Eight years after Costa Rican radio journalist Parmenio Medina was gunned down outside his Heredia home and by two men in a passing Nissan, his story will be told in a book appearing on shelves this week.

Two reporters, who followed Medina's three-year-long court proceeding, will be presenting the book “La hora del Compadre. El asesinato de Parmenio Medina” (The Hour of the Compadre: The Murder of Parmenio Medina) – a fictional story based on Medina's murder – Tuesday night in the eastern San José neighborhood of Curridabat.

Medina was a 62-year-old investigative reporter and popular satirist for the radio program La Patada, who uncovered a series of financial irregularities at the once-popular religious radio station, Radio María.

Through his research, he learned the station's host, Father Minor Calvo, was involved in a $3 million scam whereby he convinced listeners to make donations to worthy causes, when in fact the money allegedly was lining his pockets and those of his business partner, Omar Chaves. They spent listeners' money on lavish cruises, housekeepers, fine clothes and dining, as well as favors for family and friends.

Calvo was convicted in December 2007 for aggravated fraud, but later acquitted of murder charges in the Medina case. He remains on parole for fraud.

Chaves wasn't as lucky. He continues to serve time for fraud and murder.

“The story of Parmenio Medina is one that needs to be recorded,” said one of the authors and former colleague of Medina, José Alberto Gatgens. He co-wrote the book with Otto Vargas, a reporter with the daily La Nación. “This is a loose history of what happened … We don't know what happened, but what we tried to do was picture a reality.”

The authors will be at Librería Universal at the Multiplaza del Este shopping mall in Curridabat 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to sign books and answer questions.