Tourist Allegedly Kills Bystander with Fire Extinguisher After Being Evicted from Florida Hotel

Mar. 15, 2025

Piero Estefano But-Castillo.Photo:osceola Corrections

osceola Corrections

On Friday, Jan. 10, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office shared during apress conferencethat they arrested a man on Wednesday, Jan. 8, at a Quality Inn in Kissimmee — about 20 miles south of Orlando — after they received a 911 call about a person being stomped on, kicked and beaten with a fire extinguisher.

Sheriff Marcos Lopez said during the press conference that his office received the 911 call on Wednesday around 4.p.m. local time, and when deputies arrived at the hotel, they found 25-year-old Piero Estefano But-Castillo “still beating” Robert Krusinowski, 55.

The Quality Inn in Kissimmee, Fla.Google maps

Google maps

“In an effort to calm him down, our victim — Mr. Robert Krusinowski, a 55-year-old man — was unarmed, just trying to de-escalate the situation,” Lopez said. “However, our suspect — it angered him, and he just beat him. Beat him to death. It was a brutal beating with a fire extinguisher.”

The affidavit adds that Krusinowski was a longtime resident of the hotel who often helped staff with maintenance on the property. He suffered severe head trauma, and fire department personnel administered first aid, but he later died from his injuries at the scene.

“These savage attacks aren’t going to go unpunished here,” Lopez said during the press conference.

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Lopez said But-Castillo first entered the U.S. from Chile as a student in 2019, before leaving and returning on Jan. 1, 2024, on a 90-day tourist visa. The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the incident, he added, noting that the department is working with the Chilean government to find more information about But-Castillo.

But-Castillo is currently in custody at the Osceola County Jail with no bond and an immigration hold. He faces charges of first-degree murder, resisting an officer with violence, battery on specified personnel and criminal mischief of $1,000, according to booking records.

“Let us take this into our hands and affect the arrest. It’s better that you don’t get involved,” the sheriff added. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with and people get angry, lose their tempers — you don’t know if they’re psychotic or on drugs. In this case, it cost the victim his life.”

source: people.com