Subscribe via E-Mail

Get all of our news delivered fresh to your inbox every morning! Just tell us your name and where to send it using the form below.

PS – We hate spam too. We don’t sell or share our list with anyone, and we never send commercial email.




luxe
Friday, January 29th, 2016  |  USD: Buy 531.29 / Sell 543.92
20 years

73-year-old U.S. man beaten, shot in Puntarenas vacation home (VIDEO)

Email this page

July 11th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) Gary Lee, a 73 year-old U.S. citizen from Yuma, Arizona, was brutally attacked and shot when intruders burst into his vacation home in Puntarenas.  Lee has owned the vacation home for six years.

 

Lee told his story to KYMA News 11, a local television station in Yuma.  Lee said he was sound asleep when the intruders burst into his home, pistol whipped him, and ultimately shot him in the leg.

 

“It scared me to death, they burst through that door with all sorts of noise and jumped right on top of me,” Lee told News 11, adding he has suffered nightmares ever since the attack.

 

Lee said the intruders shot him when he attempted to get up to defend himself.  The gunshot broke his femur, which had to be fused back together.

 

Lee said he believes that a caretaker who had quit earlier the same day was behind the attack.

costa rica news

ATTENTION: If you are seeing this message,


Advertisement


Get our news delivered fresh to your inbox every morning.

Click here to subscribe to our email list. We hate spam too and never send commercial email.

Like us on Facebook and receive our news in your timeline

  • disgusted

    Gary Lee, What a nightmare. You survived at great cost. I think your instincts are right who is behind this assault. I had encounter in Esparza fortunately, the police came and I left never going back. Home invaders seem to have a free pass. Those living here even pensionados have no rights in owning a weapon unless they have condition Libre!. We are at the mercy. Wish you well.

  • P mattingly

    Another example of why Costa Rica is a dangerous place to live, especially for a foreigner. Inept and corrupt judicial system that rarely punishes lawbreakers is the basic cause. I have never met a tourist that has visited CR more than once that has NOT been robbed, but some may exist.
    After my wife was violated on a crowded street in San Jose when a stranger came up and grabbed her breasts and ran off, it was the last trip to CR for us. We should have learned from a previous trip when her purse was stolen and with no foto I.D. the immigration agent at the airport refused to let her on a plane to return home…further victimizing her.
    The poor man in this story will suffer for the rest of his life because of this common act of violence which takes place daily in CR. He has made the right decision….sell and never go back like the rest of the victims of crime in CR. At least we can leave and never go back, some cannot.

    • Daryl Smitts

      Boo hoo someone grabbed my womans booby!! Hold on to your valuable and cover dem titty’s up! CR is a beautiful place and you just got to watch your stuff (and your boobies, I guess) that’s it. It’s hard to have it all so you have to compromise a bit. The assaults are never a good thing but you have to be smart about where you live too. We all have the choice to leave if we cannot handle it. But I would rather risk the very rare “titty violation” than be violated daily by the government of the US… So I choose CR. As far as the assaults go I am smart about who I employ and where I live and have never had a problem within the past 23 years of living here.

      • lindalee

        bullshit………………u r a liar.

    • georgechapogas

      i was just informed that an assault case i am a testigo for has been delayed again. the assault occurred in 09. the perp is flat out nuts, no psych evaluation, no jail time no trial. he has scared some people so much they moved. it is not unreasonable to be frustrated with tico law and the judiciary. but thanks tim, first actual news in a while. now if you could start doing a body, invasion, and assault count country wide for us we would be greatly appreciative,

  • LivingLifeInCostaRica

    More reminders NOT to resist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MOST people I’ve heard that got shot or

    Crime/Home Invasions are everywhere. The HUGE difference is so far, NONE of the WELL over 20 people I’ve heard that have had this problem (people tell me things because of my blog) have they found ANY of the criminals – hence of course NONE of them have been caught so they continue – because they KNOW they can get away with it!!!

  • cosmo

    I’m a friend of Gary Lee and I had a beach house just 400 meters from his. It’s a night mare as he said just living in the country. We as Americans are rich, we can afford to lose our properties and we can afford to replace it all the time. The Costa Rica people are nice people, how ever some are like the illegals that live here in the U.S. No regards to any one but them selves. I will never go back, I to had a home invasion, I was not in the house, my wife was and we are lucky she was not killed. We too know who it was and nothing happened to them. OUR NEIGHBOR!!

Popular Content