Nicaragua Reverses
American's Conviction
A Nicaraguan appeals
court on Monday
overturned the
conviction of an
American man sentenced
to 30 years in prison
for killing his
Nicaraguan girlfriend.
Eric Volz, of Nashville,
Tenn., was ordered
released from a prison
in the town of Granada,
40 kilometers east of
the capital, Managua.
Prison officials did not
immediately confirm his
release.
Nicaraguan Attorney
General Julio Centeno
Gomez told Channel 12
television he would
appeal the decision to
the nation's highest
court.
"This seems unheard of
to us," Centeno said.
While overturning Volz's
conviction, the appeals
court upheld the 30-year
sentence of his alleged
accomplice, Julio Martin
Chamorro. Both were
sentenced in February
for the death of Doris
Ivania Jimenez, who was
found raped and
strangled in November
2006 in a clothing store
she owned in the town of
San Juan del Sur.
Volz, 28, has proclaimed
his innocence from the
beginning, saying he was
in Managua, two hours
away, when the crime
occurred. At that time,
Volz had lived for two
years in Nicaragua,
where he founded a
bilingual magazine
titled El Puente, or
"The Bridge." He also
worked as a real estate
broker.
The case attracted
widespread attention in
the U.S. news media.
Volz's friends and
family set up the
"Friends of Eric Volz"
Web site, which argues
his case and sells
bracelets to help
support his defense
fund.
The Web site had not
been updated as of
Monday.
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