crime

Noted lawyer murdered

Two women suspected in bloody homocide. Investigations are underway at the Hotel Paris on the Transístmica.

GABRIEL RODRÍGUEZ/LA PRENSA

CRIME SCENE: The Hotel Paris.955867

Juan Carlos Dudley, vice president of the Colegio Nacional de Abogados, was found dead this morning at the Hotel Paris on Vía Transístmica. The Hotel Paris is what Panamanians call a "push," or "push button," another name for a drive-in sex motel.

Dudley’s body was discovered by a hotel attendant in the suite that he had rented. When the attendant heard a motor running in the area where he parked his car, she assumed the client had left. She then opened a small window in the door between his room and the interior of the hotel and, seeing no one in the suite, decided to enter the room. She was astonished by what she saw and shouted for help from a watchman.

In the following moments, two women hurled themselves from the room and pushed their way into a hallway in the hotel. They then made their way to the street and walked off.

The attendant recalls that one of the women had wounds on her arms, or at least her clothing was stained with blood. Both were of fair complexion, she said, and spoke with a Colombian accent. One of them was thin and of medium height while the other was shorter and heavier.

Another witness claims to have seen the women when they tried to hail a cab on the Transístmica, but since none of the drivers stopped, they fled on foot. Then the police arrived.

Dudley’s body was lying in the bathroom with multiple wounds from a knife, most of them on the shoulder and neck, as confirmed by an official in San Miguelito.

The victim’s vehicle, a grey Mercedes Benz, was still running in the parking area of the suite.

None of the lawyer’s papers or other belongings were found in the room. His body was identified by his two brothers, who had been alerted by the authorities after they learned who the car was registered to.

According to hotel records, Dudley signed in for suite 55 just after midnight yesterday. He was accompanied by two women.

Born Nov. 15, 1961, the attorney was admitted to the lawyers’s guild of Panama in 1983, a year after graduating from the Universidad Santa María la Antigua (Usma) with degrees in law and political science.

Dudley completed postgraduate studies at Tulane University in the United States and at the Universidad Castilla de la Mancha in Spain. He was a member of the Panamanian association of maritime law and a professor of mercantile law at Usma.

An investigation into the incident is underway.