A US couple suspected of killing four people in Panama may have forged Dutch passports.

The Netherlands' ambassador to Panama Matthijs van Bonzel told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that the man is probably not a Dutch national. The suspects, William Adolfo Córtez-Reese, also known as 'Wild Bill', and his wife Jena were arrested in Nicaragua on Monday morning. Police found a Dutch passport in Cortez’ name at their house. A photocopy of the document, which was issued in Antigua, has been published in Panamanian media.
 
Irregularities
Mr Van Bonzel says: “We have seen a photograph of the passport on the internet and as far as we can tell it’s a forgery. We can tell from a number of details that this is not a normal passport, it includes irregularities. So we are investigating where it was issued, on what conditions, and to whom. The investigation will tell us whether we will be able to assist the Panamanian police with their inquiries.”
 
The ambassador is not worried that after the commotion about Joran van der Sloot - under arrest in Peru of suspicion of murder and already the main suspect in the case of the disappearance of US teenager Natatee Holloway on the island of Aruba - another Dutchman will make international headlines as a serial killer. He is convinced ‘Wild Bill’ is not Dutch. “It is almost certainly a forged passport, so for the time being I’m assuming he is not Dutch but somebody carrying a phoney Dutch passport. How he managed to obtain it is a matter for further investigation.”
 
Missing couple
Mr Van Bonzel says William Adolfo Córtez-Reese may have forged one of the passports of a Dutch couple that went missing in Panama in 2008. The body of a US woman has been discovered in the yard of the suspect’s home, as well as unidentified human remains. The ambassador says the remains are in an advanced state of decomposition and it is therefore not clear whether they belong to the missing Dutch couple.
 
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