Volz is a former resident of Tahoe and Shingle Springs and a graduate of Ponderosa High School and of the University of California, San Diego, where he majored in Latin American Studies. Volz later moved to Managua, where he sold real estate and launched EP (El Puente) Magazine, advocating for smart growth and ecotourism.
MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- Former Sacramento-area resident Eric Volz was freed by a judge on Friday despite an uproar in Nicaragua after an appeals court overturned his conviction and 30-year-sentence in the slaying of his Nicaraguan girlfriend.
The 28-year-old, accompanied by his mother, planned to immediately catch a flight to Atlanta. He more recently lived in Tennessee.
"There will be no further comment until we receive confirmation that Eric is safely out of Nicaragua," Volz family spokeswoman Melissa Campbell said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Volz at one point attended Ponderosa High School in Shingle Springs and later lived in the Lake Tahoe area.
Live television broadcasts showed a news media caravan following his police-escorted car from a prison hospital where Volz was treated for kidney stones to the office where he was to sign release papers.
An appeals court on Monday overturned Volz's conviction in the death of 25-year-old Doris Ivania Jimenez, enraging prosecutors, human rights and women's rights activists who believe Volz is guilty.
Prosecutors said the victim put up a fight, matching scratch marks on Volz's shoulder. They also said he told an assistant to rent a car for him because "someone has died" before he said he learned of her death. The victim's mother said he had threatened to kill her daughter before.
The court did uphold the conviction of a Nicaraguan man in the murder.
A surfer-turned-real-estate-broker who also founded a local magazine in Nicaragua, Volz has claimed his innocence all along, saying he was two hours away from the crime scene at the time.
Volz's release was ordered by the same judge who convicted him, a step that is required by Nicaraguan law.
Judge Ivett Toruno, who convicted Volz, waited four days before agreeing to release him, citing problems with the files.
Volz's attorney claimed the judge was delaying the process to allow time for another appeal. It wasn't clear Friday where that effort stood.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Eric Volz (born May 19, 1979) is an American magazine publisher who was sentenced to a 30 year prison term in Nicaragua following his conviction for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend Doris Ivanez Jiménez in San Juan del Sur, on November 21, 2006.
An appeals court overturned the conviction on December 17, 2007[1] and Volz was released from prison on December 21, 2007.[2] 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.[3] Opponents in Nicaragua protested against his release due to what they perceived as him special status as an American, pressure from the United States government, and accusations that the family bribed the appeal judges.[2]
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YouTube
- An American Wrongfully Imprisoned In Nicaragua
This is the true story of American citizen, Eric Volz,
who ...
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YChhOHrFA4
Arrest for murder
In November 2006, Doris Ivania Jiménez, a Nicaraguan who had dated Volz, was murdered at midday in her store in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, a coastal town near Rivas. Volz was arrested and charged with her murder.[6] 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.[6] Managua is two hours' drive from San Juan del Sur.[5]
On February 14, 2007, a police officer testified that Julio Martin Chamorro Lopez, who the day of the crime was seen acting suspiciously, contacted "Rosita," an employee of Doris Ivania's boutique, and offered her $5,000 to allow the murderer to into the boutique.[7] Chamorro confessed that Volz and another foreigner, whom he did not identify, participated in the murder. Mercedes Alvarado, mother of the victim, described Volz as a jealous man whom her daughter believed would kill her because of his jealousy.
Volz was arrested November 23, 2006 and charged with murder, based on the confession of a Nicaraguan man who was originally charged with the murder and later released.[5] According to Volz's attorneys, Nicaraguan prosecutors did not produce any physical evidence before or at trial.[6] Although ten witnesses supported Volz's alibi, the trial court judge, Ivette Toruño Blanco, only permitted the testimony of three. At the conclusion of the trial, Judge Toruño Blanco convicted Volz and sentenced him to 30 years in a Nicaraguan penitentiary.
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. [1] Local judge Ivette Toruño Blanco delayed signing the order releasing him.[8] On December 20, 2007, a Nicaraguan 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.
Eric Volz's mother appeared on NBC's Today Show on Friday, December 21, 2007 petitioning the Nicaraguan government to release her son. She has also received support from the White House with a recent speech from Condoleezza Rice. [9]
On Dec 21, a Nicaraguan appeals court in Granada cleared up the confusion and signed release papers for Volz. Volz left Nicaragua on Friday afternoon, said Eddie Vasquez, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department. [10]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Lyons, John. "Man Profiled in WSJ Is Freed In Nicaraguan Murder Case", Wall Street Journal, December 17, 2007. Retrieved on December 17, 2007.
- ^ a b Garcia, Edmundo. "American freed in Nicaragua goes into hiding", CNN, December 21, 2007. Retrieved on December 22, 2007.
- ^ CNN Anderson Cooper, 2007
- ^ Eric's Story. Friends of Eric Volz. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
- ^ a b c Brad Schrade. "From Nashville to Nicaragua, family fights to free son", The Tennessean, March 18, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
- ^ a b c Jared Allen. "Volz victim of cultural, political, judicial perfect storm", Nashville City Paper. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
- ^ Quintero, Lésber; Rodríguez, Heberto. "Testimonios que hunden a Eric Volz", El Nuevo Diario. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. (Spanish)
- ^ Gringo Justice in Nicaragua Time Magazine article
- ^ "Mother of Eric Volz petitions for her sons release", Today Show NBC. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
- ^ CNN Anderson Cooper, 2007
[edit] External links
- Volz Family Website
- The Wall Street Journal -- March 19, 2007
- Outside magazine - June, 2007
- El Puente magazine
- News and Observer - May 10, 2007
- Washington Post - May 7, 2007
- NPR: Family - April 29, 2007
- The Sacramento Bee - March 25, 2007
Now in hiding, Nicaragua frees U.S. man with South Tahoe ties
UPDATE
Bayardo Mendoza, Associated Press Writer December 23, 2007 MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — American Eric Volz went into hiding this weekend after hastily leaving Nicaragua, where an appeals court overturned his conviction and 30-year-sentence in the slaying of his Nicaraguan girlfriend.
The judge's decision to free Volz sparked outrage among some Nicaraguans who say the American received favorable treatment in the local justice system and should not have been freed.
Volz went into hiding after leaving Nicaragua because of "reports of threats" against him, Volz family spokeswoman Melissa Campbell said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Volz lived "off and on" at the South Shore of Lake Tahoe from around 1996 until 2000, according to friends.
His mother, Maggie Anthony, arrived back in the United States from Nicaragua on Friday evening and said Volz was not yet in the country.
"I'll worry about him until he's on U.S. soil," she said.
Anthony said she could not disclose where he was nor how soon he would return. ... READ MORE