The brother of a South Florida businessman charged in the murder and disappearance of his estranged wife in Spain last year is accused of trying to tamper with evidence and hinder law enforcement's investigation into the case, according to a new search warrant.
The warrant, signed by a judge last month and unsealed this week, accuses Ugljesa Knezevich of assisting his brother David Knezevich, who is charged with kidnapping resulting in death, foreign domestic violence resulting in death and foreign murder of a United States national in the Feb. 2, 2024 disappearance of Ana Maria Henao Knezevich.
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WATCH HEREDavid Knezevich was arrested last May after arriving at Miami International Airport on a flight from Serbia.
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Henao Knezevich, a Colombian native and naturalized American, was last seen in Madrid last year, after heading to Spain amid a contentious divorce from her estranged husband.
Court records claim David Knezevich didn't want to split their assets evenly in the divorce.
According to an indictment filed in November, Knezevich traveled from Miami-Dade to Madrid "with the intent to kill, injure, harass, and intimidate his spouse and intimate partner" and committed a crime of violence against her that resulted in her death.
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David Knezevich remains behind bars while awaiting trial. His attorneys have maintained their client's innocence.
The search warrant said a cell phone and laptop were confiscated when Ugljesa arrived on a flight at Miami International Airport on Jan. 7.
According to the warrant, FBI agents spoke with Ugljesa in March of 2024 about the disappearance, and he said he was estranged from his brother and had only spoken with him recently after learning of Henao Knezevich's disappearance.
Ugljesa said at the time of the disappearance he had to call his mother to get David's phone number, but after David was arrested in May, the first person David contacted was Ugljesa, the warrant said.
During the call David "alluded to having recent conversations with Ugljesa regarding the different outcomes of his arrest," the warrant said.
While in custody, David has regularly corresponded with Ugljesa by email and in multiple emails, David has instructed his brother to send hundreds of dollars to other inmates, the warrant said.
The warrant said inmates often send money to one another to obtain contraband, tamper with witnesses or commit other crimes, and the FBI believes Ugljesa is paying inmates on David's behalf to conceal communications to Ugljesa and others.
In June of 2024, authorities searched their parents' home after learning that David's landlord for his Serbian apartment had turned over property, including a laptop, that David had left behind to the parents, the warrant said.
Authorities found Facebook messages in their mother's iPad that "were indicative of the destruction of evidence," the warrant said.
In one exchange, Ugljesa allegedly messaged his mom in Croatian, saying “good morning can you turn on the computer?" His mother responded with “right away” and Ugljesa later said “I’m done, the computer is empty just put it to charge.”
The laptop from David’s Serbian apartment has never been recovered.
Also in June, Ugljesa was added as an authorized user to Henao Knezevich's corporate American Express accounts and issued a credit card, the warrant said.
In one call with American Express, when he was asked to put her on the line, Ugljesa "appeared to alter his own voice in an effort to sound as if he was the victim during various points of the call," the warrant said.
In July of 2024, David's iPhone was reported to Apple as being lost or stolen, despite it being in FBI custody since his arrest in May.
By reporting it lost or stolen, Apple locks the phone and won't allow it to be accessed even if someone has the passcode, and gives Apple the capability to remotely lock it and wipe the device, returning it to manufacturer settings, the warrant said.
"Accordingly, I belive that reporting David's Apple iPhone lost or stolen is another instance of Ugljesa tampering with evidence by attempting to hinder law enforcement's ability to access David's phone," an FBI agent wrote in the warrant.
During a call between the brothers in October, authorities determined Ugljesa had access to a device that receives notifications sent to David's cell phone, the warrant said.
On Dec. 29, Ugljesa flew from Miami to Lisbon, Portugal, and the following day flew to Sevilla, Spain, about five hours from Madrid, where Henao Knezevich disappeared. His whereabouts on Jan. 4 and 5 were unknown and authorities are trying to determine the purpose of the trip, the warrant said.
In seeking the warrant for the devices, the FBI agent wrote that they "are likely to contain communications between Ugljesa and others regarding the destruction of evidence of David's crimes" and "will also likely contain evidence of Ugljesa's possession or use of the Victim's personal identification information."
On Jan. 9, David's attorneys filed a motion claiming Ugljesa is part of the Knezevich defense team and that the devices contain attorney-client communications, the warrant said.
The warrant said that Ugljesa isn't an attorney but that the data extracted will go through a filter "to prevent the government from exposure to any privileged information."
Authorities haven't said whether Ugljesa Knezevich will or could face charges.
David Knezevich's defense team released a statement on Wednesday responding to the warrant's allegations.
“The allegations of misconduct in the unsealed search warrant are completely false, based on pure speculation. Every allegation will be refuted with evidence in our supplemental filing," the statement read.
