Female singer, 25, raped and murdered in Costa Rica, the first country of her round-the-world trip

Aspiring Mexican singer and music producer Maria Mathus Tenorio, 25, decided to go on a solo adventure around the world to share her music. Sadly, the first country she set foot in was also the last.

Online image

The first destination on her itinerary was Costa Rica, where, unfortunately, her body was found face down on the beach of El Carmen, in the popular surf resort of Santa Teresa del Cobano, just a week after she had started her journey, said the Ministry of Public Security of Costa Rica.

Online image

According to the police, Maria was with a British woman she had met while travelling when they were assaulted by two men who tried to rob them.

Online image

The British woman managed to escape and inform a security guard, asking for help. However, Mathus Tenorio was cornered and her attacker reportedly assaulted, raped, and then drowned Maria in the sea.

Online image

Official sources report that two suspects have been arrested for the crime, identified as Esquivel Cerdas, who is suspected of attacking the Mexican woman and Benavides Mendoza, who is accused of rape.

Online image

Maria posted a photo on Instagram before starting the trip with the message: "Today my trip starts after a long time wish to travel all around the planet alone. 

“The time has arrived to be full of nature. Costa Rica, pure life".

Online image

After the incident, hundreds of people, locals and foreigners participated in the “Marcha de Blanco” (Protest in White), in Santa Teresa, Cobano, Puntarenas, an event organized to pay tribute to María Trinidad Matus, which also had the purpose of raising awareness to battle insecurity and stop violence against women.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A woman accused of serving her ex-husband’s family poisonous mushrooms pleaded not guilty in an Australian court on Tuesday to three charges of murder and five charges of attempted murder.

Erin Patterson, 49, appeared briefly in Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court by video link from a Melbourne prison, where she has been held since her arrest in November last year. She is accused of killing her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail Patterson’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66.

All three died in a hospital days after consuming a meal at Patterson’s home in July.

She pleaded not guilty to all charges and will appear at Victoria state's Supreme Court in Melbourne for the first time on May 23.

Proceedings have been fast-tracked after Patterson dispensed with a committal hearing where a magistrate would have examined the prosecution's case to ensure there is sufficient evidence to warrant a jury trial.

She has not applied to be released on bail during any of her four court appearances.

Erin Patterson is also accused of the attempted murder of her ex-husband, Simon, at that lunch and on three previous occasions dating back to 2021. Simon Patterson did not accept an invitation to attend the lunch.

She has also been charged with the attempted murder of Wilkinson’s husband, Ian Wilkinson.

Ian Wilkinson spent seven weeks in a hospital following the lunch.

Police say the symptoms of the four sickened family members were consistent with poisoning from wild Amanita phalloides, known as death cap mushrooms.

Erin Patterson could face up to 25 years in prison for each attempted murder charge, while murder in the state of Victoria carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

In this courtroom sketch, Erin Patterson appears in Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court, Victoria, Nov. 3, 2023. Patterson, accused of serving her ex-husband's parents and an aunt poisonous mushrooms with lunch, has pleaded not guilty in an Australian court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, on three counts of murder and five of attempted murder. (Anita Lester/AAP Image via AP)