The wife of former Hailey resident Kim Crofts reported Monday that five people have confessed to being connected with the shooting death earlier this month of her husband in Panama.
"I assume you have heard that (police) here in Bocas have five confessions from the people involved in the attempted robbery and subsequent killing of my husband, the love of my life," Mary Austin Crofts wrote in an e-mail to the Idaho Mountain Express.
Kim Crofts was killed on the evening of Sept. 12 at the couple's home on an island in the state of Bocas del Toro in northeast Panama.
Police in Panama would only confirm that five people had been detained for investigation of the murder.
Additional information was provided to Panama Guide, an English-language Web site in Panama. Mark Johnson, who is coordinating a reward fund for information on Crofts' murder, reported that "as a result of the reward offered, someone came forward and identified the killers, who have now been arrested and are in custody."
"They are five men, three from Panama City and two from elsewhere on the mainland," Johnson stated. "All five signed confessions. The murder was committed in the course of a home invasion robbery. The gang had information that the Crofts had money in the house."
Don Winner, an investigative journalist who owns and operates Panama Guide, reported on the Web site that the information from Johnson was "reliable though not official."
Winner, a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran who has lived in Panama for 21 years, told the Idaho Mountain Express on Tuesday that he remains skeptical of the robbery theory.
"It still screams hit to me—it still screams paid murder," Winner said. "It still doesn't fit. I still don't buy it.
"I've investigated dozens of these home-invasion robberies and nobody ever gets shot. In a home-invasion robbery, five guys come in and tie up the gringo, maybe slap him around, take the stuff and leave. It still looks like a hit.
"I still think the home-invasion proposal is what everyone wants to believe. But it doesn't make frickin' sense."
Winner further said that confessions are relatively easy to come by in Panama and aren't necessarily reliable. Suspects often confess to crimes because they know they will receive a less harsh sentence, he said.
The Crofts moved to Panama from Hailey four years ago. Kim Crofts was a carpenter in the Wood River Valley and Mary Austin Crofts was executive director of the Blaine County Recreation District.
Express staff writer Greg Moore contributed to this report.
Kim Crofts is shown in Panama. Crofts, a former Hailey resident, was shot to death at his home in Panama on Sept. 12.
