By LOUIS SALOME
Miami News Reporter

Metro police say slain Cuban exile leader Ramon Donestevez bilked 72 Cubans out of thousands of dollars late last year when he accepted the money for a promised trip to Cuba that never occurred.

As they sift the many possible motives for the killing, police are trying to determine if an enraged victim of the "larceny by trick" pulled the trigger that ended Donestevez' stormy life Tuesday inside his Perrine boat-building factory office.

Lt. Tom Lyons said evidence showed that Donestevez took between $400 and $2,000 from each of 70 persons, and in two other instances accepted $4,000 for the longed-for trip back to the exiles' homeland.

Donestevez never returned the money after an attempt to make the trip failed in December when his boat with 72 passengers and a crew of five became disabled in rough seas and had to be towed back to Miami Beach.

Just last week, Lyons said, police turned over evidence to the state attorney's office expecting that criminal charges would be prepared.

"We presented what we believed to be a case involving larceny by trick or fraud perpetrated on the individuals who got on the boat," Lyons said.

He said some of the passengers told police that they were hoping to return to Cuba to live, while others were going to visit friends and relatives and to bring relief supplies.

Police had taken sworn statements from nine passengers about their deal with Donestevez, Lyons said. He said police talked to several other people who were on the boat, but had not taken official statements from them.

Lyons said police got receipts that Donestevez had given passengers for the trip.

"Alot of what Donestevez did was a con," said Lyons, trying to explain one of the many motives that could have been behind the murder. Police believe now that when Donestevez pulled away from the dock at Crandon Park Marina Dec. 14 with the boatload of passengers andbaggage, he was in fact headed for Cuba to complete his end of the deal.

When he was towed in by the Coast Guard, however, Donestevez said he was out on a "picnic" and a shakedown cruise for a trip to Cuba that was to be made later.

Police now believe Donestevez concocted that story because he did not want police to know he planned to go to Cuba.

It would have been a violation of Donestevez' parole for him to go to Cuba.

At the time of his death, Donestevez was on probation for extorting money for what prosecutors said was an earlier planned trip to Cuba. He had pleaded guilty to the charge in a separate case in 1973.

Donestevez made six "peace missions" to Cuba over the years. His last one was in 1974, after which he was jailed for a week. He then drew a two-month jail sentence for violating probation