Gringo Nightmare

I recently stubbled upon a story that I found very fascinating. The story actually took place a few years ago in San Juan del Sur, a small yet growing beach town in the south of Nicaragua. I happen to stumble upon this story as I have been researching "famous" crimes in Nicaragua. The reason I have been doing this is mainly due to a book that I purchase 5 years ago while I was in Managua. As I often due, I like to check out books store in the different places of the world I travel to and a book called "The Biggest Crimes of 20th Century in Nicaragua" caught my eye. I remember thinking this could be a great way to get ideas for either a book or short stories (which is the purpose of researching crimes in Nicaragua). I read a few entries at the time of purchase, but then forgot about. I rediscovered this little gem the other day while cleaning out our library at home. I thought I've give it another shot and see what some of these famous crimes were about. I found some of them to be very gruesome and brutal, whiles other I thought were common crimes one would expect in rural poor communities.

As I kept reading these crime summaries, I wondered if there were any recent famous crimes in Nicaragua...then I stumbled upon the story of Eric Volz.

Volz was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend in San Juan del Sur. He had a history, according to the victims mother, of being a jealous man, yet when the crime happened, several witness, co-workers, and records of cell phones, placed him two hours away in Managua the capital. How could this be possible? Well the controversy of this whole case is revolves around Volz being an American Citizen. He believes the Ortega government would like to make an example of him, on how foreigners can't get away with murder in Nicaragua. I won't go into detail about the case, since I don't really know them yet, but it is believed that Ortega had a large influence in the judges decision to dismiss several key witnesses and evidence. After few months of trial, Volvz was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years prison, only to be overturned after spending 14 months in jail. At the trial of appeal, evidence and witnesses that were ignored at the original trial were presented, aquitting Volz and giving him freedom once again.

But the story doesn't end there. A few years after, the Ortega govt' asked once again that Volz be tried. This would be a direct violation of the Nicaraguan Constitution, but this wouldn't surprise anyone to know that Ortega interprets the Constitution by his own standard.

I have been trying to follow what is going on with his case at the moment. He has been promoting himself as an innocent man that is merely being used by the Nicaraguan government as a political tool to further their relationship to the U.S.

Volz also came out last year with a memoir of his experience titled: Gringo Nightmare. I purchased the book and I'm really anxious to see what his story is and how he explains the corruption within the Ortega administration . I'll keep everyone posted after I read the book!