The motive behind the murder of an Italian woman on the Venezuelan island chain of Los Roques remains a mystery for authorities investigating the case that has stunned inhabitants of this Caribbean tourist Mecca.
Officials said on Thursday that police had identified three suspects in the killing of Elena Vecoli, 34, and the beating of her husband, Riccardo Prescendi, 46, a day earlier inside a hotel popular with foreign tourists.
But police don't know why the couple was attacked and haven't detained any suspects.
"We don't know if it was a robbery or something else," federal investigator Jose Cuellar told reporters while police fingerprinted residents and tourists leaving the island.
Prescendi told police that he freed himself and reported the killing after being tied up by the attackers along with his wife, Cuellar said.
According to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Prescendi called his mother-in-law, Rossana Vecoli, after the attack. She told the newspaper that Prescendi told her the two were sleeping when some people came in -- he didn't know how many.
She was quoted as saying that Prescendi said: "They attacked us, beat us. Then they tied us with iron wire, so tight that Elena died, suffocated."
Italian news reports said the couple were on their honeymoon after marrying earlier this month.
Residents and tourists stopped on Thursday to gawk on the sand road outside the barred windows of the La Lagunita Inn, where Vecoli's body was found. A worker covered up the hotel's sign with newspapers, and the manager declined to comment.
Venezuelan authorities temporarily closed the island's air and sea ports to outgoing traffic on Wednesday, trying to locate suspects, before flights resumed.
The woman's body -- which is to be returned to Italy -- was flown to Caracas on Wednesday, along with her husband.
The killing shocked residents in the Los Roques islands, a top tourist destination home to a national park and world-class scuba diving off white sand beaches.
More than 1,600 people live in the archipelago working in tourism and fishing, virtually all of them on the main island of Gran Roque. Several residents said they couldn't remember any other murder ever occurring.
"This is the first time something like this has happened on the island. It's a very calm and safe place," said Anselmo Rodriguez, the top government official on Gran Roque.
"Everyone here knows each other, and everybody says they didn't see anything," said Zulaiska Marin, a 37-year-old resident. "That's why what happened is very strange. I don't know if the attackers were from here or were foreigners."
Vecoli's mother told Corriere della Sera that her daughter was "enthusiastic about the place" when they last spoke Tuesday.
Italian media reported that the victims were sleeping in a room normally used by the hotel owner, an Italian man, and that the attack may have been a case of mistaken identity.
Though rare in Los Roques, violent crime is relatively common in Venezuela.
The killing prompted the Italian government to send a delegation to consult with Venezuelan authorities on how better to ensure the safety of its citizens.
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