Rivera Sánchez demanded $13,500 from court weeks before murdering Félix Plaud
William Rivera Sánchez filed a motion with the San Juan Court on 28 September 2026, claiming payment of $13,500 from Félix Plaud. Weeks later he confessed to the murder and was found dead in Santa Isabel.
Handwritten motion reveals outstanding debt weeks before double murder in Puerto Rico
A handwritten motion, filed on 28 September 2026 with the San Juan Court, shows that William Rivera Sánchez demanded that former activist and businessman Félix Plaud de Choudens be ordered to settle a debt of $13,500 within seven days. According to elnuevodia.com, the document was in the possession of the outlet weeks before Rivera Sánchez confessed to the murders of Plaud de Choudens and lawyer Luis A. Quiñones González, and before he himself was found dead in Santa Isabel.
The motion stems from an agreement reached on 29 August 2025, when the San Juan Court issued a judgment by stipulation following a lawsuit alleging fraud. That agreement set an initial payment of $20,000 in late August 2025, followed by monthly instalments of $10,000 to settle the $100,000 agreed upon in April 2026.
"Only the first three payments were made on time. Mr Félix Plaud began paying one month late until he stopped making deposits in February 2026. In June 2026, he made a deposit of $7,500 and on 4 September he made one of $4,000," the document states.
Rivera Sánchez concluded the motion with a direct request to the court: "Most respectfully, I request that this court summon Mr Félix Plaud de Choudens and order that the balance of $13,500 dollars be paid to me within the next 7 days."
Original lawsuit and a second legal action
The original lawsuit, filed on 14 February 2025 against Plaud de Choudens, his mother Estrella de Choudens Colón and the company Victory Research & Development, alleged fraud involving $100,000. That amount included, according to the claim, contributions to participate in a dispensary, outstanding rents, construction materials, equipment and permits. Rivera Sánchez also sought compensation of no less than $500,000 for damages suffered.
A second lawsuit, filed on 25 June 2026, increased the claims: Rivera Sánchez alleged he had invested $161,000 in a project to establish a medical cannabis dispensary in Cupey. In that lawsuit, among others, Estrella de Choudens Colón and lawyer Luis A. Quiñones González were named as co-defendants.
Court proceedings hours before the crime
Just hours before the murder of Plaud de Choudens, Rivera Sánchez's attorney filed a motion last Thursday requesting authorisation to issue summonses by proclamation, following multiple failed attempts to locate Estrella de Choudens Colón, a co-defendant in the second lawsuit.
An affidavit attached to that motion describes the process server's efforts. At 11:07 a.m. that same Thursday, he contacted licenciado Quiñones González, who said he did not have an address, email or telephone number for the woman. At 3:40 p.m., the process server spoke with Plaud de Choudens, who stated that his mother was in the United States and would return to Puerto Rico in approximately two weeks, providing no additional information to locate her.
Confession on social media and death in Santa Isabel
Last Friday, 45-year-old Rivera Sánchez posted videos on social media in which he claimed responsibility for the murders of criminal lawyer Quiñones González, shot on Las Américas avenue in Ponce, and Plaud de Choudens, in Guayama.
Hours after releasing those recordings, Rivera Sánchez was found dead in a residence in the Useras sector, in Santa Isabel. The Police are investigating the facts.
Source: Google News PR — San Juan