Boyfriend who wanted more serious relationship convicted of killing woman in bed
A court has convicted a man of killing a nursing student he had apparently wanted a more serious relationship with.
Orlando Tercero was found guilty of the March 2018 killing of 22-year-old Haley Anderson after a trial held in Nicaragua, Central America, the 23-year-old’s homeland where fled following the incident.
His conviction came after an unusual trial that saw many witnesses testifying by long-distance video conference, and was confirmed in a tweet from New York’s Broome County District Attorney Steve Cornwell.
Witnesses said the two had a romantic relationship but Tercero, a former Binghamton University student, wanted a more serious commitment, according to trial testimony.
Anderson, originally from Westbury on Long Island, was found strangled in her bed.
Tercero fled to Nicaragua, a country set between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea in Central America, the day after the killing.
The trial was held in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua because the nation’s laws forbid extradition of its citizens.
The Broome County District Attorney’s office in New York facilitated testimony by witnesses who spoke with the help of a translator via a video link from a room in the district attorney’s office in downtown Binghamton.
One of the witnesses, a police investigator, testified via the video link that Tercero left a note at his residence saying he was sorry.
Citing Judge María Fabiola Betancourt, a prosecution official said sentencing for Tercero would be held within days.
The maximum sentence in Nicaragua is 30 years. Anderson’s parents said they wanted Tercero to receive the maximum penalty, according to the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.
“We saw something that we haven’t seen before, but we saw two governments working together, law enforcement agencies working together,” Cornwell told the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin after the verdict was announced.
“Although not what we wanted, we wanted to have the trial here, but we saw justice take place in a courtroom on an international stage.”
The victim’s father, Gordon Anderson, also praised the way Nicaragua handled the case, telling the Binghamton newspaper that the verdict provided “some ease to the heartache and a little bit of conclusion.”
“I mean it’s not over, and there will always be an emptiness that’s there, but it was nice to see that Nicaragua did a really professional, bang up job to get the job done,” he added.
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