Eric Volz

Eric Volz
Eric Volz, May 2010
Born (1979-05-19) May 19, 1979 (age 47)
OccupationsEntrepreneur, risk management specialist, author

Eric Volz (born May 19, 1979) is an American entrepreneur, author, and the managing director of The David House Agency, an international crisis resource agency based in Los Angeles that specializes in wrongful imprisonment and politically motivated detentions abroad. The New York Times described Volz as a “highly sought crisis manager” for Americans facing criminal prosecutions overseas.

In 2007, Volz was wrongfully convicted of the November 2006 rape and murder of ex-girlfriend Doris Ivania Jiménez in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, and sentenced to 30 years in prison. An appellate court overturned the conviction on December 17, 2007, and Volz was released four days later. He left Nicaragua immediately due to death threats. Volz is listed in the Innocence Center's national database of exonerees.

Supporters insisted on Volz's innocence, arguing that the trial court ignored evidence and that anti-gringo sentiment influenced the outcome. Opponents in Nicaragua protested his release, citing what they perceived as preferential treatment as an American, U.S. government pressure, and accusations that Volz's family bribed the appellate court judges.

Upon his return to the United States, Volz wrote a memoir about his experience, Gringo Nightmare: A Young American Framed for Murder in Nicaragua. The book was published by St. Martin's Press.

Volz's involvement as a crisis manager has been reported in connection with several high-profile cases, including Matthew and Grace Huang, Jason Puracal, the American Hikers in Iran case, Amir Hekmati, Kenneth Bae, and Amanda Knox.

Early life and education

Volz was born to Mexican-American parents in Northern California and raised in the Christian faith. Fluent in Spanish, he received a degree in Latin American Studies from the University of California, San Diego.

In 2004, Volz moved to Nicaragua, where he launched a bilingual magazine called El Puente ("EP Magazine"), established an investment consulting practice, and became co-owner of a local Century 21 franchise.

Wrongful imprisonment

Volz's case has been documented as a wrongful conviction by the Innocence Center and examined in legal scholarship concerning unreliable witness testimony and miscarriages of justice. The case also attracted legal scrutiny and public attention, particularly regarding the conduct of the investigation and trial.

The murder and the suspects

On November 21, 2006, Doris Ivania Jiménez was murdered at midday in her clothing store, Sol Fashion, in San Juan del Sur, a coastal town near Rivas. Police issued warrants for four men. Two were local Nicaraguan men with prior records: Julio Martín Chamorro López (30), known as "Rosita," and Nelson Antonio López Danglas (24), known as "Krusty," both of whom bore physical scratches consistent with a struggle at the time of their arrest. A third suspect, college student Armando Llanes (20), was never arrested after his university provided a partial alibi. Volz, who had dated Jiménez before breaking up in mid-2006, was the fourth suspect.

Danglas was offered full immunity in exchange for testifying against Volz and was the only witness to place Volz near the crime scene. Chamorro later told a journalist that his testimony had been coerced by police.

The trial

Volz was arrested on November 23, 2006, and charged with murder. The defense presented ten alibi witnesses who placed him in Managua at the time of the crime, along with cell phone tower records and time-stamped instant-messaging logs. No physical evidence linked Volz to the crime, and exculpatory evidence was excluded. The trial judge, Ivette Toruño Blanco, excluded seven of the ten alibi witnesses on the grounds that their testimony would be redundant; those permitted to testify were not present with Volz at the time of the murder.

The trial was widely described as chaotic. On at least two occasions the courthouse was surrounded by protesters. At the conclusion of the three-day trial, Judge Toruño Blanco convicted Volz and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. The New York Times reported that the case "proved not who killed Ms. Jimenez, but that justice in Nicaragua is a nebulous concept, subjective to the point of abstraction."

Campaign for release

Volz's family and supporters launched the Free Eric Volz campaign, which included a YouTube documentary and a website called Friends of Eric Volz. The San Francisco Chronicle described it as an early example of social media being used to raise awareness about a wrongful imprisonment case. The case received substantial media coverage, including a front-page feature in the Wall Street Journal.

Notable investigative reports on Eric Volz
Media outlet Title Reporter
A&E Nightmare in Nicaragua Archived 2018-10-22 at the Wayback Machine Bill Kurtis
Esta Semana Asesinato en San Juan del Sur: Irregularidades en el Caso Volz Camilo de Castro
Outside Magazine The Boomtown, the Gringo, the Girl, and Her Murder Tony D'Souza
Men's Journal A Season in Hell Archived 2015-10-04 at the Wayback Machine Dean LaTourrette

Acquittal and release

On December 17, 2007, an appeals court overturned the conviction. The local judge delayed signing the release order, and Volz was not freed until December 21. His passport and $10,000 bail were not returned. He left Nicaragua immediately and went into hiding due to death threats. He is listed in the Innocence Center's national database of exonerees.

Political undertones

Former Communist leader Daniel Ortega had returned to power in Nicaragua shortly after Jiménez's death. A senior U.S. State Department official told media that the U.S. ambassador had raised the case with officials up to and including President Ortega, though the official noted concern that the Nicaraguan government did not want to appear to be yielding to international pressure. The Sandinista government's chief prosecutor described Volz's release as a "barbarity."

International lawsuit: Volz v. Nicaragua

In 2009, Volz filed a 700-page petition, Volz v. Nicaragua, to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, after Nicaragua announced it was reopening the case against him. His lawyers argued that retrying an acquitted person violates Nicaragua's constitution and alleged political motivation for the action.

Memoir

In May 2010, St. Martin's Press published Volz's memoir, Gringo Nightmare: A Young American Framed for Murder in Nicaragua. The book's foreword was written by investigative journalist Bill Kurtis. A paperback edition followed in May 2011. Publishers Weekly wrote that "there is much pain in Volz's memoir of being a young American in a near-perfect frame-up involving murder, tabloid headlines, police corruption, and political power plays in Nicaragua."

Career

Following his wrongful imprisonment, Volz began advising families in similar situations, which evolved into a private consultancy in 2009. In 2011, he established The David House Agency. The New York Times described the agency as "a hybrid of international detective work, legal research, political analysis, and diplomatic lobbying."

Cases in which the agency has been involved include:

References

  1. 1 2 Glasgow, Michael (2008). The Bridge: The Eric Volz Story: Murder, Intrigue, and a Struggle for Justice in Nicaragua. Morgan James. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-60037-501-9.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Volz, Eric. Gringo Nightmare: A Young American Framed For Murder in Nicaragua. St. Martin's Press, 2011. ISBN 9780312584177
  3. ↑ Karoub, Jeff (21 February 2012). "Will speaking out help save Mich. prisoner in Iran?". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 2, 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gladstone, Rick (27 March 2015). "Turning Wrongful Imprisonment Into Advocacy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 4, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Eric Volz". The Innocence Center. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 Lacey, Marc (6 January 2008). "Killing in Nicaragua Makes Spectacle of the Courts". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Anderson Cooper 360° — Transcript". Anderson Cooper 360°. CNN. 2007. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Garcia, Edmundo (27 December 2007). "American freed in Nicaragua goes into hiding". CNN. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
  9. ↑ Celizic, Mike (21 December 2007). "Will Nicaragua ever set Eric Volz free?". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 2009-02-03. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  10. ↑ "Eric's Story". Friends of Eric Volz. Archived from the original on 4 March 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2007.
  11. ↑ "Eric Volz Author Page". Amazon. Archived from the original on 20 January 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  12. ↑ Brooks, Justin (2012). "Redinocente: The Challenge of Bringing Innocence Work to Latin America". University of Cincinnati Law Review. 80 (4): 1122.
  13. ↑ Forero, Juan (2007-05-07). "An American's Kafkaesque Encounter With Nicaragua's Justice System". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  14. ↑ "Eric Volz, The Arrest". Crime and Investigation. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  15. ↑ D'Souza, Tony (1 May 2007). "The Boomtown, the Gringo, the Girl, and Her Murder". Outside Magazine. Archived from the original on 22 August 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 Kruse, Brandi (23 April 2012). "Through imprisoned Tacoma man, Eric Volz relives his hell". Mynorthwest.com. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  17. 1 2 Jared Allen. "Volz victim of cultural, political, judicial perfect storm". The City Paper. Archived from the original on 3 March 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
  18. 1 2 3 Lyons, John (17 December 2007). "Man Profiled in WSJ Is Freed In Nicaraguan Murder Case". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
  19. ↑ "Eric Volz Wrongfully Imprisoned in Nicaragua". YouTube. 21 March 2007. Archived from the original on 4 December 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  20. ↑ Sabo, Eric (6 April 2007). "Family uses Web in efforts to free imprisoned son / They say evidence proves he didn't kill girlfriend in Nicaragua". SF Gate. Retrieved 24 September 2007.
  21. 1 2 Rogers, Tim (18 December 2007). "Gringo Justice in Nicaragua". Time. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
  22. ↑ Elfrink, Tim (12 May 2010). "Eric Volz Was Wrongfully Imprisoned In Nicaragua, Says Ortega Was To Blame". Miami New Times. Archived from the original on 20 January 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  23. ↑ "Gibson Dunn Lawyer Talks About Nicaraguan Murder Case". The Blog of Legal Times. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  24. ↑ "Eric Volz to be re-tried in Nicaragua today at 9am CST". FriendsofEricVolz.com. 17 November 2008. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  25. ↑ "Gringo Nightmare: A Young American Framed for Murder in Nicaragua". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  26. 1 2 Russell, Joel. "Firm Locked In on Freeing U.S. Citizens Overseas". Los Angeles Business Journal. Archived from the original on 20 January 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  27. ↑ Kolker, Robert (14 July 2015). "Do You Know How Your Daughter Died?". New York Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  28. ↑ Puente, David (15 September 2012). "American freed after 2 years in Nicaraguan 'hellhole'". CNN. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  29. ↑ "The Foreign Policy Challenges of Abductions and Detentions Abroad". Pacific Council on International Policy. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  30. ↑ "Seattle-area man who spent more than 5 years in Philippines jail acquitted of rape". The Seattle Times. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2025.