Murder by the sea

Eric says after authorities uncovered a plot to have him killed, he was transferred to the infamous "Modelo" prison and became a target for other inmates.

Eric Volz: People tried to plant drugs in my cell.  People tried to put, at one point, you know, weapons in my cell.  And then they would go tell the guards. They constantly were looking for a way to be able to justify sending me to solitary confinement block.

And as days became weeks and then months, Eric’s promised appeal seemed to go nowhere.

So Eric’s family publicized his plight far and wide with a YouTube segment, a slick Web site and appearances ontelevision.

They hoped it would pressure the Nicaraguan authorities.

And all the while Eric had no idea how long his descent into hell was going to last. His appeal had been expected for months. Would his case ever be reviewed?

Eric Volz: Every time there was a delay in the appeal, it was like a stab in the heart. My life, I lived it, you know, in week-long blocks.  And they would announce that they were going to, you know, present the resolution in two weeks or three weeks or four weeks. And nothing would happen. It just twisted my guts and my heart, it hurt so bad, to wait for these-- you know, the delays were-- it's indescribable.

And yet he did describe it, graphically, in his prison journal, which his family turned into a blog.

(Reading from journal)
Eric Volz: April 4, 07. The best analogy I have come across for being locked up here is that it's like being buried alive. It is like having a cave collapse around you leaving just enough room to breathe and touch your toes. At first you are shocked and terrified. Time and space come to mean something totally different than before.

Four months into his sentence he was coming apart at the seams:

(Reading from journal)
Eric Volz: June 29th, 2007. The noise is traumatic. It’s like being in an industrial factory with metal doors slamming, five or more different kinds of music at full blast at the same time, and crazy inmates screaming at 4:30am just to be jerks and wake people up. At times it drives you nuts. I have been driven to the point where I have to sit down in my cell, cover my ears, and focus on my breathing just to keep it together.

Eric was struggling to keep it together physically too -- on a meager diet of rice and beans.

(Reading from journal)
Eric Volz: The food is not enough. It is not uncommon to find cockroaches and fingernails in the rice. Yesterday the doctor diagnosed me with gastritis and intestinal parasites for which I’m taking meds. My whole abdominal area aches -- it's freaky being ill like this in prison.

Then, after a year in prison,  finally, a ruling. Of innocence. He had won his appeal.

And yet? For five days he waited, still in prison, as angry Nicaraguans turned their fury on those appeals judges and the government ordered an investigation into how they reached their decision.

His mom Maggie was beyond frustration.

Finally, in a sudden rush, Eric was released. But even then he didn't know if he would get out of the country alive.

Keith Morrison: You had a--- a group of people who were protecting you and getting you to an airport and a private plane that flew out of there fast?
Eric Volz: It was a dangerous situation and we had to take the pre-- the necessary precautions.
Keith Morrison: You wore a bulletproof vest?
Eric Volz: Yeah.
Keith Morrison: For good reason probably.
Eric Volz: Yeah.

Finally, Eric arrived home in Nashville just before Christmas - and into the arms of his mom.

(At the reunion)
Eric Volz: I got my "moms" back -- the best Christmas present…

Maggie Anthony: We were relentless. We weren't going to let go. We just fought just as best we knew how.

Keith Morrison: When we left the last time, I remember thinking to myself, “That guy's chances in there are not good." Here you are.

Eric Volz: It's a miracle that I survived.
Keith Morrison: What was your state of mind in those dark days?
Eric Volz: You have to become a warrior to survive those kinds of situations.  You know, those prisons are  dangerous.  So you really do have to kind of adopt, you know, a stronger, harder demeanor.
Keith Morrison: Put on kind of a brittle mask.
Eric Volz: I don't know if it's a mask.  It's real. You got to do whatever you got to do to stay alive.
Keith Morrison: And coming out the other end of the tunnel.  When did you feel free?
Eric Volz: I still don't feel free. I'm out of prison and I’m out of Nicaragua but they continue to persecute me. They're now threatening to throw the judges in jail that signed and ruled in my favor.  My case is now being seen by the Supreme Court.

That means Eric’s innocence could be put in doubt again, he says, while Doris’s real murderer might be free to murder again.

Eric Volz: There's a very good chance that I’ll be considered a wanted man in Nicaragua and potentially in the Central American region. And that's not justice. I'm an innocent man and that's not freedom.

But for now, he says, he is grateful… to his family... to those appeals judges... to the soft bed waiting at home.

Eric Volz: My first hot shower in, you know, over a year.  I slept deeper than I can-- I think I’ve ever  slept in my life.  You know, the first night I was-- after I was free man.  You know, little things like that. you can't appreciate your freedom until you've had it taken away and you've had to fight to retrieve it.

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