MIAMI – Federal prosecutors won’t seek the death penalty for a Fort Lauderdale businessman accused of killing his wife in Spain, according to court documents.
In a brief filing, Acting U.S. Attorney Michael S. Davis said the country “does not intend to seek the death penalty” against David Knezevich.
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Knezevich, 36, was charged with kidnapping resulting in death, foreign domestic violence resulting in death and foreign murder of a U.S. national in the 2024 death of his 40-year-old estranged wife, Ana Maria Knezevich.
Prosecutors allege that he snatched her from her Madrid apartment and spray-painted security cameras at her building.
Ana Knezevich had fled to Spain around Christmas due to a contentious separation in which her husband did not want to split their assets equitably.
He involved a Colombian woman online to translate messages, purportedly for a movie script, authorities allege. These messages, supposedly written by Ana Knezevich, a native of Colombia born Ana Maria Henao, raised suspicions when her friends doubted their authenticity.
Prosecutors said travel records revealed David Knezevich’s journey from Miami to Istanbul to Belgrade, the capital of his native Serbia, where he rented a car. He then drove approximately 26 hours to Madrid, court documents state.
Authorities said he returned the car in Belgrade with alterations, including tinted windows and altered license plates. Stolen plates were detected near Ana Knezevich’s apartment during the critical timeframe.
David Knezevich’s attorneys have argued his innocence, saying that there’s “no evidence of a kidnapping or a murder.”
Records show he’s being held at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami awaiting trial.