Alex LeRae
Appearances
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
Sure. So Anna and David were allegedly going through a contentious divorce. They had built a successful business together over the course of their marriage, but her family has said that he didn't want to split their assets 50-50. So in December 2023, she moves to Madrid, Spain in search of... You know, a fresh start.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
And in early February 2024, her friends got text messages that didn't exactly sound like her. And she misses a dinner with her friends. When Spanish authorities did a welfare check, they found no one in her apartment.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
But they did turn up surveillance footage of a man who, according to prosecutors, looks a lot like David Konezovich buying duct tape and spray paint at a hardware store close to Ana's apartment. and hauling what appears to be a suitcase out of her building.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
And they learned he'd rented a car in Serbia, put thousands of miles on it, changed the license plates, and returned it with newly tinted windows.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
Yeah. He says he was in Serbia visiting his mom, who is aging and needed his help. So he stayed out there for some time. In May, when he came back to Miami, he was arrested at the airport for Anna's kidnapping.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
Correct, yeah. So sources tell me that they upgraded the charges because there was proof that Ana had a drastic change of life pattern, meaning to them that she has passed away. Movement on her Google and Spotify accounts abruptly stopped, as did the contact with her family and friends.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
So we've learned that the Department of Homeland Security has seized the laptop and phone of David's brother, whose name is Ugesa.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
They're alleging in a search warrant they filed last month that they're looking at Ugesa Konezovic for aiding and abetting accessory after the fact, wire and bank fraud, and destruction of records. The warrant was unsealed by a judge in Miami last week. What's kind of a surprise is we know that the FBI spoke to him last March, but he said he was estranged from David.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
In the warrant, it says he told them he only spoke to David because he found out from Ana's brother that she was missing. Ugesa says that he had to ask his mother for David's phone number.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
Right. And the FBI is saying since then, the brothers have been in touch pretty often. The FBI says they have probable cause that his phone and laptop have evidence that Ugesa has pretended to be David to get Apple to lock David's phone so investigators couldn't open it. And then most recently, David's brother flew to Spain on vacation with his family.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
Last month, he went to Sevilla, which is about a three and a half hour train trip from Madrid, which is where Ana disappeared. And they say that they don't know where he was for two days in January. So they're investigating what he's been doing electronically, but also maybe physically in an area where Spanish authorities had conducted searches for Ana.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
We don't know what the FBI has been able to look at, if anything at all. The defense challenged the seizure of the devices, writing in a motion that Ugesa is a part of the Konezovic defense team and that the, quote, target devices contain attorney-client communications and attorney work product.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
Ugesa is not a lawyer, but because of that motion, prosecutors say they hadn't extracted any data from the devices.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
Yeah. So the FBI is alleging that David needs money to buy burner phones so that he can communicate with his brother without the calls being recorded.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
No, not that I know of. He was in attendance, though, at the hearing in Miami on February 3rd where this warrant was unsealed.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
Neither David's brother or mother have been arrested or charged with anything. But in the warrant, the FBI agent writes... Law enforcement concludes that Ugesa and his mother disposed of evidence in this case and used Facebook to discuss doing so. So two things. After David was arrested in May after he flew back from Serbia, his landlord sent his belongings to his parents that included his laptop.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
But the FBI didn't know about that until June. And when they found out, they searched his parents' house and they found Facebook messages between Ugesa and his mom. A couple times he said, can you turn on his computer? And his mom said, yep, right away. And then a bit later, Ugesa messaged his mom, I'm done, the computer is empty.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
The FBI agent also writes, software and programs are available that allow an individual to remote wipe or delete all stored data.
Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
Yes, they did. They are suing both David and his brother, saying that there are claims for wrongful death, fraudulent transfers, conspiracy, interference, and the tort of outrage stemming from David's year-long refusal to release Anna's body for burial.