in the US for having violated his parole. He had traveled to Peru and is sentenced to 2-6 years. Upon searching his belongings they find clothing, shoes, and personal effects that match the list Jana’s mother created from what she brought to Lima with her.
On November 12th, 2008 the President of Peru, Alan Garcia signed documents seeking extradition. William’s lawyer did what he could to stall the extradition. He showed that a certified copy in Spanish and English is required but on July 17th, 2009 Judge J. Andrew Smyser ruled there was sufficient evidence for extradition.
Escape Plan?
In 2014, Smith Sr was sentenced to 4 years for attempting to help his son escape extradition by escaping from prison. He pleads guilty to arranging a prison escape and lying to the FBI.
Plan A: Bill forged the signature of an NAACP official on a letter to a county judge, asking him to reconsider the younger Smith’s sentence. When the forgery was uncovered, Bill Smith volunteered to give up his law license.
Plan B: was to file a false private criminal complaint that would cause a hearing to be scheduled, requiring Smith II to be transported to Harrisburg. The plan was that a stop would be made on the way, the transporting constable would be assaulted, and Smith II would escape, but the complaint wasn’t approved.
Plan C: was to pay off a prison guard, but his son was extradited prior to this being a possibility.
Extradition
He was unsuccessful in stopping the extradition. On August 12, 2010, Smith was extradited via Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia to Jorge Chávez International Airport near Lima, Peru on Delta Air Lines flight 151. He was escorted by Interpol.
Smith has been called “El Asesino de la Maleta” (“The Suitcase Murderer”) by the Peruvian media. In August 2010 a picture came out of Smith in prison with Joran van der Sloot. Van der Sloot was incarcerated for the murder of Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramírez but is widely suspected of the Natalie Holloway murder.
Prosecutor Rafael Aguero Pinta sought 8 years for the boat captain and 15 years for Monica stating they were accomplices. Both were found no guilty.
William plead guilty and received 35 years, he is currently appealing.
Resources
- William Trickett Smith of Paxtang pleads guilty in Peru to killing his wife
- William Trickett Smith II sentenced to 35 years in prison in Peru for killing his wife
- Ex-attorney gets 4 months for plotting son’s prison escape
- USA v. THE MATTER OF THE EXTRADITION OF WILLIAM TRICKETT SMITH, II 1:2009mc00107 | US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
- William Trickett Smith Jr
- For Bill Smith, former Dauphin County GOP boss, the fall from power has never stopped
- Police: Ex-lover saw slaying suspect toss suitcase into ocean