Pilot Dead In Plane Crash Identified As Florida Serial Killer Who Preyed On Women

A pilot, who died in a 2005 plane crash in Brazil, has finally been identified by authorities as the serial killer responsible for the deaths of at least three women in Florida in 2000.

Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony announced on Tuesday that a joint probe with Miami police unraveled that Roberto Wagner Fernandes was responsible for the murders of Kimberly Dietz-Livesey, Sia Demas, and Jessica Good between June 2000 and August 2001, the New York Daily News reported.

Law enforcement found the corpse of Dietz-Livesey crammed into a suitcase abandoned in Cooper City in June 2000. Days later, cops would locate the body of a second victim, Demas, in a duffel bag left along a road in Dania Beach.

The third woman, Good, who died on Aug. 30, 2001, was found floating in Biscayne Bay, according to CBS Miami.

Detectives also revealed on Tuesday that the victims had substance abuse issues and were involved in prostitution. Police said the victims possibly met the suspect through this activity.

Initial investigations several years ago saw DNA evidence matching from the crime scenes of all three women, with suspicion falling on Fernandes following Good’s murder. The man in question, then a pilot and flight attendant, however, flew back to his native Brazil before he could be questioned.

While in Brazil, Fernandes reportedly learned he was in danger after enemies hired assassins to rub him out for his apparent involvement in the death of his ex-wife in 1996.

He would abandon Brazil for Paraguay in a small plane in 2005 but never made it after Fernandes crashed and died in the accident.

Further probes into the matter were made possible by the U.S. Government's partnership with Brazil. It allowed Broward Sheriff cops to dig up the Fernandes' grave and exhume his body to connect DNA evidence, which later confirmed he was responsible for the grim killing spree.

“We were able to confirm ultimately that Mr. Fernandes was deceased, the body was exhumed, DNA was taken, and it all matched the profile,” Miami police Seargent Nikolai Trifonov said.

Authorities said that there could be more victims as Fernandes refused to cooperate with any investigation while he was still alive.

The partnership with Brazil was secured after a court in Cuba convicted Cuban Marcos Yanes Gutierrez of shooting a doctor in the head in Palm Beach County in 2015. The case was shut closed with the assistance of prosecutors in the United States, convincing the Broward Sheriff's Office to try a similar tactic in Brazil, according to CBS12.