Officials: Woman beaten to death in Tijuana by American boyfriend

Robert Alan Frascarelli (PGJE photo)

TIJUANA — An American citizen used a hammer to murder his girlfriend in Tijuana, the Baja California Attorney’s Office (PGJE in Spanish) said Wednesday.

Helena Kaija Kauppinen Conway, 54, was found dead in her Tijuana home Sunday night.

Robert Alan Frascarelli, 49, a U.S. citizen, was arrested Wednesday morning after admitting he killed her, officials said. Frascarelli previously told detectives that Kauppinen was killed in an alleged assault by gunmen.

Frascarelli confessed to officials that he took his girlfriend’s life because he was tired of being humiliated by cleaning dog waste, washing carpets, doing laundry and being insulted constantly.

He told investigators that the night of the murder, he was angry about $7,000 Kauppinen won at a casino that was missing.

Officers who searched the home found the victim’s body with multiple wounds over her face and skull. They also found remains of duct tape on her head and an electrical cord tying her ankles.

When police officers first interviewed Frascarelli, he told them that a half-hour before detectives arrived, two gunmen entered the home looking for money and tied them in separate rooms, officers said.

He stated that when he no longer heard any noise in the other room, he went to check on Kauppinen, but she was already dead.

Prosecutors said a search of the home didn’t turn up any evidence of the alleged perpetrators or anything to support Frascarelli’s initial statements.

During a subsequent interview, Frascarelli changed his version of events, falling into contradictions, the PGJE said.

Frascarelli said he beat Kauppinen over the face and skull leaving her unconscious on the floor. He proceeded to strangle her with his own hands until he killed her, prosecutors said.

Once he realized she was already dead, he hid the hammer in the back of the house without washing it to remove the blood, prosecutors said.

He then washed his hands and used the duct tape to tie the hands and feet of his dead girlfriend. Then he tied himself, to be able to invent the story of the two masked men that arrived to assault them, the PGJE said.

Frascarelli also told authorities he is addicted to crystal meth and lives off money provided to him by elderly women.

He has a criminal record in the U.S. for armed robbery, assault and DUI.

According to Baja California law, he could receive a penalty up to 50 years in prison.

Frascarelli told prosecutors that he was dating Kauppinen, a Finland native, for the last three months.

Tania Navarro is an SDNN contributing writer who reports from Tijuana.

Tags: Helena Kaija Kauppinenen, murder, PGJE, Robert Alan Frascarelli, SDNN, SWRNN, tijuana

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