Accused in a foreign land

#1

Accused in a foreign land

Did Eric Volz murder his ex-girlfriend? Despite a strong alibi and evidence in his defense, he's convicted by a Nicaraguan court

April 23, 2007

Eric Volz was an American expatriate who had staked his future on a place far from home. But in a flash, he became a monster to people in Nicaragua. It all began with a horrific murder. This report aired Sunday, April 22, on Dateline NBC.

Tony D'Sousa: This case is so disturbing on so many levels. One thing I™ll never be able to get out of my mind are the pictures of the crime scene. Whoever killed her [Doris Jimenez], what they did to her was just a brutal crime

Doris Jimenez was a jewel set in a Nicaraguan paradise. She was just 25 years old”strikingly beautiful, bright, and ambitious.

What was done to her was horrific. The crime scene photographs show her body trussed up like some animal, and left, as if on display, here on the floor of her little clothing shop by the beach.

Oh, and one more thing: She had been seeing an American.

Another American, writer Tony D™Sousa set out to investigate the crime and became a witness to a national tidal wave of anger.

D'Sousa: It was a major event here. I™ve heard it, you know, compared to the O.J. Simpson trial.

20 years ago, this volcanic country was torn apart by revolution, political scandal and war, in which the U.S. was deeply involved. But things change. And in Nicaragua, they are changing fast. Americans are invading, but with their money, as owners of oceanfront property.

But when Eric Volz, a young American, recently dipped his toes into sleepy seaside life, he found himself caught up in a story of jealousy, injustice and a murder so twisted, it united this nation in outrage... and revenge.

D'Sousa: It was a cultural tinderbox. And There™s a saying down there, œsmall town, big hell.

Eric Volz was the young man destined to walk into that small town hell. He™d grown up in San Diego”ambitious, competitive, even driven...and an eager student of Latin America.

And in 2005, after backpacking around Central America, he responded to a friend™s invitation to Nicaragua.

Eric Volz: Nicaragua™s a very special place, and it™s in a tremendous time of development.

One of the uncut diamonds on this Pacific coastline is the sparkling seaside town Eric soon called home: San Juan Del Sur.

Volz: San Juan del Sur is very enchanting. It has a very sleepy feeling to it. Everyone™s extremely nice there, nice people.

But it wasn™t just the sweet, sunny people and the surfing Eric liked”he was catching a big wave of change here.

Volz: The image is evolving into more of a new hot spot for travelers and Baby Boomers that want to have retirement homes.

More rock climber than social climber, Eric surprised himself by stepping onto a career ladder, making big commissions with a franchise of Century 21, selling real estate.

Volz: There™s a lot of capital and cash flow coming into Nicaragua. Business were popping up.

But the waves of dollars washing up on these shores brought friction too.

Keith Morrison, Dateline correspondent: Resentments building up?

Volz: Yeah, of course as locals start to realize that they™re kind of being left behind, they retaliate. You know, crime goes up. Drug use goes up”you know, delinquency. And it™s been starting to get worse in San Juan.

Maybe he should have seen the trouble heading his way. Maybe he wasn™t looking.

As 2005 came around, everything was just about as good as it could be for any 20-something American adventurer.

And then it got even better when Eric started dating a local waitress.

Volz: I met Doris in a restaurant just down the street from where I worked. And luckily, they had the best food in town, so I went there quite often.

Morrison: What was she like?

Volz: Incredibly beautiful, very charismatic.

Morrison: Couldn™t help but notice her?

Volz: Oh yeah. What was unique about her is that she was very independent. She supported herself financially. She was putting herself through college.

Morrison: How did you manage to make her notice you?

Volz: I just got to know her over time and eventually developed more of a formal relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend.

Doris had grown up in a poor family, as many in Nicaragua are. And it™s a tradition of necessity that she lived with an aunt and cousins in a small cramped house, while her mother worked and sent money home from her job in Nicaragua™s capital, Managua.

Before long, she™d moved in with Eric”a temporary arrangement”at least as far as he was concerned.

Volz: I knew that I wouldn™t be in Nicaragua forever. I was very careful not to lead her on. I wasn™t gonna marry her.

Morrison: You told her that?

Volz: Oh yeah, of course. I tried to be very responsible and very upfront.

Morrison: She would™ve married you if you had asked?

Volz: Yeah. Definitely.

And why not? He was good looking, young and very successful. Now he was publishing an innovative magazine about responsible foreign investment in Nicaragua.

He called it œEl Puente, meaning the bridge. He told his mom Maggie back in Nashville Tennessee it was designed to span the divide between locals and Americans.

Maggie Anthony, Eric's mother: The plan was to continually develop his magazine. That he wanted to develop it so it could affect all of Central America. He was very passionate about his magazine.

And Eric™s success was perhaps what encouraged Doris to set up her own business: a fashion boutique on one of San Juan™s busier streets.

Volz: I helped her do a business plan. She made money and she ran the place by herself, and she was a great salesperson.

Morrison: She was going places.

Volz: She really wanted to break out and obtain more mobility for herself.

And with that mobility, breaking out of small-town life, and her relationship with Eric, local tongues started wagging.

Volz: There was a lot of people that really envied Doris. The big rumor was that Eric must be the one behind the scenes, that he must be the one that™s paying for the store.

Morrison: That was the nasty chatter of people who were envious of her beauty and her success?

Volz: Yeah, definitely. And of her boyfriend. I mean, there was a lot of people that were envious of the fact that she was dating me.

It was almost a year after they™d started dating. Eric™s magazine was taking off. It was time, he decided, to move El Puente to the capital, Managua, a two and a half hour drive from tiny San Juan, two and a half hours from Doris.

Morrison: Was there a discussion or did she ever consider moving to Managua with you?

Volz: No. Never. No, I mean, she wasn™t invited.

Morrison: Wasn™t invited?

Volz: No.

Morrison: So, what happened to the relationship?

Volz: Well, I mean, we remained friends, good friends. I remained supportive. We saw each other on occasion.

But Doris started seeing someone else.

Morrison: Did she tell you at the time?

Volz: She told me about him once. She had met a guy who was treating her very nicely, and you know, he loved her.

Morrison: He loved her?

Volz: That™s what she told me.

What Doris may not have told Eric was her belief that there was an intruder lurking around. Someone she thought was spying on her.

The last time Eric Volz says he saw Doris was last November, in San Juan. He says they spent the night together and had breakfast the following morning.

Morrison: It wasn™t a final goodbye, it was just, œSee you, but I don™t know when?

Volz: Oh yeah.

So now the young publisher, Eric Volz was turning a page in his life. He had essentially said goodbye to his girlfriend Doris, was also going to say goodbye to Nicaragua ” at least as a permanent residence. After some meetings and a visit with his grandmother in California, he intended to move the magazine to Costa Rica, and it was one of his last meetings in Manangua when the telephone rang.

One of Doris™s friends was calling.

[Due to complaints on the size of my posts, I have provided a link to read the rest of the story if you choose to do so]

Accused in a foreign land