| Eric Volz | |
|---|---|
Eric Volz, May 2010 |
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| Born | May 19, 1979 |
| Occupation | Writer |
Eric Volz (born May 19, 1979[1]) is an American man who was sentenced to a 30-year prison term in Nicaragua following his conviction for the November 2006 rape and murder of ex-girlfriend Doris Ivania Jiménez in San Juan del Sur.
An appeals court overturned the conviction on December 17, 2007, and Volz was released from prison on December 21, 2007. He left Nicaragua immediately and went into hiding in an unknown location outside Nicaragua over concerns for his physical safety.
Friends and supporters in both countries had insisted on Volz's innocence, claiming that the trial court ignored evidence, and that Volz was the victim of anti-gringo sentiment.[2] Opponents in Nicaragua protested against his release due to what they perceived as special consideration as an American, pressure from the United States government, and accusations that Volz's family bribed the appellate court judges.[3][4]
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Volz was born in Northern California and is a former resident of Nashville, Tennessee.[5] He received a degree in Latin American Studies from University of California, San Diego.[5] Volz later moved to Managua, Nicaragua, where he sold real estate and launched El Puente ("The Bridge") magazine, advocating for smart growth and ecotourism.[6]
On November 21, 2006, Doris Ivania Jiménez, a Nicaraguan who had dated Volz, was murdered at midday in her store in San Juan del Sur, a Nicaraguan coastal town near Rivas. Volz was arrested and charged with her murder.[7] However, according to both associates and mobile phone records, Volz was at his home in Managua, which also served as the magazine headquarters, conducting meetings and business, including a conference call with contacts in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States, and telephone and internet logs confirm this.[7] Managua is a two-hour drive from San Juan del Sur.[6]
Volz was arrested November 23, 2006, and charged with murder, based on the claims of a Nicaraguan man who was originally charged with the murder and later released.[6] According to Volz's attorneys, Nicaraguan prosecutors did not produce any physical evidence before or at trial.[7] Although ten witnesses supported Volz's alibi, the trial court judge, Ivette Toruño Blanco, only permitted the testimony of three. On February 14, 2007, a police officer testified that Julio Martín Chamorro López, who the day of the crime was seen acting suspiciously, contacted "Rosita" [no ... "Rosita" was the nickname of Julio Chamorro, this is not a different person], an employee of Doris Ivania's boutique, and offered her US$5,000 to allow the murderer into the boutique.[8] Chamorro claimed that Volz and another foreigner, whom he did not identify, participated in the murder. In her testimony, Mercedes Alvarado, mother of the victim, described Volz as a jealous man whom her daughter believed would kill her because of his jealousy.[9] At the conclusion of the three-day trial, Judge Toruño Blanco convicted Volz and sentenced him to 30 years in prison.[10]
On December 17, 2007, Volz was ordered released after an appeals court overturned the conviction. His passport and bail of $10,000 were to be returned: Volz, however, was not immediately freed because a judge failed to show up for an afternoon meeting to arrange his release.[11] Local judge Ivette Toruño Blanco delayed signing the order releasing him.[12] On December 20, 2007, an appeals court in Granada signed release papers for Volz. The release came despite a prosecutor's decision to appeal the case to the Supreme Court and despite their assertions that their appeal would stay Volz's release. Prosecutor Isolda Ibarra, who conducted the prosecution of Volz at trial, had stated earlier, "we presented the appeal, and the law is clear: that the release is suspended until the high court rules on the case." Magistrate judges in the appeals court in Nicaragua have up to 10 days to review the request for appeal. The Sandinista National Liberation Front governments chief prosecutor, Julio Centeno, referred to Volz's liberation as a "barbarity", a view echoed by Red guerilla Omar Cabezas.[13]
Volz's mother appeared on NBC's Today on December 21, 2007, petitioning the Nicaraguan government to release her son. She received support from the White House with a speech from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.[14] The same day, the appeals court signed release papers for Volz, who left Nicaragua on Friday afternoon, said Eddie Vasquez, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department.[2]
On November 17, 2008, Volz announced via a YouTube video that the Nicaraguan government had reopened its case against him after 11 months. Volz argued that retrying an acquitted person violates Nicaragua's constitution and he claimed political motivation, specifically anti-American sentiment, for this action.[15]
In May 2010, Volz released a memoir through St. Martin’s Press titled Gringo Nightmare.[16]